BLAME IT ON THE ALIENS

In this latest installment of the Alex Benedict series, Alex's uncle Gabe is back from eleven years trapped in a time-space warp and is trying to figure out how to fit in. For him, only three weeks have passed, but the eleven years have caused major changes to the other people in his life. His fiancée has married another man, and Alex is used to running the family space artifacts business without Gabe around. They now face the challenge of balancing Alex's desire for the business to make money with Gabe's drive to make sure artifacts end up in museums and not private hands.

As they relearn how to work with each other, the unsolved mystery of another vanished crew grabs their attention. 60 years ago, Octavia Station was in orbit around a black hole, manned by a small crew of scientists. Their goal was to use the black hole to send signals to possible alternate universes. After a year, all communications abruptly ceased from the Octavia and a cruiser was sent to check on them. They found no sign of the station, only empty space. No trace of the crew was found and all official attempts to solve the mystery hit dead ends. With a small isolated crew trapped in limited quarters, there are multiple possibilities, and the clues point in many directions — estranged and obsessed ex-boyfriend, technical failure, a murderer within the crew, or, most outlandish of all, kidnapping by unknown aliens. The investigation has been suppressed as too sensitive and potentially explosive, but Alex, Gabe, and Chase need a case to rally around and this one hits close to home.

Their search leads them across the galaxy and reveals truths about themselves and humanity that are difficult to face. In the classic style for which he is so beloved, Jack McDevitt delivers a locked-room mystery where the most logical conclusion seems to be to blame it on the aliens.

Jack McDevitt is a former naval officer, taxi driver, English teacher, customs officer, and motivational trainer, and is now a full-time writer. He is the author of the Alex Benedict novels, including Firebird; the Priscilla Hutchins novels, including Starhawk; and the stand-alone novel, Beyond the Sky. His novel Seeker won a Nebula Award, and he is a multiple Nebula Award finalist.