Review: Murder by Memory by Olivia Waite

Murder by Memory (Dorothy Gentleman #1)
written by Olivia Waite
narrated by Blair Baker

My Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Science Fiction Cozy Mystery
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: f/f

Blurb:
Becky Chambers meets Miss Marple in this sci-fi ode to the cozy mystery, helmed by a formidable no-nonsense auntie of a detective

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.

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.

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. Or perhaps the sultry yarn store proprietor—and ex-girlfriend of the body Dorothy is currently inhabiting—knows more than she’s letting on. Whatever it is, 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…

Told through Dorothy’s delightfully shrewd POV, this novella is an ode to the cozy mystery taken to the stars with a fresh new sci-fi take. Perfect for fans of the plot-twisty narratives of Dorothy Sayers and Ann Leckie, this well-paced story will leave readers captivated and hungry for the series’s next installment.

My Review

I was looking for a cozy science fiction book recently and this one got recommended to me, I added it to my wishlist and mostly forgot about it again till a few weeks later when I was struggling to figure out what I wanted to listen to. This one caught my eye again and I listened to the sample and was hooked. So I bought it in audio and listened to it right away.

Murder by Memory is set aboard a space ship, they are traveling to their new home and meanwhile everyone can shelve their whole personality and memories in books that function as backups for them and when their bodies die get reborn in a new body. It was quite the unique concept and despite the book being short I felt the author fit quite a lot of world building into it and I liked getting a feel for how this all works.

Main character Dorothy wakes up in a new body after being shelved and resting in the library for two years, but it’s someone else their body she wakes up in, not her own. And someone got murdered. As a ship’s detective she is on the case to figure out what happened. I thought the mystery was well done, there were a lot of details and some interesting reveals. There wasn’t a dull moment. It is a short read, but it didn’t feel rushed to me and I liked figuring out what had happened. I liked how the mystery got wrapped up and I look forward to more books in this series.

With this being a shorter read a lot of the focus is on the mystery, but I have to say I am impressed how much more the author managed to add in. There is enough personality to Dorothy and some hints of her past to get a good feel for her. There are some colorful side characters like her cousin Ruthie, Ruthie’s partner John, ship mind Ferry and some of the characters she meets related to the case. I also liked how there is quite a lot of world building, from what the ship looks like, to the different districts. And also little details like the memory cocktails and the way the library worked and the ship mind Ferry with their own personality.

The narrator was a new to me one, but the sample hooked me immediately and I found the whole book to be pleasant to listen to and plan to continue the series in audio. I liked the different voices she did and I thought the narrator’s style fit the book and made for engaging listen.

To summarize: I had a great time listening to this book. This is a pretty short book, but it packs a lot into there. The mystery was engaging and without a dull moment and I liked how intricately it was tied to the world building with the minds being shelved in the library. I liked seeing the mystery play out and there are some interesting reveals. There are details about main character Dorothy to get a feel for her personality, as well as some interesting side characters. I also appreciated how much world building there still was and it brought the world alive. The narrator was a good one and I really enjoyed listening tot his one. I plan to get the next one in audio soon.

Links:
– Goodreads
– Bookbub
– Amazon
– B&N
– Kobo

You can also read my review on Goodreads and Bookbub.