The Romance of Crime by Gareth Roberts

This document contains excerpts from "The Romance of Crime," an original novel featuring the Fourth Doctor, Romana, and K-9, established as taking place between two specific television stories. The narrative centers on the trio's arrival at the Rock of Judgement, a rocket-powered asteroid functioning as a court and prison, where they quickly become involved in a murder investigation led by the unorthodox detective Spiggot. The central mystery connects a recent slaughter on Planet Eleven with an imprisoned, powerful criminal named Xais and a bizarre artist named Menlove Stokes, all while the antagonist, revealed to be the corrupt High Archon Pyerpoint working with Xais and the Nisbett brothers, attempts to acquire vast reserves of the unique mineral helicon from Planet Eleven. The story concludes with the Doctor and his allies preventing a catastrophe, although the intense confrontation results in multiple deaths and leaves questions about Xais’s ultimate fate.