Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Centuries-old detective Dorothy Gentleman serves as the charming narrator for the ebullient first foray into speculative fiction from romance author Waite (the Feminine Pursuits series). In a far future universe in which people's consciousnesses can be stored in memory books for easy regeneration into new bodies, Dorothy is the ship detective aboard the interstellar generationship HMS Fairweather. On the same day that passenger Janet Dodds is found dead, Dorothy's memory book is erased. Fortunately, the ship has an automatic backup and pulls Dorothy into a body previously occupied by banker Gloria Vowell to preserve her consciousness. Suspecting that the death and the erasure are connected, Dorothy investigates. After determining Janet's death to be a murder, she visits her genius nephew, Ruthie Talmadge, who reveals that he recently discovered how to erase a memory book--and that Gloria's pockets contain the necessary items to do so. With more digging into Gloria's life, Dorothy becomes suspicious that an even more elaborate crime is afoot. Waite perfectly blends futuristic technology and cozy mystery with lush descriptions and a twisty plot that delivers at every turn. Readers will be eager to hear more from Dorothy. Agent: Courtney Miller-Callihan, Handspun Literary. (Mar.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
Dorothy Gentleman has put her lifelong propensity towards nosiness to work as a detective aboard the HMS Fairweather. The ship is on a centuries-long interstellar voyage, providing living and working space for passengers whose bodies may die but whose consciousnesses can be downloaded into fresh bodies whenever needed. Dorothy's consciousness is taking a rest before she enters her new vessel, but then she abruptly awakens in someone else's body to investigate a murder that seems to have neither motive nor opportunity. It may even have been committed by the hands that now belong to the detective conducting the investigation. As sci-fi as the setting is, Dorothy's investigation has all the hallmarks of a classic cozy mystery as she does her best updated Miss Marple routine while poking into the lives and loves of both the murder victim and the chief suspect. Dorothy is terrific as an investigator, and traveling the space lanes from inside her wry, witty head is a great way to solve a mystery. VERDICT Fans of Mary Robinette Kowal's The Spare Man and Grace Curtis's Floating Hotel will love this opening entry in a new space-cruise SF mystery series from Waite (The Hellion's Waltz).--Marlene Harris
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