Murder by Memory is an introductory novella in an SF mystery series by Olivia Waite. Released 18th March 2025 by Macmillan on their Tordotcom imprint, it's 112 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links throughout.
This is a delightful locked room murder mystery, very cleverly constructed with top notch characterizations, pacing, and a palpable sense of setting. The author does a great job introducing the setup (personalities and memories and people can be saved, backed up, and downloaded into another body as needed in order to span the amount of time necessary for interplanetary travel), and playing on that when a -real- potentially permanent murder occurs, where the brain backup is deleted.
MC Dorothy is a ship's sleuth, and gets dropped (literally) into the middle of a developing murder wave onboard. Although serious, there are humorous twists and amusingly (clever) dialogue throughout. Delightfully, this is an introduction, and Dorothy will be back in upcoming volumes (book 2 is due out from the same publisher in late 1st quarter 2026 (and from publisher's info, appears to also be a shorter form, novella or short novel).
Four stars. It could've been fleshed out into a full sized novel, but really, the author nailed the right amount of sarcasm, witty repartee, and the denouement is perfect and satisfying. It would be an excellent choice for public or home library acquisition, or a buddy read. Looking forward to Dorothy's next case (which is apparently an unexplained human foundling left outside her nephew's door - *yikes*).
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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