Rocket Girl
A Kick Johnson Mystery
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Pub Date 23 Feb 2027 | Archive Date 2 Oct 2026
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Description
A plucky, recently widowed mathematician takes a job with a new NASA-funded research center, but when a fellow employee turns up dead, things add up to murder…
Dallas, 1961. There’s a new president in the White House, a new birth control pill, and a new Russian satellite called Sputnik flying overhead. Everything’s new except Kick Johnson’s options: she’s unexpectedly on her own after three months of marriage to a man she barely knew, her car has been repossessed, and no bank will give her—or any single woman—a loan. When she answers an employment ad at the new Center for Rocket Science Research and lands a job as a math aide, her trajectory points upward—until evidence of a murder is found on the property.
The victim was an engineer who worked on the space program. His death raises questions about the safety of the center and the lengths someone will go to steal the research inside. It also highlights more personal issues like why he was at Kick’s house two days before he was killed. Now her new life involves a fair amount of deception and danger with global stakes—not to mention a surprising secret that hits painfully close to home.
As the space race heats up, Kick has to solve a formula she had no part in writing before her future—and that of the space program she’s learned to love—burns up on reentry.
Advance Praise
"If you loved the smart women of Lessons in Chemistry and Hidden Figures then this is for you. Kick is a woman succeeding in a man’s world in the space program, against odds, and solving a murder along the way!" —Rhys Bowen, New York Times bestselling author
"Blast back to 1961 and the dawn of the Space Race with Diane Vallere’s latest, Rocket Girl. Kathleen “Kick” Johnson is a feminist heroine avant la lettre, flawed, to be sure, with a dangerously obsessive curiosity, matched only by her brains and wit. Superbly researched, with some intriguing historical cameos thrown in, and—of course—Vallere’s trademark eye for fashion and design, Rocket Girl is an engrossing read not to be missed." —James W. Ziskin, Anthony, Barry, and Macavity award-winning author of The Prank, Bombay Monsoon, and the Ellie Stone mysteries
"Rocket Girl captures the excitement of the early space race through Kick Johnson, a math aide who solves a shocking murder. Fans of historical mysteries and the early space program won’t be able to put this book down." —Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, space historian and author of Making Space for Women
"It’s a roaring good mystery; a young investigator following the remnants of an unrealized aerospace endeavor through unexpected turns toward a stunning conclusion. Diane Vallere’s engaging book underscores aspiration as the enduring thread in our long engagement with the unknown." —Roger D. Launius, Former NASA chief historian and author of From NACA to NASA to NOW
Marketing Plan
- Advance review outreach to trade publications and historical-mystery media
- Public NetGalley campaign beginning in Sep 2026
- Targeted outreach to independent bookstores, libraries, and booksellers
- Outreach to NASA/space-history organizations and related cultural institutions
- National and regional media outreach emphasizing NASA, women in STEM, and 1960s history
- Author appearances and conference participation through 2027
- Digital advertising campaign targeting historical mystery and crossover readers
- Promotion to author's established readership and newsletter audience
- Goodreads giveaways leading up to publication
- Book club/discussion materials available
Available Editions
| EDITION | Ebook |
| ISBN | 9098951039019 |
| PRICE | $7.99 (USD) |
| PAGES | 334 |