Need Help Finding a Book Title

[sphen603]

I'm making a reading list of some novels that I have missed over the years, yet a title I remember hearing about escapes me.
I remember hearing about it on a podcast a few years ago. I don't know if I heard about it on escape pod but I figured this would be a good place to post.

Here are the details that I remember:
It occurred on the moon (but maybe mars now that I think about it)
An ancient skull if found
A murder investigation is launched to find out who murdered the owner of said skull

That is all I remember... Any help is greatly appreciated!

[Swamp]

Was there a guy with a bullwhip and a fedora? 

[CGFxColONeill]

lol wow Swamp...


I dont guess I have ever read that one Sphen
someone here should know it though

[Russell Nash]

Asimov did some SF mysteries, but I don't recall anything like that.

[wintermute]

It sounds kind of like Niven's The Woman in Del Ray Crater, but that was a short story, not a novel. He did other science fiction murder mysteries, but that's the one that comes to mind, possibly because I just read it a little while ago.

[AarrowOM]

I don't recognize the plot, but by the sound of it, I would say that it might date from the Golden Age of SF.

Does anyone else think we should have a seperate board for requests like this?  Personally, I just think it would be a bit easier to get people to help if posts like this didn't sink amongst the other SF discussion threads.

[Russell Nash]

Does anyone else think we should have a seperate board for requests like this?  Personally, I just think it would be a bit easier to get people to help if posts like this didn't sink amongst the other SF discussion threads.

We get a post like this once every 2 to 3 months.  A board of its own would be ridiculous.

[Windup]

Inherit the Stars seems to meet most of your criteria, though the object found is a whole body, not just the skull.

<<mods, please EP-ize the link>>

_{Mod:And lo, the prodigal link was found, and it was found EP-ized.}

[AarrowOM]

Does anyone else think we should have a seperate board for requests like this?  Personally, I just think it would be a bit easier to get people to help if posts like this didn't sink amongst the other SF discussion threads.

We get a post like this once every 2 to 3 months.  A board of its own would be ridiculous.

Fair enough.  I tend to log on in spurts at about the same interval so I don't notice the lulls.  I do think that forgetting titles and authors to books or stories is a big problem and that the collective knowledge of the forum members probably could help.

[stePH]

Does anyone else think we should have a seperate board for requests like this?  Personally, I just think it would be a bit easier to get people to help if posts like this didn't sink amongst the other SF discussion threads.

We get a post like this once every 2 to 3 months.  A board of its own would be ridiculous.

Fair enough.  I tend to log on in spurts at about the same interval so I don't notice the lulls.  I do think that forgetting titles and authors to books or stories is a big problem and that the collective knowledge of the forum members probably could help.

The one with the query can always bump the thread back up if it's in danger of slipping from the first page unanswered.

[Russell Nash]

Does anyone else think we should have a seperate board for requests like this?  Personally, I just think it would be a bit easier to get people to help if posts like this didn't sink amongst the other SF discussion threads.

We get a post like this once every 2 to 3 months.  A board of its own would be ridiculous.

Fair enough.  I tend to log on in spurts at about the same interval so I don't notice the lulls.  I do think that forgetting titles and authors to books or stories is a big problem and that the collective knowledge of the forum members probably could help.

The one with the query can always bump the thread back up if it's in danger of slipping from the first page unanswered.

I'm not a fan of the mindless bump.  I think it just annoys the regulars.

[Planish]

I was going to suggest Algis Budrys' Rogue Moon, but there are too many differences.

Could you have heard about it on the http://timetravelershow.com/ podcast? It sounds like the sort of thing (vintage SF) they might have read or mentioned.