Murder By Memory by Olivia Waite (book review).

Fairweather is a luxury interstellar generation spaceship. Fairweather, a luxury interstellar generation spaceship, flies through the void of space with every amenity available to its passengers, including new bodies as their current ones wear out, or you can rest between lives preserved in glass. Dorothy Gentlemen, the ship’s detective, has been very happily enjoying a between-lifetimes rest.

She has no desire to venture out again, thank you very much. Yet suddenly she is back in a body, and the body is not hers. Which she supposes is better than a permanent death, as her backup has just been destroyed. But what is going on? Who would destroy a whole shelf of people and why?

I have a confession. I have never read Agatha Christie. The closest I’ve come is that’ ‘Doctor Who’ episode and other homages to an author whose plots are just common knowledge now. I also don’t generally reach for short stories or novellas. I read a lot. I read quickly. Shorter fiction is a poor investment for me. There have been two exceptions lately, the ‘Murderbot’ series by Martha Wells and ‘A Psalm For The Wild Built’ by Becky Chambers. Sadly, ‘Murder By Memory’ only almost makes my list. It is so close.

The denouement—that final revelation at the end of a story where the threads are wrapped up and, in this case, the murderer is revealed—came so quickly it felt like an afterthought, and it kind of was. The murder in this story is only captivating because it brings Dorothy Gentlemen, the ship’s detective, to show the reader her world.

The world is great. Fairweather is the cruise ship/city/cryosleep of dreams. Passengers have lifetimes to try out professions, loves, hobbies, and anything they can think of. Even ageing can become a familiar friend as your new body begins to break down, similar to the last time. Who wouldn’t relish the chance to explore all those aspirations we all harbour for the future? Plus, at the end of the journey, you get to be a pioneer on a new planet. Waite does a fantastic job of making this idyllic backdrop real by populating it with petty human trivialities and personalities that turn any bare house into a home.

The writing is lovely. The world is interesting. I just want to finish collecting these before I keep going. If you don’t have my aversion to short fiction, then I highly recommend ‘Murder By Memory’ for fans of the ‘Murderbot Diaries’ or Mur Lafferty’s ‘Midsolar Murders,’ or if you like a ‘who killed my clone story,’ try Mur Lafferty’s ‘Six Wakes.’ Me?

I’ll hold off until the first few appear in a single volume.

LK Richardson

January 2025

(pub: TOR, 2025. 112 page hardback. Price: $21.99 (US), £18.99 (UK). ISBN: 978-1-25034-224-9)

check out website: www.tor.com