Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my review.

I'll be very honest, I applied for an ARC of the audiobook with zero expectations, only realizing later I had read one of this author's prior historical sapphic romances. Both the novella itself and the excellent narration blew me out of the water!

The audiobook length seemed extra short for a novella and I was nervous about how well it would set the stage for this sci-fi mystery. But it was just long enough to sketch out the way this generation ship runs, including it's unusual practice of downloading the minds of its inhabitants into regrown human bodies on a loop, while holding your hand through a fun little mystery. It teases just enough about other characters that you can imagine there's room for more stories in this setting. There's both an answer to the why behind the murder and enough tying up of loose emotional ends for our protagonist Dorothy that the book feels satisfying. I would be anti-surprised to see this on next year's Hugo ballot.

I kind of wish it was a series; I wouldn't be opposed to more of Dorothy and Blair Baker's wonderful narration. I certainly hope it's not Waite's last foray into speculative fiction - she has the knack for it!

Dorothy wakes up to find she (ie her memories, her “self”) is contained in a different body. A younger body. But possibly the body of the person who murdered her?! This “who dunnit” in space takes place on a luxury spaceship where Dorothy is a Security Officer. In other words, it’s up to her to figure out who and why someone is messing with people’s bodies and memories. This is a well-written and well-narrated short novella that packs a lot of personalities on board: from the funny and flamboyant to the fairly frustrated. I hope to read (listen to) more of Dorothy’s adventures aboard this ship!
My thanks to the author, publisher, @MacmillanAudio, and #NetGalley for early access to the audiobook for review purposes. Publication date: 18 March 2025.

Murder by Memory is a classic, cozy mystery with sci-fi. Dorothy Gentleman wakes up in a body that isn't hers. She is on an interstellar passenger liner where minds are stored and bodies are interchangeable. Dorothy is working on a murder investigation with a deeper thread she can't stop pulling. For a novella, it was a fun story with a mix of lively characters that kept the story engaging and fun with a whodunit blended with space exploration. Dorothy Gentleman is a detective with a dry wit that you'll want to follow through many more mysteries. I can't wait for the next installment!

The narration was superb and crafted a spot-on host of characters.

Thank you, NetGalley and MacMillan Audio, for the gifted audiobook.

3.5⭐️
This wasnt my cup of tea unfortunately. It’s someone’s I’m sure, just not for me.

While in general am not drawn to Sci-Fi I was intrigued by the Miss Marple connection so I dive into the audiobook which was only 1 hour and 45 minutes long at 1x the speed. However, the mystery part of it to me was way over shadowed by the science fiction whiz didn’t allow me to connect with the material.

The narrator, Blair Baker, did a great job with the read and I was pleased that the regular rate was more like a typical speaking rate than most. I still sped it up to 1.5 which made the book last about an hour. So for that I was thankful!

I can say that the author fit a lot of world building is a very short amount of space in an adept way. So fan of sci-fi thrillers I think will be really pleased with it. I’m a bit confused as why it’s not a full length book but that’s for another day.

It comes out March 18th 2025


I am thankful to have gotten the ALC for free from Macmillan through NetGalley to read which gave me the opportunity to voluntarily leave a review.

My rating system since GoodReads doesn’t have partial stars and I rarely round up.

⭐️ Hated it
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea (potentially DNF’d or thought about it)
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but nothing special
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! Would recommend to others
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Will circle back and read again

Audio review: Blair Baker did an excellent job as narrator! I especially loved the voice for Ferry, it fit perfectly. This was such a fun listen! Great quality too.

Book review: I am loving sci-fi novellas lately, and this utopia type world set on a space ship is such a cozy concept. If I had to live on a spaceship, this is the one I'd choose. I love the idea of the mind library, and the body changing is so interesting. I'm not sure I'd want to live 1000 years, but again, this seems like a nice place to do it if necessary. I really enjoyed the cozy mystery feel too, and how Dorothy (and the other detectives on the ship) are technically amateurs/trained on the job. It gives the vibes I love in a mystery book.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC!

I was familiar with Olivia Waite's previous sapphic historical romance novels, but this turn into sci fi mystery is a successful one! The novella was paced perfectly, with just enough world building to provide an understanding of the world, but not so much to bog down the fast paced plot. We follow Dorothy Gentleman, a detective on a generations ship of ten thousand, that wakes up in a body that is not hers, and is told there has been a murder. She must uncover the who and why. The audiobook is lovely with Becky Blair's narration making each character feel distinct. Highly recommend this book and I hope it becomes a series. I would love more of Dorothy's story or the HMS Fairweather world.

I'm not usually one for comps but this one has some great ones: mix Mimicking of Known Success, Blighted Stars, and A Memory Called Empire, notch up the fun and add some cozy, and you have Murder by Memory. This is an excellent SF novella and cozy murder mystery.

Olivia Waite is known for her sapphic historical romances, but this is now my favorite of her books. She gives us just enough worldbuilding to familiarize us with her world, but not so much to bog down the 112 or so pages. Dorothy is a detective on a generations ship of ten thousand. At roughly year 300, they've each lived so many lives in recycled bodies but with memories preserved. Dorothy is awakened by the ship, in a body not one of her usual choosing, and she's ready to investigate a death. In the process, she uncovers something that runs much much deeper.

