Murder on the Interstellar Express (Bell Begrudgingly Solves It)

For fans of The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells who wanted a bit more swearing and dereliction of duty.

Bell's lifelong wish was to leave her colony world. She should have been more specific.

In the face of an existential threat to her world-an impending alien invasion-Bell Beauregard does something unprecedented: her job. She's rewarded by being labeled a traitor, sentenced to indentured servitude, and shipped off-world on a half-built colony ship being used as an escape hatch for the rich and powerful.

Bell is woken from cryosleep as part of an emergency maintenance crew, but before she even has a chance to shirk her duties or flirt with the enticing Tas, things go full "oh, f#*$ me!" when a fellow prisoner is brutally murdered and Bell is the most obvious suspect. To have any chance with Tas-and, like, clear her name and stuff-Bell must begrudgingly solve the murder.

But false accusations, unrequited romance, and having to make an effort are the least of Bell's concerns. Because the killer isn't content to stop at one victim. And if Bell can't unravel the mystery, the only way to prove her innocence may be to turn up dead.