Murder by Memory by Olivia Waite is a cozy sci-fi novella and the start of a new mystery series following a queer auntie detective (4.25/5 stars)

Murder by Memory by Olivia Waite is a cozy sci-fi novella and the start of a new mystery series following a queer auntie detective.

I really enjoyed this little novella! But it felt a little too short; I really wanted more.

The setting is really interesting: we are aboard the HMS Fairweather, Her Majesty’s most luxurious interstellar passenger liner, about a third of the way into a thousand-year journey to a new planet. Room and board is all inclusive, along with new bodies to shunt your memory into once your old one starts breaking down. The journey is quite long, so you can also “shelf” yourself–keeping your mind preserved in glass in the library–if you’d like to take a nap for a while.

Our point of view character is one of the ship’s detectives. Dorothy Gentleman is a queer lady who is fond of knitting. She is aboard the passenger liner with her slightly chaotic nephew, Ruthie, one of the ship’s programmers. One day, she wakes up in a body that isn’t hers at the same time that another passenger is found murdered.

I will absolutely be continuing on with this series! I’d recommend this to folks who liked Malka Older’s cozy sci-fi mystery series.

I received a complimentary review copy from NetGalley, Tordotcom, and Macmillan Audio. All opinions contained herein are my own.

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