BASIC PLOT
It's as if the Marie Celeste came back. And the ghosts of the people who vanished started taking over the investigating team. Cue Benny's involvement and what transpires to be quite a cute love story.

FEATURING
Bernice Summerfield.

COMPANIONS
Irving Braxiatel.

PREPARATORY READING
None.

CONTINUITY REFERENCES
Pg 3 "While St Oscar's is generally open and public with its research and academic work, the Advanced Research Department is a closed, secretive environment." The mysterious Advanced Research Department is part of an ongoing plotline in the Benny NAs which plays out many books from here. It was first dropped into the chronology in Mean Streets.

Pg 4 "She rode past on her augmented bicycle, her newly complete Mark 2 as she thought of it." The Mark 1 was destroyed in Mean Streets.

Reference to the Dalek War, albeit not by name, from Frontier in Space.

Pg 12 "Probably Skutloid had watched the Stanturus Inquiry, where she and Braxiatel had shared the limelight." Dragons' Wrath, which is also the source of the reference to Gamaliel earlier on the page.

Pg 32 "My department is being well paid, and I doubt it would occur to Divsen Follett that I am actually earning any of that." Follett first appeared in Dragons' Wrath.

Pg 79 "Apart from the discovery of a bottle of vintage Eridanean brandy.' This particular vintage goes back at least as far as Shakedown.

Pg 150 "The sugar? Or salt?" Checking for food contamination in these places brings back a swift memory of The Moonbase.

Pg 216 "You killed Jarl Kedrick." Kind of. Mean Streets.

Pg 238 "Braxiatel had shifted a small plaque that declared he was Keeper of the Library of St John the Beheaded." All-Consuming Fire.

OLD FRIENDS AND OLD ENEMIES
Director Silvera, of the ARD.

NEW FRIENDS AND NEW ENEMIES
Commander Skutloid

Stuart Stonely, a corruption of 'Stewards Only', who takes on the identity of Jackson Hart at the end of the novel.

CONTINUITY COCK-UPS
None

PLUGGING THE HOLES [Fan-wank theorizing of how to fix continuity cock-ups]
N/A

FEATURED ALIEN RACES
Pg 3 Golls, the sentries at the Advanced Research Department. Big, aren't they?

Pg 4 Octopods

Pg 12 Skutloid is a green reptile from New Aries. As such, he can hear the fall of a sparrow at one hundred yards.

FEATURED LOCATIONS
St Oscar's University on Dellah, including the Advanced Research Department, the medical centre and the pub, The Witch and Whirlwind.

The Medusa, in deep space.

IN SUMMARY - Anthony Wilson
It's mostly fun, and has quite a nice resolution, but the balance is way off. The plot resolves itself very quickly - you know what's happening, if not quite why, by Page 85 - and the rest, well, it takes its time. That said, it packs the occasional emotional punch and Benny herself is on top form. Very Justin Richards - indeed, most Benny NA authors were delivering a package of their quintessential style around this time, frequently on autopilot, as this threatens to be - but nonetheless quite charming in places.