Murder by Memory

By: Olivia Waite

Narrated by: Blair Baker

Becky Chambers meets Miss Marple in this sci-fi ode to the cozy mystery, helmed by a no-nonsense formidable 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 listeners captivated and hungry for the series’s next installment.

A Macmillan Audio production from Tor.com.

©2025 Olivia Waite (P)2025 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"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."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"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."—Library Journal (starred review)

"Waite’s fascinating take on a generation ship lends an interesting twist to the structure of the mystery and will satisfy readers who prize novel world building."—Booklist

A fast listen that kept me hooked.

I can’t wait for the next book in the series. Loved the characters and how the mystery unfolded.

Great story. I want more in this universe

very well narrated, good characters, wonderful works building, a smart thought provoking story. I really enjoyed this book and truly hope there's more coming set in this world. my only complaint is that it's short. Definitely worth buying

Fun cozy mystery set in space

I listened to “Murder by Memory” by Olivia Waite and I loved it. The narration by Blair Baker was also excellent. It’s a charming short novella with a good mix of science fiction and cozy mystery - starring a sapphic lead and including an all queer cast.

I loved the contours of the society that the author created onboard the generation ship too - the people who were valued and paid the most were librarians, teachers, custodians, and medical staff.

Olivia Waite is known for her sapphic historical romances, but this story is not a romance and is a sapphic cozy murder mystery set in space. The world building was very good. It’s a short novella (100 pages in print or 2 hours and 21 minutes in audio) and the author did a great job setting the background, developing the characters, and solving the mystery in that timeframe. This is the first book in a series and I am looking forward to the next one.

Hope This Series Takes Off!

Murder by Memory is the first in (what I hope will be a long) series for ship’s detective Dorothy Gentleman, whose consciousness is thrust into another person’s body with a murder to solve. Though short, this book is as cozy a mystery as you could hope for…only set in space!

The ancillary characters are wonderful, representation is good, and there’s enormous potential for this series. It gives me major Murderbot Diaries vibes (though it’s not exactly similar), so you know I’m loving that. Really looking forward to seeing what comes next.

*Side Note: although I really liked the narrator, there were several glaringly mispronounced words, that I thought should’ve been caught in the production process.

Fantastic

Stars: 5 Stars
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Blair Baker
Series: Dorothy Gentlemen Book 1
Steam Level: Not Steamy

I immediately buy, and read, anything Olivia Waite writes and have not once been disappointed. Imagine my excitement when I read she had a new book coming out and it sounded so different than other stories she had written. I only held off reading it because then I’d have no more new books by her to read.

Quick Thoughts:
- I enjoy a good mystery and I adore a mystery with a fun set up like this
- Had to remind myself that this is a sci-fi mystery and I just had to be comfortable with being lost concerning this universe and trust the author to explain things
- I really really want to hug Dorothy. I hope she gets all the happiness in the universe
- There is something about a character who is a SERIOUS fiber artist (this case knitting) that I absolutely adore. It gives them a humanity that not many other hobbies/passions do
- This version of immortality isn’t something I had seen before and I ended up wanting to learn everything there was about it
- I am very interested to see if anyone from the ship ends up giving up their immortality whenever they reach their destination
- It took me a little bit to understand what exactly happened but once I got it organized in my head (merging the technology and the events together), I was impressed by the solution to the mystery
- Blair Baker did an EXCELLENT job with this and added a wonderful element to it. I can’t wait to listen to her again

Overall I loved this book. It did a lot of world building in a natural way and weaved the mystery into that world building perfectly. I’m stoked to see how this series continues.

Short but lovely

Really enjoyed this slice of a mystery. Love this world and would love to read more in this setting! Less than three hours and I’m already invested in these characters!

The story was interesting and short.

Interesting premise and short. It didn’t feel mysterious but was a quick read. Would read the next in the series to watch development.

Not for me

Very convoluted and nonsensical story, according to my brain. But Audible wouldn’t let me return so I cranked the speed up and endured. Only the 2nd book I’ve ever done that with in my years of being an Audible member.