Murder by Memory

De: Olivia Waite

Narrado por: 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

Reseñas de la Crítica

"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

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.

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!

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.