A powerfully written SF mystery novel delving into the complexities not only in human interactions but of the interactions between species and how the lack of cultural understanding could precipitate a disaster of such proportions that could very well threaten to destroy the stability of the settled universe.

Aisha Costard is a renowned forensic anthropologist and when she is contacted regarding a skeleton found in the Sahara Dome on Mars, she agrees to assist in discovering the identity of the unknown woman. She has no way of knowing that this seemingly routine autopsy will bring her into contact with the Disty death rituals. The Disty, an alien species inhabiting and controlling much of Mars, hold death as the ultimate contamination, and in their culture anyone associated with, in contact with, or even just in the same area is also contaminated. No one can even imagine the chaos that will be created when there are dozens of human bodies found under that initial skeleton, a mass grave that is close to a hundred years old, nor can they begin to understand the mass hysteria that will take place.

Under Disty Death Warrant, Aisha Costard is given a limited time to leave Mars to try and find someone who can find the survivors or descendants of the massacre victims who can be used to cleanse the area and all those "contaminated". Locating Miles Flint was not easy, nor is it easy convincing him to take her case after she tells her story. Miles has dealt with the Disty before and he has some knowledge of the harshness of their laws, and even so, Aisha's story intrigues' him enough for him to take her case. He also suggests that she may well want to avail herself of the services of a Disappearance Service since finding the reason for the massacre and any survivors or their descendents may take a long time. He also initiates the steps for himself to disappear if necessary especially when she turns up death of an apparent Disty ritual killing.

What Miles Flint uncovers is layers upon layers of deceit and double crossing by Lagrima Jorgen, the initial skeleton, and why she has been placed there could be seen as poetic justice, if it weren't for the fear of death the Disty hold and the destruction and mass exodus the discovery of the bodies has caused in Sahara Dome.

Things are about to get even worse as the human contingent tries to cope with the mass hysteria and panicked Disty fleeing not just the Dome but the planet. No one understands the extent of the "contamination" nor the fact that these "contaminated" ones cannot be let into any other Dome on Mars, or anywhere else. As the full scope of the disaster created by the discovery of the mass grave hits, Governments on Earth and the Moon are going to have to come up to speed very quickly to avert the same thing happening on their planets in the event any of the "Contaminated Ones" make their way to another colony or planet.

With no one on Mars to get his information to, Miles if forced to put his old friend Noelle DeRicci once again on the firing line with information that may well cost her career or a great many lives if something isn't done and NOW!

With Flint's info and DeRicci's hardheadedness, they may well be able to avert a catastrophe of mammoth proportions, but the press is trying to crucify DeRicci's for closing the space ports to the "refugees", especially since they have no knowledge of the life and death crises that aiding the "Contaminated Ones" will cause. In fact, even the Disty's own representatives are considering the possibility of killing everyone already contaminated and leveling Sahara and Wells domes along with them. Somehow, DeRicci has to find a way to keep the Moon safe and keep her job, and Flint has to find a way to resolve what he must do to aid her and keep himself alive as well.

This is a riveting story, not only for it's mystery and suspense, but also for its ability to delve into the psychosis of human and alien behaviors all set in a realistic futuristic setting, something similar to what we may well see develop in our lifetimes if we do indeed make contact with other races. A truly excellent series, a treasured addition to any library.