Buried Deep - A Retrieval Artist Novel by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
I don't read a lot of true sci-fi. I'm just not a big fan of the space battles and military overtones. The sci-fi books I do like tend to focus more on futuristic culture and moral story lines rather than space opera and the Retrieval Artist series is fast becoming one of my favorites.
The first book in this series introduced me to the two main characters. Miles Flint and Noelle DeRicci. In the first book they were partners but Miles left the police force to become a retrieval artist which is basically someone who finds missing persons. I thought the first book was just ok but every book after has been awesome. I love the fact that the plot lines revolve around diplomancy and legal wrangling. You think laws are complicated now, in this future you have to navigate not only human laws but alien laws too. And this is where the trouble erupts.
In this story, the alien species are the Disty who control Mars. In their culture, they fear death. Anyone who comes near a dead body is considered "contaminated" and must be cleansed. This is no big deal for a Disty. However, the cleansing process will kill a human. So when Aisha Costard of Earth stumbles across a skeleton in a Disty neighborhood, she has no idea she has just signed her own death warrant. Of couse, the dead body leads to more dead and causes a major cultural disaster between the humans and Disty living on Mars. The Disty decided the only way to decontaminate the site is to burn everything and everyone -Disty and human- on Mars and start again. It's up to Noelle, Miles, and a few diplomates to negotiate a more peaceful resolution.
I read this book fast and furiously. Both Miles and Noelle are honest but flawed heros and under a serious amount of pressure. No massive space battles or ship maneuvers just good old fashioned detecting and legal work. Awesome. Can't wait for the next in this series!