Murdering Memory and Sense

“Becky Chambers meets Miss Marple in this sci-fi ode to the cozy mystery, helmed by a formidable no-nonsense auntie of a detective.” There is a tradition in pop-fiction of defining new works by offering names of past writers or works that these are clones of. Apparently by cloning two previous projects something “new” is born. In this case, the reference is to Becky Chambers, the author of solarpunk Hugo-award-winning novels. A couple of her novels were published with Tor. Characteristically for Tor, Becky tends to write quirky stories about sentient robots. And Miss Jane Marple is a character in Agatha Christie’s fiction, who is an amateur consulting detective. Ah, yes, now I understand the term “sci-fi… cozy mystery”. It took me a bit of research. Olivia Wait, the author of this new novel, is known for her queer romance novels. This might be one of her first ventures into science fiction. She also has the benefit of being NYT Book Review’s columnist in the romance genre. It is a curious leap to go from romance into sci-fi. There is very little romance in this one. No breasts or bulges. The first mention of a “chest” appears in: “wind tossed my wet hair back from my face and thunder rumbled a pass note I felt deep in my chest.”
“A mind is a terrible thing to erase… Welcome to the HMS Fairweather, Her Majesty’s most luxurious interstellar passenger liner! Room and board are included, new bodies are graciously provided upon request, and should you desire a rest between lifetimes, your mind shall be most carefully preserved in glass in the Library, shielded from every danger.” The reference to mind-erasure is not metaphorical. A few pages into the book, the first-person narrator is told: “Your memory-book got erased!” Just unlike in other cases, she was still “here”, whereas others whose minds were taken apparently disappear. This is a popular trope in recent novels: the idea of mind-trading and wind-wiping. It seems these are references to amnesia, or brain-transplants. The drama is usually about some of the old consciousness returning, or of a mind managing to survive, as in this case, without being harmed by a wipe. I don’t understand the appeal of this mind-wiping sci-fi proposal. Why is it dramatic that people are being turned into amnesia patients for rich people to take over their bodies? I mean, in reality, these rich people would need to transplant their old brain onto a young body, but an old brain is more prone to strokes etc., so it would probably still die by the age 90-100 for the brain. A young body can’t stop the deterioration from aging of an old brain… I guess it is a scary idea, which is what sci-fi is all about. Find something that scares a lot of people and then use it to keep people in suspense because they are afraid for the characters. This particular character focuses on what she has in her pockets, upon realizing her mind has been switched into another’s body, that of Gloria, a 27-year-old single. Some dark humor is used to help lighten the monotony. The place the spaceship is going to is “Whatever-We’ll-Call-It”, and the departure from a previous body is called being “shelved”. This is probably what works for me in fantasy fiction: they either must be darkly humorous, or extremely dark with twisted narratives of superhuman domination. I think I could get into this novel by focusing on these little jokes that appear in most paragraphs.
“Near the topmost deck of an interstellar generation ship, Dorothy Gentleman wakes up in a body that isn’t hers―just as someone else is found murdered. As one of the ship’s detectives, Dorothy usually delights in unraveling the schemes on board the Fairweather, but when she finds that someone is not only killing bodies but purposefully deleting minds from the Library, she realizes something even more sinister is afoot.” Searching for “Library” led to theories that storms might be creating a problem, or “certain kinds of light” affect the Library, and allow for the creation of “a tool in a standard retromat” (tool that helps generate random plans: this seems unrelated to the thing described) to “erase an entire memory-book.” The idea is to erase a book, instead of writing “over” it. This all seems to be rather nonsensical. But at least this author is trying to explain it, unlike other authors who just blame a vague “state” or “cult”.
“Dorothy suspects her misfortune is partly the fault of her feckless nephew Ruthie who, despite his brilliance as a programmer, leaves chaos in his cheerful wake.” I tried searching for “Ruthie” to learn more about this character. All mentions were general. None referred to programming. I searched for “program”, and no variants of this term appear in this book. Though there are only 76 pages in this review version I received, perhaps the programming is done in an unincluded later section. Either way, that’s strange. Why would this blurb mention that he is a “programmer”, if this side of him is never discussed in the interior? A few dozen pages into the book, there is an explanation that Ruthie thinks “the first magnetic storm did it” (the glitch they are researching) “at random”. And Ruthie has been working to manipulate this glitch to take advantage of it… This kind of explains something… But not enough to focus the interest of a wavered reader.
“Or perhaps the sultry yarn store proprietor―and ex-girlfriend of the body Dorothy is currently inhabiting―knows more than she’s letting on.” Following this storyline helped me come across the romance component I thought was missing from this novel. While describing Violet’s yarn store, the narrative stalls on “Janet’s love for Evelyn”, and on the narrator knowing how much it hurts to “lose love”. These abstractions on love themes echo without much substance, as its unclear who loves whom and why, or why this is relevant to the story about mind-switching. This love section is not funny, which makes it uniquely bad.
“Whatever it is,” (this matches the sentiment throughout: the author/narrator is not seriously trying to solve anything, but is rather stumbling from one thought to the next, with a “whatever” attitude) “Dorothy intends to solve this case. Because someone has done the impossible and found a way to make murder on the Fairweather a very permanent state indeed. A mastermind may be at work―and if so, they’ve had three hundred years to perfect their schemes…” There is no “mastermind” that I could find: only confusion. For a writer to claim a “mastermind” character is at work, a novel must reveal a rational, complex plan this mastermind has designed. Simply refusing to say what the “secret” is until the end, and then making this secret something simple is not sufficient to self-puff a character as masterful.
I couldn’t read much more of this novel, even if somebody paid me to edit it…
—Pennsylvania Literary Journal, Fall 2024: https://anaphoraliterary.com/journals/plj/plj-excerpts/book-reviews-fall-2024

