Strictly Human
(2026)(The tenth book in the CSCI (Cruise Ship Crime Investigators) series)
A novel by Stuart St Paul
STRICTLY HUMAN
A story of love, loss, and what makes us human.
STRICTLY HUMAN is a near-future thriller and love story about what we risk, and what we reclaim, when the line between human and machine begins to blur.
Investigator Dwight Ritter, a double-above-knee amputee, is sent undercover aboard a luxury cruise ship to investigate a recurring crime. There he reunites with Dixie Tapper, the brilliant clinician he is falling for, and the woman who left for Boston just as their connection was deepening.
Dixie deploys eerily lifelike robotic dance partners for solo passengers, machines so seamless they make guests question how much of themselves they have already traded for convenience. She also carries a dangerous hope: that advanced medical robotics could restore Dwight’s full mobility and make him superhuman with an integrated robotic lower body. It could give him back everything he has lost, and the courage to find his daughter, last seen when he was broken in a hospital bed before his wife disappeared with her. Or it could take the last pieces of his identity.
Meanwhile, young investigator Macey Bailey uncovers a hidden roll of paintings by forgotten Black artist Juno M’Bouto, exposing a conspiracy stretching from Miami’s earliest settlers to the modern art world.
STRICTLY HUMAN is a gripping story of love, resilience, and the fragile line between human and machine, proving that connection, courage, and empathy remain beautifully, irreducibly human.
Genre: Cozy Mystery
A story of love, loss, and what makes us human.
STRICTLY HUMAN is a near-future thriller and love story about what we risk, and what we reclaim, when the line between human and machine begins to blur.
Investigator Dwight Ritter, a double-above-knee amputee, is sent undercover aboard a luxury cruise ship to investigate a recurring crime. There he reunites with Dixie Tapper, the brilliant clinician he is falling for, and the woman who left for Boston just as their connection was deepening.
Dixie deploys eerily lifelike robotic dance partners for solo passengers, machines so seamless they make guests question how much of themselves they have already traded for convenience. She also carries a dangerous hope: that advanced medical robotics could restore Dwight’s full mobility and make him superhuman with an integrated robotic lower body. It could give him back everything he has lost, and the courage to find his daughter, last seen when he was broken in a hospital bed before his wife disappeared with her. Or it could take the last pieces of his identity.
Meanwhile, young investigator Macey Bailey uncovers a hidden roll of paintings by forgotten Black artist Juno M’Bouto, exposing a conspiracy stretching from Miami’s earliest settlers to the modern art world.
STRICTLY HUMAN is a gripping story of love, resilience, and the fragile line between human and machine, proving that connection, courage, and empathy remain beautifully, irreducibly human.
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Used availability for Stuart St Paul's Strictly Human