The Stars Turned Inside Out: A Novel

A suspicious death at CERN, the famous Swiss physics laboratory near Geneva, launches an investigation that intertwines science, philosophy, and the global competition to understand the universe's fundamental nature. Deep underground where the Large Hadron Collider operates, the body of Howard Anderby, a young physicist new to the lab, is discovered during maintenance. He appears to have been irradiated by the collider, yet security footage shows no record of him entering the tunnel, and the facility's video surveillance is inadequate. CERN hires private investigator Sabine Leroux, who has connections to the lab's administration and knowledge of particle physics, to investigate while keeping the death confidential. Howard's colleague and romantic interest Eve struggles to understand his death and questions whether she could have prevented it. As Sabine investigates academic rivalries and personal secrets within the lab, an intensifying international physics competition raises suspicions of a mole at CERN. The investigation reveals what knowledge may be worth killing for and tests the loyalties of those involved.