A delegation from the galactic alliance secretly arrives in Indiana for an assessment of Earth's status. Earth has been quarantined because ... well, you can imagine why. The mission is something of a homecoming for a Bononian named Judy, who served on the last evaluation mission in the 1950s. But everything goes pear-shaped when an Earthling is killed, and Judy goes missing. An urgent call goes out to the Galactic Detective Agency to investigate, and most of the responsibility for the case falls on Gabriel Lake, the only Earth guy on the team. In tracking down Judy, they will have to fend off paranoid conspiracy theorists and evade trigger-happy government agents, all while trying to keep the whole interstellar mission under wraps. It will take all their wit and resourcefulness to pull off their assignment in the
Return of the Judy
. Q & A WITH THE AUTHOR Q. So with the completion of a trilogy, is this it for the Galactic Detective Agency? A. When I began writing
I wasn't sure. I love the characters and the mystery plots and the gags and the growing relationship between Gabe and Sarah. But even as the proofing was coming to an end, I didn't have any ideas for moving forward, and I did have a desire to write some other things. But then a scenario popped into my head, which would further develop Sarah's character and cast Sarah and Gabe in kind of a Bogart and Bacall type of relationship while exploring a neat sci-fi concept for a space colony. So writing other things will have to wait. There will be a fourth GDA coming in Fall 2021 called
The Big Sneep
. And since you can't stop at four, I'll make sure there are at least five books in the series. Q.
A Town Called Potato
hopped back and forth between Earth and several other planets.
The Maltese Salmon
stayed almost exclusively on Malt. Now the events of
nearly all happen on Earth. What determines what happens where? A. It is largely driven by plot, where the clues lead them. I wanted to have more of
take place of Earth, but it just didn't fit. I wanted to get off Earth in the middle of
, but the investigation kept them here. The advantage of having scenes on Earth is that I get to play around with the foibles of humans and place aliens in human settings to see how they react. The advantage of setting it in space is that I get to describe fabulous sci-fi settings, make the humans the fish out of water, and show that aliens have the same foibles as humans. Q. Why do you put a "Y" in Shaymus, the name of the ship, instead of spelling it "shamus" like the word? A. That's simply for clarity. Shamus is a 100-year-old slang term, and I wasn't sure a lot of readers would know how to pronounce it. Q. You mentioned the relationship between Gabe and Sarah. Where is that going? A. I'm not sure. I think Gabe is falling in love. But it's possible that Sarah, who has been burned once in a relationship, is not quite ready for that kind of commitment. I guess we'll see.