Look, the fact of the matter is there is nothing better than lesbians solving crime. Really, all I have to say is if you like this kind of thing (Sherlock Holmes retellings, cozy mysteries, 1800s London, detectives who solve crimes while secretly pining for each other), you will LOVE this.

Should I describe what the book’s about? Honestly, I didn’t need to hear anything other than “lesbian Sherlock and Watson in space” to know I *needed* to inhale this as quickly as possible, and turns out I was totally right - it was exactly what I hoped for. The SF setting (Jupiter, essentially) is chef’s kiss perfection, a gorgeous futuristic version of spooky, smoggy late-1800s London. The eerily empty train cars, the guttering gas lamps, the deserted railway platforms… the vibe was exactly what I wanted and more. This book was less than 200 pages; I could read a million pages of this without coming up for air. (Don’t worry, I won’t forget my trusty atmoscarf!)

Pleiti’s narration was also perfectly pitched - just the right level of detail to be interesting and soothing at the same time. (If anything, I maybe would have switched the prologue from Mossa’s perspective to an unidentified third person omniscient-type narrator because I don’t think having Mossa’s POV added anything and Pleiti’s was SO strong.) I really liked the premise of Mossa and Pleiti’s relationship - they are exes who dated and then broke up in college - and the way it slowly evolved over the course of the book. Honestly it could have been slower and I would have been just as happy! Which is a rare sentiment from me haha. But this is apparently the first book in a series - I would happily just coast on vibes for at least the first several books of this tbh.

I enjoyed the plot - as long as the details are there in this type of mystery, I’m happy to just let the names and dates and places wash over me and this was a perfect book for that. There were a couple descriptive scenes near the end that could have been a bit clearer, and again I would honestly have happily accepted a more subtle ending! I’m very interested to see where things go from here…

(I *will* just quickly note here that the reason why so many authors write private detectives rather than… public detectives… is that there are many things where if the private detective does it it’s quirky and fun but if the public detective does it it’s bad and illegal and a major ethical red flag. Like, say, restraining a suspect, bringing them to your home, and then keeping them trapped there for many hours so that you can interrogate them at your leisure. For example.)

I dropped everything as soon as this one was approved - sapphic cozy Sherlock Holmes-esque novella taking place off-planet? YES PLEASE. I'm delighted to say that my eagerness paid off - this is really something charming and unique that will likely be enjoyed by a large cross-section of readers. Yes, it wears its Doyle influence on the sleeve of its spacesuit: this is absolutely sapphic Watson and Holmes with its eager and friendly scholar, and its and terse and brilliant investigator - and the mystery itself of the missing man likewise was intriguing and fun. Jupiter felt like the seedy, chilly, gaslit version of London, but you never quite forget that you're on another planet. The details here were wonderful - the worldbuilding was thorough but light-touched. I particularly enjoyed the notion of a "mauzooleum" dedicated to species long since perished as humanity left Earth behind.

Perfect for people who just want to grab a cup of hot tea on a chilly day and fall headfirst into something unusual.

The blurb for this novella calls it “a cozy Holmesian murder mystery and sapphic romance, set on Jupiter,” and that pretty well sums it up.

Our protagonist is a researcher in “Classical Studies,” which in this context means a researcher into the ecology of Earth from before we wrecked the place and the survivors of humanity had to decamp to platforms suspended in the upper reaches of the atmosphere of Jupiter (now known as Giant). The goal of the research of Classical Studies is the ultimate repair of Earth’s environment so that humanity can return home, though they’re taking it slow and determined to get it *right*.

None of that is what the book is about, though. One of the protagonist’s colleagues (one she doesn’t particularly like) has gone missing, to all appearances having jumped off of a remote platform into the Giant’s depths in an apparent suicide. The person in charge of the investigator happens to be an old flame of our protagonist, from their college days.

This book was delightful to read. Most of what I loved about it was the careful re-establishment of a relationship between the two, as both of them are uncertain of where things stand and are very delicately feeling things out. The investigator, for her part, is presented (though not described explicitly) as neuroatypical, which in this case means subtle signals on both ends are a challenge to interpret. Which is where the “Holmesian” really comes into play, for better and for worse. Sherlock Holmes was a brilliant investigator, but also cold and dismissive of relationships. Here, the investigator isn’t cold and dismissive, exactly, but very focused on her work and doesn’t express emotions in way apparent to others.

The science fiction elements are a good background. Malka Older does an excellent job of presenting humanity’s existence on Jupiter as a status quo, something all the characters simply accept without really thinking about, while still informing the entire story to a large degree.

All in all, this was a delightful quick read, and strongly recommended. Comes out on March 7.

The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Ann Older is a captivating murder mystery set in a remote outpost on Jupiter. The setting is immersive, transporting readers to a fascinating world.

The romance between Pleiti and Mossa is a standout element of the story, the mystery of their romantic history adding depth alongside the murder mystery plot. The main plot is well-crafted and engaging, made more fascinating by the dystopian setting.

Highly recommended for fans of sci-fi, murder mysteries, and sapphic romance! Many thanks to Macmillan-Tor/Forge for an audiobook ARC via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review

Malka Older mashes classic crime fiction detective tropes with a science fiction premise and some ferocious world building in her latest book The Mimicking of Known Successes. Crime fiction provides both a familiar structure and a reason for exploring a new milieu. Older’s new book has been described as “cosy”, a form of crime fiction usually set in quaint English villages, which is odd given its setting in the atmosphere of Jupiter. But in riffing on Sherlock Holmes it does invite that comparison.
The book’s prologue involves a missing person. Investigator Mossa has been sent to the platform at the end of the rail car line where a man has disappeared into the fog. The colony that she is part of is built on platforms that orbit in the atmosphere of Jupiter (called Giant by its inhabitants), each joined a series of railways. When Mossa discovers that the man was an academic at the university she knows that she needs to reconnect with her old lover Pleite, herself an academic. The rest of the book is narrated by Pleite as she becomes instrumental in helping Mossa with the case but also finds her attraction being rekindled. The case itself will take them across the colony, and intersect with the work that Pleite and her colleagues are doing to support the eventual return to a damaged Earth.
Mossa is an intuitive and insightful investigator, while Pleite is more methodical and works to keep Mossa grounded. The unresolved attraction between the two, complicated by Mossa’s apparent lack of emotion, adds to the dynamic of the relationship. This set up (now used more and more in crime fiction duos) is pulled straight from the Holmes and Watson dynamic. At one point Pleite needs to do her own investigating not to solve the crime itself but just to keep up with Mossa. But the reason it is used so much is because it works.
The narrative gives Older a chance, through her characters to explore her futuristic gaslight-noir milieu. Yes this is a colony in orbit around Jupiter but it still has train lines, tea shops, a kind of strange zoo and a fusty university.
There are few better genres for really digging in to a place and a time than the crime genre. As far back as Isaac Asimov’s robot detective books (The Caves of Steel (1953) and The Naked Sun (1956)) science fiction authors have been using the genre to support their world building. The set up usually allows a detective to move around a society, engage with people and make observations about how it all works. Some recent examples of this approach include John Scalzi’s Lock in, Chris Brookmyer’s Places in the Darkness, Alastair Reynold’s The Prefect and Elysium Fire and Eddie Robson’s Drunk on All Your Strange New Worlds. And when the two genres come together well (as they do here), they support each other – giving an expansive view of a particular milieu but also a structure on which to hang the plot.
The challenge with mashing science fiction and crime is getting all of the elements of both genres right. And it is here that this book suffers a little in that while the solution is clever and partially set up, there are some elements missing that would allow readers to make all of the connections they need. Part of this is that the solution relies on a deeper understanding of the world, and particularly the academic world, in which the action is set. But this is a minor quibble in what is an enjoyable introduction to new characters and a world that it seems Older is likely to explore further.

I thought this had a very strong beginning, but it, unfortunately, lost me toward the end. This is about Mossa, an investigator on Giant (the planet where humans now live on various platforms that circumnavigate Jupiter) who gets called to investigate a potential suicide on a sparsely occupied platform. The clues she uncovers there lead her to Valdegeld University and she seeks the help of her ex-girlfriend. The story is told by Plieti, Mossa's ex, a researcher at the university. She hesitantly decides to help even though they haven't seen each other since their own college days.
As I said I enjoyed the first half of the book, the world-building was fascinating, and enjoyed the idea that humans were trying to figure a way back to an Earth that was possibly slowly recovering <spoiler>also the idea of how nothing would be perfect enough for those in charge to finally push the button and restart Earth's ecosystem, which is what the "villain" argues. </spoiler>. Even the murder-mystery aspect had started out strong. After the strong prologue and chapter one, I wished that the perspectives would switch between Mossa and Plieti but unfortunately not. Plieti had her moments but I would have liked to have seen some of Mossa's thought process. As the story progressed Plieti felt a bit annoying to me (which was valid, she didn't know a lot of what was going on since she wasn't an investigator) and Mossa was just one-dimensional which didn't really help with their relationship either. Maybe if this was longer (it's only 176 pages) that could have been fleshed out more.

Overall it was an interesting sciences fiction mystery read and I would definitely give the next book a try.

Cozy Holmesian murder mystery and sapphic romance; let's take that one by one, shall we?
Cozy — check. Also, at 176 pages, a short read as well.
Holmesian — yeeeesssss; I can see how one of the MCs (Mossa) is a bit like Holmes, but it's not so in your face? Also, her Watson (Pleiti) is not just a dump for her brilliance and hold her own like a boss.
Murder mystery — I'd say that if one approaches this solely as a murder mystery, it would be a bit disappointing, not because it's bad, but simply because it doesn't stick too closely to the tropes one expects from murder mysteries. The solution, when it comes, feels a bit rushed, and underwhelming. But see the murder mystery simply as a vehicle for the science fiction, and it's brilliant. I wish I could say more, but that would be giving away too many spoilers. All I will say, is that I love the world building here, and the possibilities that the author teases. I want a sequel, so very much!
Sapphic romance — subtler than I would have liked, but there. I like both Mossa and Pleiti as characters, and it was nice to see them be vulnerable with each other and care for each other, which ultimately is what one wants from a romance, no?
I really enjoyed this book, and my only complaint is that it was too short.
I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.
(This review has been posted to Goodreads and The StoryGraph, and been shared on my private Facebook and Instagram accounts.)

I requested this ARC after I heard a rave review from Books Like Woah on YouTube and I was not disappointed. Our climate crisis should be the topic of *many more books, but I'll take what I can get. It was interesting to read about climate crisis through the lens of a fictional civilization on Jupiter after Earth has become uninhabitable. I feel like Older did a great job introducing true potentials for our future in a palatable way while incorporating a mystery AND a romance. I liked that Mossa and Plieti had a history with their college romance and I enjoyed getting to know both of their careers as a university researcher and an investigator in this "new world." I would definitely read more of their story and that of all the developed areas on Giant. Excellent world building.

At some point in the future humans are living around Jupiter (quite cleverly I should add), but with some working on research with the hope of eventually being able to return to Earth. I enjoyed the book and thought the world building was very well done. I got a good sense of the way in which people were managing to live around a gas giant, utilising this to benefit them. The characterisation was well done, both Mossa and Pleiti were quite distinct from each other and I got a good feel for both of them, their likes and dislikes and how they worked.

This is a novella, not a full length book and I think this is what let the story down. The investigation itself was well handled but I felt it was a little rushed in places as was the relationship between Mossa and Pleiti at the end of the story. I feel if this was a full length story then the investigation and the main characters relationships could have been expanded more and gone into in more depth.

Having said the length let it down, this was still for me a good, solid story. I enjoyed it and would like to see more featuring Mossa and Pleiti, though preferably as a full length novel next time.

3.5 stars

A little understated gem of a story, set in the future after we have destroyed Earth and everyone has moved to another planet, living tenuously and conducting research into re-populating plant and animal life.

But -- it is a mystery. It features Investigator Mossa and her college ex-girlfriend Pleiti who is still in academia doing research. They are both odd ducks -- not blessed with "normal" social skills and both a bit prickly in their own way. They spend most of the story being very careful around each other while investigating the strange death of a man at a railway station.

I enjoyed the quirky nature of the narrative and the characters. I did balk a little at the very end when the romantic situation gets resolved with one of the characters basically reneging on all the issues that split them up. But I would read another and this is definitely a unique story. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This slim sci-fi, murder mystery, romance and climate apocalypse novella takes place on Jupiter, where survivors of Earth’s climate collapse have fled to survive and regroup. Jupiter proves to have a toxic gas surface with ripping winds and smog, and people have built an elaborate platform and railway system to live suspended above the surface. The surviving intellectuals have created a university and dedicated themselves to figuring out how best to re-seed Earth’s prior functioning biosystem to make it habitable again, having taken with them from the Earth seeds and DNA of all lost plants and animals.

