Master Author L.E. Modesitt Jr. is equally prolific at tales of magic, science fiction (as this story is) as well as professional books on a wide range of subjects. In this tale we have a former security agent, medically retired, who is now a private detective....and more. We are in a far future on another planet with a technology that can do things most of us would be hard put to imagine. For good or ill, this technology puts what would be a standard gumshoe story on a completely different level while retaining the excitement, action and humanity that most of us crave in such stories. This is an extraordinarily good story that you should enjoy.