Guardian Angel by Mike Resnick

A "concerned" mother hires Jake Masters, private investigator, to find her son who has run away with the circus.  A space circus - so that makes it science fiction.

I joke, but a traveling circus is a big part of the story here.  The story was written as a straight up detective story, which I appreciated.  There is something engaging when the problems we deal with today are the same in the future.  Only the scenery changes.  And the FTL travel too.

One aspect of this future society that I found particularly interesting, sad but interesting, was the segregation of aliens from humans.  It was a bitter example of history repeating itself.  Even though it had nothing to do with the case it added atmosphere to the whole world Resnick created.

It was a well told story, with double crosses, shady deals and shifting loyalties.

It was a good opening entry in a collection of SF mysteries.

Mike Resnick's website - http://mikeresnick.com/

Mike Resnick