Max Miller Books in Order

The Max Miller series blends a hard-boiled private-eye setup with a future where travelling to the moon is possible, even if its hero would rather avoid it. It begins with The Lunar Express, a science-fiction murder mystery centered on Max, a New York investigator with a reputation for solving difficult cases.

Max is not a polished hero who leaps at every job. He keeps his client list small, drinks too much, and looks after his dog, Cat. He also has two firm dislikes: space travel and people who refuse to accept no for an answer. Those traits give the story its dry, weary edge before the mystery even begins.

Then a mobster asks him to go to Luna.

Frankie Denaro wants Max to investigate something off-world. Max has no interest in helping a known criminal, and he has even less interest in setting foot on the moon. But refusing the case does not leave him free to return to normal life. Before long, he is drugged, trapped in the situation he wanted to avoid, and forced to figure out what Denaro's problem really is.

The setting matters because it puts classic detective-fiction problems in an unfamiliar place. Max still has to read people, decide who is lying, and work out what a client is hiding. Yet the case carries him beyond his usual New York territory and into a world shaped by space travel, criminal pressure, and the unsettling gap between everyday people and those with enough power to move others around.

The tone is noir with a science-fiction twist. Max is blunt, skeptical, and not especially interested in playing by anyone else's rules, but he is also pulled toward doing the decent thing when the stakes rise. The mystery is built around his reluctance as much as his skill. He does not want the job, the destination, or the people involved, which makes every step forward feel earned.

For now, The Lunar Express is the natural starting point. It introduces Max's voice, his life with Cat, and the kind of case that can pull him into danger. Readers looking for a detective story with future tech and lunar travel, rather than a large military campaign, will find this series a useful change of pace from Carter's Galactic Sentinel books.