I would like to thank Luna Press Publishing for an advance copy of this novella in exchange for a fair and honest review

Publisher - Luna Press

Published - Out Now

Price - £8.99 paperback £4.99 ebook

The asteroid 4 Vesta has been colonised as a nature preserve by eccentric billionaire Benjamin Donovan Sr.-a refuge intended as much for creating a model of how humans can live, as for the animals and plants it hosts.

It is a paradise, removed from the pressures of overpopulation, social media, and the incessant, draining demands of modern life.

Now, Donovan Sr. lies murdered, and his son is either the prime suspect in his death. . . or the next target on the killer's list.

Liane Sheridan, the station's security chief, must find the answers while navigating a web of corruption.

The murder mystery in science fiction has a long tradition. From Asimov’s robots to stories where death is not even permanent they are often puzzles or ways to explore a specific idea. The latter is more relevant to Deborah L Davitt’s new science fiction novella The Carrying Capacity of Paradise which has some really interesting ideas but ultimately for me doesn’t come together very satisfyingly.

The multi-billionaire Benjamin Donovan Snr has created on the asteroid of Vesta a colony for those who reject the AI enhancements that connect most people on earth (which he helped invent). He is under a protective dome easing long lost species of animals to create a whole new world. Or more accurately was until his body was found being eaten by a tiger. This though is human murder and now investigator Liane Sheridan is having to rely on her old police skills and the immediate suspect is none other than his son Benjamin Donovan Jr the famous movie star. Paradise is no longer looking that safe.

I am more of a journey than destination reader. I’m looking to enjoy turning most of the pages before we reach a grand finale. Often the plot characters and ideas make up a rushed ending as no story is ever that easy to tie all plotlines with. This take however for me has a very solid start and a decent ending but unusually lacks a middle section which made it really fall down.

The setting is well thought out. Devitt has puts lots of effort into how Vesta works, structurally, gravitationally and even socially. It’s an intriguing future colony idea and allows the characters to show the contrast with Earth which feels very hyper, cruel and violent based on what we see. This has the feel of a new frontier of exploration and a chance for those to find a new way forward be you refugees, union workers or detectives who have seen too much death too soon.

This nearly echoes the theme and fascinating argument that Davitt poses. As the main character debate Donovan’s project there is a link to 20th century research that rats in an overpopulated world even with adequate food saw the young get violent, less offspring produced and effectively more social withdrawal. It’s provocative and the key idea is what we have existed could continue to destroy us as a desire for greed continues to corrupt and lead to murder.

I don’t quite think it holds up as another theme in the story is humanity being so wired into a 24/7 social network means another idea is being so linked and craving constant dopamine also makes us lose humanity. Again interesting but the resolution here is someone ultimately wanting to become rich.

In an age of evil billionaires having a quasi-benevolent one as a main character feels a tad jarring as it suggests we just need a few kind hearted ones to get better and perhaps our social structures and love of capitalism may have a more likely impact on our world? Despite that I like a story that argues and as Sheridan and Donovan Jr debate this we have a story at least prepared to make its case. I really liked both characters who are complex, layered and intelligent the dialogue really moved from investigation to personal secrets that worked well.

So let’s come to the elephant in the room: I’m enjoying a story that has an intriguing story, good characters and a thought provoking theme. Suddenly notice how few pages are left. We jump very quickly to find out the murderer and our characters suddenly arrive to wrap things up. The detective element is forgotten to the extent I had to check if a chapter was missing or I had skipped a page. The impact is the main remaking device feels undercooked and forgotten instead just to have the social-political debate. A detective story without that much detection is for me a failure of execution.

This was very disappointing as while I’m not fully bought in by the argument it was a story that makes you think about the subject. But if you offer a murder mystery too I think that needs revolution and in a very short novella there was plenty of room to add a few chapters to explain how our leads worked it out. A frustrating read indeed!