Mortal Mission by P.J. Skinner

SPSFC 2023

Will they find life on Mars, or death? When the science officer for the first mission to Mars dies suddenly, backup Hattie Fredericks gets the coveted place on the crew. But her presence on the Starship provokes suspicion when it coincides with a series of incidents which threaten to derail the mission. After a near-miss while landing on the planet, the world watches as Hattie and her fellow astronauts struggle to survive. But, worse than the harsh elements on Mars, is their growing realisation that someone, somewhere, is trying to destroy the mission. When more astronauts die, Hattie doesn’t know who to trust. And her only allies are 35 million miles away. As the tension ratchets up, violence and suspicion invade both worlds.