Rating: 
Summary: Perry Mason in Space
Review: This is not you average Star Trek novel. Bob Ingersoll and Tony Isabella have written a tale which is closer to Perry Mason than Trek. This is deliberate. The cover illustration is much like the cover of an old paperback mystery and even the typeface of the title page duplicates those great old books.The authors use Samuel T. Cogley, who defended Kirk in the original series episode, Court Martial, to give us a wonderful homage to the old Perry Mason novels. They even acknowledge their debt to Erle Stanley Gardner. Most of the story is set on a planet which, due to the Organian Treaty, humans and Klingons are competing at developing. While it takes place some pages into the story, the back cover informs us that the human administrator is found murdered with the Klingon administrator crouching over the body. Cogley must defend the Klingon. The leadup to the murder introduces us to Cogley and his assistants and then to the murder victim and those that will be suspects. The authors play perfectly fair to the reader and give us all the clues. Even still, for me, the identity of the murderer comes as a surprise. Kirk and crew do make a cameo appearance but the story focuses on Cogley and his people. The cover proclaims that this is "A Sam Cogley Mystery". I loved this and certainly hope that the authors will give us more.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant! A new angle on classic Trek!
Review: This novel takes a fresh, new angle on the absolute best Trek series: the original. If you want a quick rundown of the book's plot, there are several synopses on this site. I'm going to simply state that the book is fun, intriguing, and an absolute page-turner. A Star Trek mystery putting the classic character Sam Cogley in as the central figure. Brilliant. I am eagerly awaiting more Sam Cogley mysteries from these talented authors.
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