Dorothy wakes up in a body that isn't hers. She's much younger than she should be and it feels all wrong. The interstellar passenger liner has been in space for hundreds of years, and technology allows consciousness to be stored, even as bodies fail. When the person is ready, another body is available. But what if someone is trying to get rid of the consciousness as well as the body?

As Dorothy, a detective, unwinds the mystery of her sudden wakefulness, she also has to solve the mystery of this new body- and where is the consciousness that she be inhabiting it?

This Queer space mystery novella from Olivia Waite is a delight and I can't wait for the next chapter in this adventure!

Can a murder mystery even BE cozy? Is that really a thing? I wouldn't have sought this book out on my own, but the publisher reached out to me to see if I'd like to read it and the blurb caught me. A cozy murder mystery in space? I've been all about sci-fi lately, so I decided sure, I'll read this.

This is a surprisingly twisty story for such a short one. This book is a novella and the metadata provided by the publisher says it's 112 pages. The author wastes no time explaining more than the reader needs to know. Dorothy Gentleman is a detective. She is on a space ship. Her mind has been sleeping for some time and she has found herself in someone else's body because of an emergency.

There has been a murder.

Where is the ship going? Not important; we don't know. Why did it leave Earth? Also not important. What is important is that the ship is essentially a mini-city in which its inhabitants live out their many lives and go about their business. When their generated fleshy body dies, their mind is stored in a Book in the Library. The Book isn't a book as we'd think of it, but more of a glass case that holds the mind's memories. A resident can take a break and stay in the Library, essentially sleeping, or they can wait the requisite two days for a new flesh bag to be generated by the ship and return to their business.

Of course, anyone who has lived through any or all of cloud saves, Blu-Rays, DVDs, CDs, VHS and cassette tapes knows that data can also be destroyed. What happens when it does? Is it murder if you kill a body when the mind still exists? Is it still murder if you destroy the mind or is it something bigger? Something worse?

And what reason does a person have for murder when all their needs are being met?

If you want answers to these, and other questions, you'll be able to pick up this short and deadly little tale on March 18, 2025.

Interesting concept. How do you get a new body. What happens to your memories. Why would you wake in the wrong body. Great world building plot development and character development. Kept me guessing,

This was cute! I think perhaps the cozy genre just isn't for me so I don't want to fault this book. The vibes were nice and it was interesting reading a cozy sci fi/mystery as I've only really engaged with cozy fantasy or cozy mystery.