One of the scholars specializing in “classics” of the lost ecosystem, gets summoned out to her ex-girlfriend when a scholar colleague disappears off a remote station. Fearing he may have suicidally thrown himself off the rails, Mossa, the ex-girlfriend who’s now an accomplished investigator, goes on an intense hunt to figure out what exactly happened both to the missing colleague as well as to their prior romance.

So hoping for future investigations by Mossa!

Thanks to MacMillan-Tor/Forge and NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy.

Malka Older treats readers of The Mimicking of Known Successes with an upbeat and exciting novella length mystery. Pleiti and Mossa, a scholar and investigator respectively, live on Jupiter, known by its residents as Giant. A zoological theft and a remote disappearance spur the two old friends on a whirlwind quest for answers.

I enjoyed getting to know Pleiti and Mossa and the world of Giant. Older doesn't give away too many details of the world nor their relationship at the beginning; we are exposed to their lives and life in general on a gas giant slowly. I loved the premise of how humans would live on Jupiter: rings and orbiting platforms and free rail cars connecting cities and farms and factories. I found it easy to picture the world and as things unfolded my mental image became richer and more in depth with the information on weather patterns, invasive pests, and the guy on the street corner warning of the impending apocalypse. Older doesn't posit that life on another planet would be the same as it is on Earth, but she evokes and represents humanity in a way that feels honest.

My only complaint about this story is that it moved too quickly at times. Early on, Pleiti and Mossa make plans for a meal at a restaurant called the Slow Burn; I found myself wanting the narrative to burn more slowly too. They made it to their meal with only slight delays, just as I made it to the end of the story in what I felt was too soon. I especially felt as though the final few chapters after the main mystery is wrapped up to be a bit rushed through. I understand that in a novella, authors must pick where to expand and what to condense, so my hope is that future stories from Older get the treatment of a full length novel, as she has the ability to write compelling stories in unique settings with characters you want to root for and I simply want more spend more time with them!

[4.5/5 rounded up!]

Thank you to Tor Publishing Group and Netgalley for the advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

In a dystopian future, a man goes missing from a remote platform of the human colony on Jupiter. Inspector Mossa--brilliant but anti-social--is called to investigate, and the trail leads her back to her past. Her past at university and with her former girlfriend, Pleiti. When the two of them start to pull on the thread they are following, several more fall out...and lead to a conspiracy bigger than they had imagined. This appears to be the first in a series, and I can't wait to read the next one!

I loved it! It really got me outside my comfort zone in an unusual way, but I ended up being happy that it did. I don't tend toward dystopian fiction, but as this was a mystery I thought I'd give it a try. I was definitely a bit lost at first, which I've come to expect when reading science fiction and entering a whole new universe; one has to catch up and learn a whole new reality as the story unspools. I also stumbled quite a bit over the words mixed in from other languages, which I had to look up in a translator. Some details were totally relatable, such as the fact that cats and cockroaches survived earth's destruction on their own. The dialogue seems to be a bit stilted too, but I came to believe that was part of this dystopian future and the social awkwardness of the two protagonists--it fit the book, somehow. And the protagonists really grew on me. Pleiti is relatable and idealistic, and Mossa is colder, but both are shy and introverted. The mystery captured me and kept me reading until the very end.

Even though this was a shorter read, it felt like one of my biggest hurdles this year. I just found it to be very dense and uninviting. I tried to chalk up the way the characters spoke as some scifi/futuristic speak (like slang) but it just felt overly complicated for no reason. I also didn't get a sense that the characters had any connection to each other and it didn't get much better as it continued. A miss for me.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book.

I was really excited for this one, but it just didn’t work for me unfortunately. The dialogue felt stilted and the entire tone of the book felt stale and hollow. There was no heart, I felt nothing for the characters, and I wasn’t engaged by the plot.

A mystery that kept me guessing, a sort of Sherlock and Watson romance, and an inventive and thought provoking setting.

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Tor Publishing Group for an advance copy of a mystery set on Jupiter where two people, once together, now apart, team up to determine what happened to a missing scholar.

