Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Returning to the spaceship HMS Fairweather, the sharply plotted second installment of Waite's Dorothy Gentleman series (after Murder by Memory) finds the eponymous detective, responsible for handling memory crimes, investigating a case of accidental baby acquisition. It's supposed to be impossible to conceive aboard the generation ship, but Dorothy's nephew Ruthie Talmadge and his husband, John, discover a baby boy, whom Ruthie names Peregrine, on their doorstep. Dorothy must hurry to uncover the boy's parentage and determine whether the ship is in for a population increase it's not at all prepared to handle. She first tracks down Peregrine's mother, Flora Tilburn, who works in flickers, a movie-like technology that directly beams a projectionist's memories onto a screen to entertain viewers. Flora, unfortunately, has no memory of becoming a mother, leaving Dorothy with an even trickier knot to untangle. Her investigation also stirs up complicated legal and ethical questions about Peregrine's rights as an unexpected passenger, as well as Dorothy's crush on Violet St. Owen, who was a person of interest in the murder case central to the prior installment. Waite is just as successful balancing sci-fi worldbuilding and twisty mystery here as in the first installment, all while probing complex themes of memory and personhood. Fans will not be disappointed. (Mar.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
There aren't supposed to be any babies aboard the HMS Fairweather. All reproductive processes have been suspended until they reach their new home, as the spaceship isn't roomy enough for an increasing population. But someone has left a baby on the doorstep of Dorothy's nephew, along with multiple mysteries. Her nephew wants to keep the child, while one of her colleagues wants to have the baby declared a stowaway and bring the full force of the law down on their tiny head. It's up to Dorothy to work her way through a potential conspiracy and a thorny legal thicket to make sure that child has everything he needs, even if it means both of his parents are behind bars. While the stakes initially seem small in Dorothy's investigations, this second mystery aboard the HMS Fairweather has high enough stakes to keep Dorothy on her toes and readers happily guessing along with her. The tech that makes this case possible (and gives it consequences) is fascinating, particularly as the ship's world gets more fleshed out. VERDICT Waite follows up Murder by Memory with this warm, locked-ship, sci-fi mystery that is a delight for cozy mystery readers looking for new sleuths and settings.--Marlene Harris
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A detective aboard an interstellar ship where all childbearing is on indefinite hold gets drawn into a case involving an infant mysteriously left at her nephew's door. The last thing Dorothy Gentleman expected is involvement in a child abandonment case. Before departing Earth, all 10,000 passengers aboard the spaceshipFairweather underwent a procedure to pause their reproductive abilities. Now, centuries later, Dorothy's gay nephew, Ruthie, and his husband, John, inexplicably find a baby outside their cabin. They all want answers, but Dorothy in particular wants to protect the child from her starchy rules-and-regulations colleague, Leloup, who sees the infant as "a disaster for civil disorder and general calm." If Leloup has his way, the baby will be unable to download memories into a memory-book before death and then upload them into a new body. This second installment of Waite's Dorothy Gentleman cozy mystery-in-space series will delight readers with quirky characters, wry dialogue, and a puzzle-like plot reminiscent of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple books. Dorothy eventually locates the mother, who's been newly incarnated and who, oddly enough, has no memory of giving birth. It quickly becomes clear that the child's right to preserve his memories for future incarnations isn't the only issue at stake. Someone with motives Dorothy is determined to discover wanted the old incarnation of the baby's mother dead. Waite's imaginative merging of futuristic settings and technologies with elements of the classic whodunit is only part of what makes this novel so successful. Her handling of themes like memory, love, and the bonds that create a family add a level of quiet poignancy that makes Waite's book both entertaining and meaningful. A gentle charmer of an SF mystery that surprises as it satisfies. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
