If you’ve ever wondered how a character like Miss Marple would fare in a Blade Runner-esque world, then this novella is for you. Murder by Memory is a compact murder mystery set on a spaceship en route to a habitable planet. The ship detective, Dorothy Gentleman, wakes up in the midst of a magnetic storm and discovers two things: 1) there is a corpse on the ship and 2) her mind is occupying the body of a potential murder suspect. Using her keen observation and newer (younger) body, Dorothy uncovers a larger, slippery scheme aboard the spaceship. Simultaneously pleasant and high stakes.

I received a copy of this novella via NetGalley.

I’ve been a fan of Olivia Waite’s romance for a while, so I was interested to see how much I’d enjoy her SFF. And the verdict is: quite a bit, actually. This is a murder mystery on a generation ship, where new bodies can be replicated when the old one wears out, and consciousness can be transferred from body to body. Consciousnesses are stored in the ship’s Library, on book-like hard drives between bodies, and much of the social and familial ties are demonstrated by where people get “shelved.” Individual memories can be re-experienced through cocktail-making.

This is a society where basic needs are (blessedly) collectively taken care of for everyone, so people are free to pursue professions and passions as they will, and encouraged in doing so to enhance the collective experience. Not only does this society have gardens and fabric designers, it has YARN SHOPS. This is the first example of a generation ship I’d plausibly be willing to exist upon.

And then our intrepid ship’s detective wakes up in the wrong body, and discovers another body, along with the clearly deliberate destruction of books in the Library, which erases those consciousnesses without backups. The game, as they say, is afoot.

Tonally, this is close to Mary Robinette Kowal’s The Spare Man (which I also recommend). The plot moves quickly and the characters are engaging; some you want to hang out with, and everyone is interesting. Waite continues to build worlds where queerness visibly exists without much comment (she does this in her romance as well), and good banter, only now it’s on a spaceship rather than during the Regency. The solving of the mystery itself is satisfactory.

Strongly recommended.

The premise of this book is fantastic—futuristic space journey aboard a ship where people’s basic needs are taken care of, they make of point of assuring us that cops don’t really exist, queerness is normalized, and bodily death has been removed as an obstacle. That opens up to much opportunity to explore a really unexpected angle when it comes to murder mysteries, but instead we are given the same old motivators of human misery, just in a setting where they no longer really make sense. It was kind of disappointing to be honest. I can see why this was compared to Becky Chambers because of the setting, but I don’t think it actually explores the potential joys and challenges of this particular vision of the future in a unique or meaningful way.

'Murder by memory' is the fun cosy queer sci-fi mystery book you don't know you need, but don't worry i'm here to tell you that you need it! I would take 100 of these little novellas if Olivia Waite is willing to provide them.

It was such an innovative plot, putting the cosy mystery genre and giving it that sci-fi twist that adds so much dimensionality to the ways the plot can shape and the ways the characters can be formed. It was so fun, so simple and so addictive. The only complaint I'd raise is less a fault of the book and more that I just want more from this world and this central mc - it was slightly too short, if this is turned into a series of some variety I will be clawing at the gates Immediately.

The MC is an older queer woman which is something so rarely portrayed that combining it with this unique plot and the nature of mysteries like Miss Marple and others of that variety adds some real flavour that I loved. Anyways, this was fun, I had a great time and I would love more!

3.5 stars. Suggest to readers of The Spare Man, as this is also a locked-room murder mystery on a space ship. Sci-fi trappings like cloning, consciousness transfer, and AI make this nominally sci-fi, but the story is a mystery. There is an interesting opportunity to discuss whether the main character is disabled-- during the story she is in a young abled body, but each person can live several lifetimes and their bodies have lifespans; her previous bodies have been all prone to the same infirmities and she has memories of being disabled and even paralyzed and she is calmly rational about facing that future again.

I was really excited to see what sci-fi would look like from this author. I found it unfortunately rushed-- a little bit more space to explore the characters would have made the crime more compelling. Although the main character (and, actually, every named character) is LGBTQ, there's no romance in this book, which fans of the author may be expecting. Manage expectations accordingly.

While short and less satisfying that it could be, this story could set up a universe for a series-- next could be a prequel about the main character and her late partner.

eARC from NetGalley.

Extremely charming and cozy sci-fi detective story. It was nicely simple, short, and a joy to sink into. I found myself wishing it was twice as long! I wouldn't mind exploring more of this world and seeing more of Dorothy Gentleman. What a gem!

A lovely, short sci-fi murder mystery - a perfect read for a cold stormy night. Waite efficiently and effectively builds a compact world for this story and, of course, has written some delightful characters. I personally loved that these characters all have skills and hobbies (knitting, cocktail-mixing, etc.) which are not strictly necessary on a spaceship headed for a new planet but which serve to humanize them and provide much-needed creative outlets on a journey thousands of years long. The concept of a society where everyone saves their memories and is reborn over and over and over is a stunning (and slightly eerie) idea.

Our main character is a ship's detective trying to solve a murder and a mystery, all while her consciousness has mistakenly been placed in the body of her biggest suspect!

