Book Review: Anchor Leg by Jack Croxall #mystery #sciencefiction #thriller

Stranded 750 million miles from Earth. Stranded with a saboteur. Stranded with a killer.

Humanity has spilled out into the Solar System, into a succession of giant space stations known as the Relay. Seren Temples is a security apprentice running the Relay's remote Anchor Leg. When sabotage strands her vessel near another damaged ship, Seren and her team are sent across to investigate. The second ship is a zero-G graveyard. Inside its vast hold, nothing but a single vial of frozen blood.

My review:

Anchor Leg follows the journey of Seren, a young security apprentice and her tough initiation into life aboard a cargo ship. Set in deep space, she's running away from an over-populated Earth and determined to build a new life for herself. What she gets is a baptism of fire aboard a space ship, with a crime to solve. 

The fast-paced plot grabbed me straight away, and the twists and turns kept me hooked until the end. As well as the superb world building, Croxall managed to bring real life to the characters. I became invested in their futures, and was genuinely sad when the story ended. I wanted more from this world he'd created. 

Anchor Leg skillfully combines the science fiction, thriller, and crime genres. It's a mystery set in space, and I loved it. If you like your crime stories to be dark, taut, and containing a speculative angle, this is the book for you.