The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles by Malka Older is the second novella in a cozy sci-fi mystery series set on Jupiter with sapphic romance elements (4.25/5 stars)

The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles by Malka Older is the second novella in a cozy sci-fi mystery series set on Jupiter with sapphic romance elements.

I borrowed the audiobook from my local library and listened to it while I was driving to a convention. Lindsey Dorcus does a great job narrating. She packs a punch in a little package (the audiobook is just under 5 hours long).

We’re following scholar Pleiti as our main character again, and I do really like her voice. While Mossa, an investigator, again pulls her into a missing persons case, we get a lot less of her in this story. I’d love to see more of her in the next book. Here, Pleiti isn’t sure if Mossa feels the same way about her, so I hope we get deeper into their relationship next time.

That said, I ended up liking this book very slightly more than the first one in the series. It’s a little longer, and I appreciated that we got more worldbuilding in this installment. The plotting also felt more streamlined; the first novella had a wee bit of meandering in the middle. This could be because we already know what the setting is, so there’s more room for the mystery to breathe.

I already have a copy of the next book in the series and I’m excited to dig into it! If you like Holmesian stories but want more lesbians and sci-fi in your mysteries, you should absolutely check out this series.

Rep: sapphic, Mossa is definitely neurodivergent but that is never outright stated

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The Investigations of Mossa & Pleiti includes:

• The Mimicking of Known Successes
• The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles