This was really quite interesting, and skipped along at pace. Too much pace I think, at the end, because the conclusion was crammed into the smallest page count possible - it all ended very abruptly - but it got the job done. It's funny, reading these books in order, the patterns that emerge. This, like the last, is another criminal investigation story. There's a micro-contamination science lab aboard the Enterprise (and it must be said that Vornholt makes good use of the science here), and the famed research team of husband and wife who run the lab are put under the microscope when one of them turns up dead... and the other is chief suspect. Worf and Troi team up to investigate, and it's a good pairing. They're nothing alike, so it's entertaining to watch them bounce ideas off each other.

Also entertaining, in a very specific way, is Wesley. Assigned by Worf to tail one of the scientists, for reasons passing understanding, he's thumped by an underling and almost murdered himself. I say yay for the former - who amongst us has not wanted to slam that annoying kid into a wall? - and boo that the latter did not succeed. I am waiting with baited breath for these tie-in novels to reach the point in the series where he buggered off, so that I can read TNG stories without him in them. Hopefully that will be soon.