My recent literature fixation has been mysteries set in far distant climes, where the food, the scenery, the history and the culture is just as important as the mystery. I like to few the familiar through unfamiliar eyes, to see what is important, how people think, and how they come to decisions on guilt, innocence and maybe just letting it go. Maybe I feel that I am learning as I am being entertained, but the different scenes, the people, the food especially the food, never ceases to keep my flipping pages and being enthralled. The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older is a mystery set in a very far away place, Jupiter, way in the future, in a time when humans fled their dying Earth, setting up platforms in the sky and always thinking of coming back to Earth.

A man steps out of a railcar on a far platform, is seen by a publican, and disappears, not into thin air but possibly the center of Jupiter. Investigator Mossa assigned to the case thinks the case is far more than a simple suicide or disappearance, especially when Mossa finds that the person was a Scholar at the university in Valdegeld. Mossa approaches an old flame Pleiti who worked in the same part of the University, studying the ways that the human colonists could one day return home to Earth. Together they begin to investigate what the scholar was up to, and why someone is trying to keep the investigation from going anywhere. And maybe rekindle a flame once thought dead between them.

A different kind of gaslight mystery. This time the gas is all around them from the planet, causing storms, fog, cold and all sorts of atmospheres that a Victorian detective would feel comfortable in. This is very much a Holmes pastiche, with a lot of science, and a bit of romance. The book is short but packs a lot of world building and ideas. The mystery is ok, the reasons get a bit murky, but the story and the setting make up for a lot of that. The two leads are good, Mossa remains a lot more of a mystery, and her motives for returning to Pleiti might need more of an explanation, but since this is the first book in the series, well there is time. There is a quick switch in narration in the beginning which might be a little confusing, but the story sticks together well, and does hold up, and makes one intrigued for more. A very promising start for what seems like a fun different kind of mystery series, one on a world I would like to know more about.

Fans of mystery and especially international mysteries will enjoy this, along with science fiction fans. Also the representation is the big point between the two characters, and it is handled well, and one can't help but root for them. This is my first book by Malka Older, but I would like to read more, especially in this series.

Thank you to Macmillan–Tor/Forge for this early Netgalley copy of A Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older.

Mossa is an Investigator on Jupiter, which, following the peril of Earth, humanity has long-since colonized. When a man connected to her old university goes missing under mysterious circumstances, Mossa enlists the help of her scholar ex-girlfriend, Pleiti, to solve the case.

This is one of those books that—in order for the prose to flow naturally—should be read in a noir-style mid-Atlantic accent. And yet, try as I might, I still had no idea what was going on for most of the book’s first half.

Thankfully, though, I did catch on eventually.

The romantic subplot in this book appealed to me greatly. I love a good amount of yearning, of pining, of tentative touches, and this book supplied these and more. Mossa and Pleiti’s (friends-to-lovers-to-strangers-to-friends-to-lovers, if you will) chemistry is palpable, and it was hard for me not to root for them, both in the investigation and in their relationship.

All at once a Sherlock and Watson-style romance and a commentary on the very possible effects of climate change, A Mimicking of Known Successes is a delightful little novella that really captured me in the second half.

CW: suicide mention.

☆ ☆ ☆ – GOOD

What a neat little story. An old school mystery (Sherlock and Agatha feels), with a chance of rekindling an old flame – and oh – it takes place on Jupiter! Literally, out of this world (Sorry for the dad jokes).

Here, you have the two main characters serving as the reincarnation of Holmes and Watson as Mossa and Pleiti --- two, very socially awkward women. The (second chance) romance itself is soft and subtle. I found it rather sweet. Most of their communication happens without a single word being said, but rather based on actions and how well they know each other. This story made me think about how our reactions and responses to things change as we grow older, and how because of that, so will how you view actions within relationships. What once may have been dealbreaker before, you might actually have a better understanding for now.

The main focus of the story is the captivating mystery. There’s a lot of running around and bouncing ideas off of each other. Truly fascinating world building in such a short time frame. You can knock this story out in an afternoon curled up on the couch with a pot of tea beside you. Ideas of Earth is still lingering in the background, and of what we left behind, but pointing towards the future and what we can create for ourselves.

I hope to meet Mossa and Pleiti again.

4.5

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor for sharing this ARC with me in exchange for an honest review.

The Mimicking of Known Successes (Mossa & Pleiti #1) by Malka Ann Older has a lot of potential, but it didn't quite manage to live up to it for me. It's still a solid sci-fi story with great world-building, but the characters are where I struggled. I felt a few more steps removed from them than I would have preferred. While the world-building shines, the character development is a bit too opaque for my tastes.