4.5 stars

A cozy murder mystery set on a spaceship that felt a lot like "Spare Man" by Kowal. On what would otherwise be called a generation ship, on this ship, bodies are reformed and their memories come from their stored 'book' in the library. This allows them to live many lifetimes, preserving their skills and memories until their final destination. Several hundred years in, a murder of a body and the erasure of books in the library have detective Dorothy Gentleman on the trail. I'll not give away the details, but I really enjoyed the plot.

The universe Waite has created is interesting, but with this short novella, there is a lot left unexplained. I was wishing for a longer story both to more fully explore the universe and for the mystery to be a little more drawn out. Looking forward to the next in the series.

I really enjoyed this! It took me a bit to get settled into the world building, but I think that's pretty typical of a Sci-Fi book that needs to establish the how for the story to make sense. I loved the cozy aspect and really hope I can use this in my library's sci-Fi book club once it's out in the world. If anything, I' have loved it to be a bit longer. I hope Waite continues it as a series and we get more of all of these characters.

This was a fantastically crafted novella, that did the difficult job of making the reader care about the characters and the world in such a short space of time. I would absolutely read anything set in this world!

Perfect for fans of Muderbot or Murder Mystery

This was the perfect dose of comfort for a dark winter evening. The twists and turns were gently propelling, and the characters were just plain fun. I was also thoroughly impressed by the deft worldbuilding done so quickly, but not overbearingly. Definitely count me in for more Dorothy Gentleman and cozy space mysteries!

Move over Agatha Christie, I've got a new favorite cozy mystery detective, and her name is Dorothy Gentleman.

Look, Murder by Memory doesn't necessarily break any established rules in the cozy mystery genre, but it does introduce some great sci-fi elements and build a backdrop for what promises to be a really fun series. Dorothy Gentleman isn't a hard-talking Sam Spade or a curiously eccentric Hercule Poirot, but she is a deft hand at pulling on loose threads and the concept of the crime she investigates is a strong draw for a novel sci-fi mystery. The book is full of quick twists and simple but effective world-building that makes me very excited for future potential entries to this series. If Waite's got more like this in store, consider me already signed up.

Disclosure Statement: I received an advanced review copy of this novella from the publisher. All opinions in this review are entirely my own and have not been influenced in any way by either the publisher or the author.

This is a cute, succinct little mystery that you can read in an afternoon. Even though it's shorter, I felt like the characters had good development and arcs (and that they are perfectly set up for future mysteries). The plot was well-balanced between the actual mystery and providing backstory and context for the spaceship and the journey the travelers are on. I thought the author did a really good job balancing a spaceship environment that could have gotten very complex in description; it felt like my most pressing questions were answered and the rest I could fill in the blanks. Overall, this was a wonderful little mystery book.

*Murder by Memory* by Olivia Waite is a gripping and clever historical mystery that masterfully combines suspense with rich character development. Set in a vividly recreated past, the story follows an intriguing protagonist as they unravel a complex web of secrets, lies, and murder. Waite’s writing is sharp and immersive, bringing both the setting and characters to life with striking detail. The plot is full of twists and turns, keeping readers on the edge of their seats. With its well-crafted narrative and compelling characters, *Murder by Memory* is a must-read for fans of historical mysteries and thrilling suspense.

What a curious little book! I loved the neat concept of this story and I think the author did an excellent job at executing it in the novella format. It is definitely reminiscent of an old British mystery, like Miss Marple or Sherlock Holmes. The characters are quirky and queer and it was just a great cozy read to finish in one sitting.

Thank-you for the opportunity to read this delightful book!

MURDER BY MEMORY is a fun cozy mystery set in space on a ship carrying humans to a future planet. Every time a human's body dies, they can reload their memory into a new body, so they've been on this ship for over 300 years. This is a fascinating concept for a murder mystery setting! The ship's detective, Dorothy Gentleman, is investigating a murder not just of someone's body but also of their mind. I love that this is a novella-length mystery, so you can read it in one sitting. It could easily be the beginning of a series and I would love to see another installment!

