Ed Robins' Ten Cent Universe

Justice for a Price

All I wanted was to find the bastard that killed a little girl, but my captain has other plans for me. A young man decided he couldn't handle a lifetime aboard the starship Australis, and took the easy way off. Problem is, his mama can't accept the truth, so now I gotta hold her hand while she grieves.

Or maybe there's more to the case than it seems.

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Reviews

A concise and intriguing science fiction mystery with an engaging premise and a strong investigative element. The combination of a futuristic setting and questions surrounding an apparent suicide gives the story an interesting sense of suspense. A good fit for readers who enjoy speculative mysteries and detective stories with a science fiction backdrop.

I love this witty, wisecracking detective who’s more concerned with solving the case than following the rules... The plot is realistic, the humor is dark but delightful, and if you like a clever detective tale, you’ll love Tom Devoe and how he gets things done.

Imagine, if you will, a Philip Marlowe-esque pulp detective story unfolding on the ship from Kim Stanley Robinson's "Aurora." If that description makes any sense to you, this book is for you.

Chivalry Will Get You Dead

All I wanted was to drink until I couldn’t remember Madelyn anymore, but a former detective can’t just ignore a murdered dame in his compartment. Why would someone kill such a beauty and why’d they choose me to take the fall?

It'll be generations before the Starship Australis reaches Tau Ceti, but I only have days to clear my own name. To find the killer, I'll have to dive into the ship's seedy underworld of prostitutes, dealers, assassins and one seriously pissed off crime boss. Then, once it's over, maybe I can make time with my gorgeous bartender, or at least get back to drinking enough to forget what a mess my life’s become.

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Reviews

This well-written book is unique. It's a detective story set on a spaceship with spare vivid scene-setting, strong characterization, and beautifully rendered prose.

[The characters] are well written and fun takes on classic noir tropes. The world is fleshed out enough, but never so over built I start checking out. It is so impressively simple. Not a detail too much or too little. The perfect afternoon read, the perfect paperback...

Chivalry Will Get You Dead is a hardcore, hard-boiled detective story by Ed Robins. Part science fiction, part Mickey Spillane novel, it’s about a detective aboard an ark ship traveling through space. Make no mistake, this is a mature story with a lot of sex and violence in the vein of Spillane and others of his style.

If you like your detectives more like Mike Hammer than Philip Marlowe, then this is your kind of book. The mixture of science fiction also adds another layer to an already rich storyline.

Murders in the Gray

All I wanted was to make time with the sensuous Jesse Alderman, but cantankerous Jazz had been accused of murder. Just some girl I’d met once. Still, sometimes you know an innocent face when you see one. Too bad no one will listen to me – not even my best friend.

But when the consort of a royal is murdered under similar circumstances, suddenly everyone is all ears. Now the Earls who run the Starship Australis expect me to sort the damned thing out! And I’ve managed to piss off a group of vigilantes who seem to have only one thing in mind: making me dead.

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Reviews

The book is funny, dark, and feels like it should be rainy...and in that way it checks all the wonderful boxes I look for in noir craft.

It's nearly curtains several times for our intrepid hero as he manages to sort out the players and the pawns on his way to the truth and his own life in the balance. Hang on, it's a bumpy ride!

I read this the day after reading the first Starship Australis story and again finished it in a sitting! These books are so fast paced I cannot put them down.

A Violent Man

All I wanted was to put my past behind me, but another little girl is dead and my ex has accused my not-quite-boss of being a serial killer. The rub is I already put that psycho to death with my own hands. Or could be I killed an innocent man.

I’ve spent a lifetime hiding behind sarcasm when I could; violence when it was available. Drinking and bleeding away a whole lotta bad. Gonna have to confront it all, including how I lost the love of my life, in order to find a murdering psychopath stalking the corridors of the Starship Australis. And, maybe, I’ll find out just what kinda man I really am.

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Reviews

I don't buy many books but these, these I will anxiously await and buy without hesitation. Cannot wait for the next one!!!

Really enjoyed all 3 books In the series. Love the characters and back stories. Well written and paced. Will eagerly be awaiting book 4.

Everything you’d want in a detective story is packed within these pages. As long as you can stomach the realism involved in the crimes that humans commit against each other, there’s so much to appreciate...

Easy As It Gets

All I wanted was to never feel anything again. Manipulated and betrayed, I'd lost all hope for a happy ending. I chose to deaden my emotions, and self-will, with the drug Copa, and that made it possible to go on living–if you wanna call it that.

Then a mother and her son go missing and, as it turns out, I'm just the guy to find them. Lucky me. Ripped outta my high, I become trapped in a tangle of cons, lies and treachery that not everyone wants unraveled. The lives of a boy and his mother hang in the balance as I teeter on the edge, and it's only a question of which will put me in more danger: my mouth or my addiction.

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Reviews

[T]he humor in this one is often surprising, we learn still more about this starship-city, and Tom’s new experiences are viscerally realistic. If you read the previous three books, you’ll know where we left our protagonist, and the first chapter flows naturally from there. Still, we learn a lot right away, and things get even more interesting quickly, as you’ve also come to expect!

While I liked the previous three books, I think Ed Robins has stepped up his game with Easy as It Gets, providing us with a more interesting main character. In the end, this novel opens up a new avenue for the next book as Devoe moves forward instead of backwards.

Curves and Complications

Soon as her curves walked in the door, I knew there'd be complications, but a down-and-out detective can't be too picky. Besides, it was a simple case of finding a missing item and catching a thief. Next thing I know, I'm antagonizing the starship's elite, making friends with people who tried to kill me, and racing to recover the item before it slips through my fingers.

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