This is the opening story in a series of YA books about the character named Kipton, a 14 year old girl living in an earth colony on the planet Mars. Throughout the series she has adventures that involve a number of science fiction themes andmysteries that she solves.Kipton, with the aid of her stuffed teddy bear named Gruff who thinks and talks, investigates the murder of her Uncle Charlie who was the research director for the science center Marsaire. The pair follow the trail that leads them to many interesting twists and turns until they solve the case.