The Puppet Master

The Private Eye had a Mind of His Own

An outstanding writer. C. J. Cherryh

In an alternate time line, a breakthrough in basic physics has catapulted technology centuries ahead in only a few years. Everyday life has become very different, but crime always goes on, and criminals have found new ways to steal and murder and cover their tracks. It hasn't made life any easier for private eye Martti Seppanen, in a Los Angeles that Philip Marlowe would barely recognize.

Murder is still murder, but the weapon may be a bioengineered disease, the murderer may be someone who can control other people mentally, and the victim may be someone whose legal status as a human is in limbo, and whose existence is a government secret. But when Seppanen is on the case, it gets solved, with legwork, with muscle, and often with the help of some unusual friends-one of them much more than a friend-with their own very unusual mental powers.

Praise for John Dalmas:

"Dalmas is a polished and inventive writer." -Spider Robinson

"An outstanding science fiction novelist.." -Rave Reviews

"He creates a variety of believable and interesting characters and involves them in a story that will keep the reader guessing-and turning pages-to the very end." -West Coast Review of Books

Cover art by Gary Ruddell

Paperback

This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

First printing, October 2001

Distributed by Simon & Schuster
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN: 0-671-31842-X

"A Most Singular Murder" was first published in Analog, Vol. CXI, No. 5, April 1991.

A Baen Books Original
Baen Publishing Enterprises
P.O. Box 1403
Riverdale, NY 10471
https://www.baen.com

Production by Windhaven Press
Auburn, NH

Electronic version by Baen Books
https://www.baen.com

This book is dedicated to Herbert D. Clough,

30 years with the FBI who, with the collaboration of the originator, LeslieCharteris, resurrected the fabled SAINT magazine. Distribution problems shot her down, but for three wonderful months in 1984, she flew. A lovely project.

BAEN BOOKS by JOHN DALMAS

The Puppet Master

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