Death on the Moon

Benjamin January

by Barbara Hambly

A novelette of 12,000 words in the Benjamin January Free Man of Color historical mystery series. All of New Orleans is agog over Professor Tixall’s telescope, which can reportedly see life on the Moon. Rose Janvier is convinced that it’s a hoax, and a harmless one (though profitable for Professor Tixall), until one of her servants, looking through the telescope after hours, sees one of the “bat-people” of the Moon murder another one. Rose knows that murder has been done, but how do you prove it when the events supposedly took place on another planet?

Genres: Mystery, History, Historical

37 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 18, 2016

About the author

aka Barbara Hamilton

Ranging from fantasy to historical fiction, Barbara Hambly has a masterful way of spinning a story. Her twisty plots involve memorable characters, lavish descriptions, scads of novel words, and interesting devices. Her work spans the Star Wars universe, antebellum New Orleans, and various fantasy worlds, sometimes linked with our own.


"I always wanted to be a writer but everyone kept telling me it was impossible to break into the field or make money. I've proven them wrong on both counts."
-Barbara Hambly

Reviews

[egelantier · Rating 4 out of 5]

adorable little novella about rose, hannibal and a murder in unusual circumstances. the whodunnit is simple and not very whodunnit-y, but the endgame justice is incredibly satisfying, rose shines, hannibal suffers prettily (the hardiest addicted consumptive in all of the new orleans, may he live forever, my darling), there’s some lovely time devoted to the actual daily minutae of rose’s life, and just, aww. if you like the main series, you would love this one.

[Erin (PT) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short story in the Benjamin January universe that takes place after Days of the Dead and starring Benjamin's wife Rose, with a guest star credit to Hannibal as they try and solve a murder. Like a lot of Hambly's shorts, I felt like it could've been fleshed out a little more, but I enjoyed it as it is.