Murder by Memory is an interesting, quirky mystery set on a luxurious interstellar passenger liner. After a slightly strange start, I quickly found myself drawn into the story, and rather enjoyed it.

I don’t want to go into too much detail in this review, because that might spoil some of the innovative elements that Waite’s injected into this future. The author’s created an intriguing future with memory uploading, rejuvenation, and so forth. But what happens when someone is murdered in such a reality? Turns out, there are ways to make a murder stick, and when this happens, detective (of a sort) Dorothy Gentleman is woken to investigate. Dorothy is an excellent guide to this strange and intriguing setting, and Murder by Memory showcases again how great detectives and/or investigators are as protagonists in new settings. As we follow Gentleman’s investigation, readers get to know some of the most important members of the crew/population, as well as an introduction to life on HMS Fairweather.

Murder by Memory is a tightly told mystery tale. The murder plot is, ultimately, quite sinister (beyond the normal amount of sinister for any murder plot), given the nature of life (and death and reawakening) on the ship. There’s definitely plenty of scope for more stories to be told in this setting (and I think I’m right that there are more in the works). I, for one, am looking forward to reading more mysteries on the HMS Fairweather.

I have a feeling a lot of mystery and sci-fi fans are going to enjoy this, especially if you are fans of the more “cosy” offerings in those genres. Recommended.

MURDER BY MEMORY had a premise that could have easily gone wrong for me. A locked-room murder mystery (even though the “room” in question is a ship holding 10,000 people). An off-earth setting. Cozy vibes. I kept waiting for MBM to let me down… and then it didn’t, and it didn’t, and it didn’t. In fact, it exceeded my expectations.

What I LOVED:

The cozy spaceship setting! Which is a weird thing for me to type, but that’s what it is! The HMS Fairweather is NOT a cold and detached outer space world. Waite definitely gave us “cozy spaceship” feels with this one, with her lush, but never overwrought, descriptions of bars, libraries, apartments, and yarn stores *swoon*. In fact, the spaceship is downright utopian. Individuals are not allowed to accumulate vast wealth. Smart people use their brains to quickly invent or fix things to make everyone’s lives better. Custodial jobs are among the highest paid. Housing is never scarce. I want to visit. I want to learn more. Heck, I want to live there.

The concept of memories being separate from the body! MBM asks, “If our memories make us who we are, what happens if we can extend our memories beyond the limitations of our physical bodies?” On the Fairweather, technology downloads our memories into books, and when our physical bodies begin to fail, our memories can be downloaded into a new body to continue living for tens of thousands of years. In addition, so far removed from the experiences of being earthbound, the ship’s passengers can experience those shared memories again through a carefully mixed cocktail. Order a “Snowy Day,” for instance, to imbibe the sharp, cleansing scent of freshly fallen snow, underneath a layer of citrusy, smoky firewood.

The mystery plot itself! Waite sticks the landing with this one. My biggest gripe with mysteries and murders is when they happen seemingly at random. In MBM, the crime, the mystery, and the murder all make sense, twining with one another for a highly satisfying conclusion.

What I Liked:

The old lady detective MC. Dorothy is sharp and fully up to the task. I giggled as she marveled at long-forgotten sensations and abilities as a result of unexpectedly waking up in a younger body. At the same time, her older age does not make her cynical. I loved seeing the ship through her eyes, and was genuinely appreciative of her competence.

The queernormative world. No further explanation needed.

Could’ve done without:

The cheeky, semi-drunk ship AI. Fortunately, this was the only thing in the cozy space murder mystery that bordered on too twee for me.

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Olivia Waite has hit the nail on the head with this one, and MURDER BY MYSTERY has more than lived up to its premise for me. I wouldn’t mind having the opportunity to revisit the Fairweather in the future, but until that happens, I will be content with recommending this book for more and more people to check out and delight in. Perfect for fans of Howl’s Moving Castle, Mary Robinette Kowal, Travis Baldree, and Brenda Peynado.

This was such a fun one! Dorothy wakes up and she realizes not only does she have no idea where she is, but she's not even in her own body! What a fun ride full of mystery and whimsy.

One of the things I got from reading this was that I need to read more stories about middle-aged woman detectives because I had such a good time reading this. The science fiction elements were also so cool, with the regenerating bodies and forever (almost) memory. And, even better, the fact that I’m pretty sure every single character was queer and the world was incredibly queernormative. The mystery itself had a good arc, and I found the whole thing very readable to the point that I ended up reading it all in one sitting without meaning to. It’s definitely worth the read, and I would fully read more stories about the mystery solving of Dorothy Gentleman!

During a magnetic storm, Dorothy Gentleman wakes up in a body that isn’t hers, with a murder to solve. Of course, because of the memory cataloguing system of the HMS Fairweather, no one really stays dead, they simply have to have their memory regenerated into a new body. But when those memories get erased, that person is gone for good. Something more mysterious is afoot, and it’ll take Detective Gentleman through several interesting characters to figure out what’s really going on. It’s funny, and the world that Olivia Waite has written was so interesting and cool to me. It’s cozy mystery with an easy to jump into science fiction world, and I highly recommend it!