This book is successful because Waite pays attention to the right level of detail at the right time throughout the narrative, delivering an incredibly well balanced novella. We get some reflection on human nature along the way, too. I would like 15 more of these please!

I read Murder by Memory a second time in two weeks when I had the opportunity to listen, and the audiobook is an absolute TREAT! The narration by Blair Baker brings big personality in all the right places, especially at the start of the book with the slightly drunk-sounding spaceship Ferry... I highly recommend listening to this perfect bite-sized audiobook.

This was such a fun and promising start to a new series!

The mystery is soli, interesting, and cannot be divorced from the sci-fi setting, so I really liked that aspect. I also think Dorothy is very voice-y in a good way and brings a slightly humorous old lady type of tone, while being able to make interesting observations that enrich the reading experience. And just a wee bit smitten with the enigmatic women she encounters. Love that for her.

My only complaint, honestly, is that it was too short and I wanted more. Especially of the ship as a character, we barely saw her at all toward the end!

I hope this becomes another long-running Tordotcom series (a la Murderbot or Wayward Children) because I think these characters will be very fun to follow.

Audiobook Notes:
A+ narrator. 10/10 no notes. Really liked how she voiced the main character and the rather drunk ship in particular. It almost felt like multiple narrators were contributing and was very well done.

My second Olivia Waite book for the year!

I love sci-fi novellas and the comparison to Becky Chambers' work drew my attention. It's an interesting concept for the future, where humans are able to hop from body to body as their old ones die. Their memories and self are stored in their own books that can be updated whenever they want to keep their memories safe and ready for their next body.

Dorothy is a ship detective (those in place of a police force) and following an incident, finds herself in a body that is not her own, investigating the death of another woman and why she was placed into a stranger's body when she was meant to be retired.

It just felt a bit disconnected to me. I know that it is a novella and so information is brief, but it felt like something was missing. As this seems to be the first book in a series, I'll be curious to see if some of that is resolved moving forwards.

Thank you to NetGalley for making this available in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you to NetGalley and to Macmillan Audio for the ARC of Murder by Memory by Olivia Waite.

Blair Baker does an excellent job in the narration of this audiobook - I really enjoyed listening to her bring the novel to life.

Waite has built a fascinating world in this sci-fi cozy mystery where a generation space-ship on a 1,000 year journey from Earth to a new home allows its residents to store their memories in memory books while also allowing them to regenerate their bodies when needed so that they may live forever. Dorothy Gentleman, a detective on the ship, wakes from a two year slumber in someone else's body, and finds that for the first time in ship history, a true murder has occurred as a person is found dead and their memory book has been deleted, preventing that person from being reborn. Dorothy finds herself unexpectedly but excitedly on the case, and dives right in to questioning suspects and visiting family in search of answers.

Besides the excellent world-building, Waite packs quite a lot of plot development and characterization in a short package. You feel for Dorothy, having experienced full lives so many times before and being ready for a rest, and you want to learn more about her nephew Ruthie and his wild adventures and inventions onboard, as well as the larger realm of people making their lives on a generation ship that has banks, clubs, yarn shops and more waiting to be explored.

I really look forward to this being a series with longer installments. Waite has all the pieces necessary to create a compelling, interesting and inventive cozy mystery sci-fi series.

4 stars!

What a pleasant little bite-sized murder mystery! And set in a really solid sci-fi world that I can't wait to read more about!

Dorothy wakes up in an elevator in another woman's body with no memory of the past two years and only a slightly tipsy ship AI to catch her up. On a long-haul ship way. out in the dark of space, where inhabitants' minds are stored and resurrected into new bodies upon their deaths, murder is afoot! Doesn't that description just make you want to cozy down with this novella on a rainy day? Murder mysteries aren't super up my alley so I can't speak to how well executed that part of the plot was but I'm desperately hoping that the author is planning to write more set in this world. I really loved the characters (shout out to the narrator for being exactly the right amount of silly with it) and the memory technology on the ship was really cool and I can see how much potential it has for mysteries. It's kind of giving The Dispatcher series by John Scalzi with the resurrection and the fact that it's a mystery novella but a little less noir and a little more cozy.

Super fun, and I will be eagerly awaiting a sequel!

Thank you to Olivia Waite and Macmillan Audio for this ARC in exchange for my full, honest review!

Happy reading!

Murder by Memory is a fantastic short sci-fi mystery following a detective who wakes up in a body that is not her own. The worldbuilding was perfectly balanced between something that wasn't complex enough to take up too much of the limited space, but was still interesting and made sense. The characters were fleshed out but not held down by their past. The mystery was interesting and exciting to follow. This is a masterfully done work that not many authors could pull off. This hasn't even been released, but I'm already ready for the next installment. I think this works perfectly as a story to go into completely blind.

I sped through the audiobook in one sitting. The narration was good and easy to follow.