L. E. Modesitt, Jr., The Elysium Commission

The Elysium Commission

L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

Tor, Feb 2007, $24.95

ISBN: 0765317206

On the planet Devanta, former military special operative turned private investigator Blaine Donne suddenly finds he has too many clients when before he had none. He is hired to find a missing heiress; look into a scientist's patent infringement case, uncover the links between entrepreneur Eloi, city planner Maraniss, and the "Elysium"; and finally conduct a background search of Dr. Dyorr, the fianc of wealthy Marie Antoinette Tozzi. As he starts on each Blaine assumes his cases have nothing in common.

He soon reassesses his thoughts as the scientist who originally hired him is dead and the project he worked on appears to being used for some nefarious purpose by Eloi and Maraniss like perhaps a coup d'etat. He wonders about how the fianc fit, perhaps via a scientific connection, and why the woman who originally hired him to look into Elysium has no history at least on record. Soon the cases intertwine even further though Blaine begins to think after consulting with his sister and others that he is forcing connections as the Dr. Dyorr inquiry begins to look clean while the rest look like a cat and mouse encounter between the Civitas Sorores oligopoly and the Eloi and Maraniss squad with the sleuth being the cheese.

THE ELYSIUM COMMISSION is a complex, science-fiction, detective tale starring a fascinating individual struggling with his cases. The storyline is action-packed as the audience for the most part follows the sleuth as people try to kill him or assist him with information (sort of mindful of Robb's Eve Dallas, mid-twenty-first century police procedurals). Readers will enjoy this puzzler as the four investigations seem separate, and then appear to tie together, only to have Blaine's theory unravel. L. E. Modesitt, Jr., provides a fun, futuristic mystery.

Harriet Klausner