This is perfect for folks who like their mysteries on the cozy side and who maybe want a touch of sci-fi in a very short and self-contained story.

There are a lot of interesting ideas and concepts presented, but due to the length, we don’t get the opportunity to really dig into many of them. There aren’t a lot of the staples of detective fiction (red herrings, interrogations, highly detailed crime scene descriptions), so most of the deductions just kind of appeared in the text without feeling like Dorothy really worked for them.

I was also really into the memory aspects of this - how anything you cook or create has to be known so thoroughly that it’s almost prohibitive. But again this is just kind of brushed past.

Would I read another novella in this universe? Maybe if it was a bit longer/more in depth.

I have been absolutely blessed by the Tor publishing folks lately!

This book was an absolute delight. Cosy, sapphic, murder mystery in space, with knitting. Just, YES to all of that.

Despite there being murder, fraud, corruption, this book still had the cosiest feel to it, which I absolutely needed. This is the first book I've read by Olivia Waite, and I am now absolutely wanting to finally check out her other books (they're been on my secondary TBR for years!). The writing was great, I loved the characters, I loved the queernormative world, I love that this is the start of a series!!! Please, give me all of the Dorothy Gentleman books, please. Plus, there is a possible love interest that's been introduced and I am 1000% here for it. It will make this series even MORE cosy!

This is a really short book, so I'm not really going to say anything else about it, because anything that I say is going to spoil it. Just, trust me, this book is fantastic.

This novella was delightful!

The ship is such an interesting concept, and it sounds like the most idyllic spaceship ever. They've created a utopian society on board, and the 10,000 inhabitants have their choice of housing, shops, and food/drink. They are on a 1,000 year journey from "old earth" to set up a new society (for some unspecified reason? But we can easily speculate).

Our main character is a somewhat elderly detective, who wakes up in the body of someone much younger, which is both a shock and a nice remembrance of being spry and flexible. It's technically a locked room mystery, and although holding an official detective position, Dorothy is still more of an amateur as she is not doing policing but investigating. I definitely got the cozy vibes and look forward to reading more in this setting!

Thank you Tor, Tordotcom, and NetGalley for the ARC!

My thanks to NetGalley for making an eARC of this book available for me.

This book posits a very interesting world, where individuals can (and do) deposit their memories, thoughts, and feelings into a library of sorts, and then have themselves resuscitated into a new body once they die. In this world, what constitutes murder? And how do people adapt to living multiple lives over hundreds of years? Toss in a cruise ship to the stars, a favorite nephew, AI, and knitting and you have a nice little near-cozy mystery.

This joins a small but impressive list of future murder mysteries like Malka Older's Mossa and Pleiti novellas, and Arkady Martine's darker, bewildering Rose/House, but falls more in the cozy variety tales. Murder by Memory is set on a world ship that will take thousands of years to compete it's journey, a ship whose inhabitants can be copied and rebooted into new bodies, and people have already lived this way for three centuries.

Ship's detective Dorothy Gentleman had no intention of coming back to life anytime soon, but when the ship's computer, Fairweather, deposits her into a strange body from a secondary back-up after her original "memory-book" is erased, she's keen to discover why, and how it's linked to a recent murder. Quickly sizing her new body up as belonging to a major suspect, she follows a trail of clues, both as herself, and assuming the identity of the body, to discover the secret behind a web of related crimes.

I really loved this. It's a short and sweet novella set in utopic worldship, completely lending itself to the cozy mystery space (space quite literally in this case). Dorothy emerges as a canny investigator, clever and willing to bend the truth and put on a false identity to get to the truth. It lacks the character dynamics of Older's back and forth between investigator Mossa and scholar Pleiti, but makes up for it with Dorothy being so gosh-darn likable and enjoyable to read. The queerness of multiple characters is normalized through casual inclusion.

Opinions are my own and do not represent the institution I work for.

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.