Red Planet Blues

Author: Robert J. Sawyer

Set on Mars, the book tells of a futuristic society set in New Klondike, a domed city on the Red Planet. Just like its namesake, the town was built to profit from a rush of miners who want to get fossils that sell for a lot of money on earth. However, also like its namesake, the town goes bust when most of the fossils are gone and the prices donâ€™t support the life there. The original miners who started the rush were murdered and Alex Lomax, a traditional private eye, has to find out who killed them. While heâ€™s doing that, he might find the original cache of fossils which are worth millions. Why It Made the List The author is a Hugo and Nebula winner and a long-time fan favorite. The original novella â€œIdentity Theft,â€ which won both of those awards, was enlarged to make this book. Itâ€™s an old-time private eye novel with tons of references to some of early PI movies and books. Read It If You Like classic private eye novels, books set on Mars, award winners, dystopian societies.

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Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler for traditional private eye novels, check out Sawyerâ??s other titles (and there are many) for some good reads.