Becky Chambers meets Miss Marple in the second entry of this cozy sci-fi mystery series, helmed by a formidable no-nonsense auntie of a detective

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.

A wild baby appears! Dorothy Gentleman, ship detective, is put to the test once again when an infant is mysteriously left on her nephew’s doorstep. Fertility is supposed to be on pause during the Fairweather’s journey across the stars—but humans have a way of breaking any rule you set them. Who produced this child, and why did they then abandon him? And as her nephew and his partner get more and more attached, how can Dorothy prevent her colleague and rival detective, Leloup, a stickler for law and order, from classifying the baby as a stowaway or a piece of luggage?

Told through Dorothy’s delightfully shrewd POV, this novella series 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 readers captivated and hungry for the next installment.

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I was eagerly awaiting the sequel to Murder by Memory as I love the little world Waite has created upon the Fairweather in its long journey to a new home planet. Dorothy Gentlemen is back and this time it’s to solve the mystery of a baby left on her Nephew’s doorstep, a baby that shouldn’t be possible – let alone abandoned. This one definitely had more of a light tone to it than the first one and it was nice to see more of Ruthie (and his interactions with the baby) as well as more from Dorothy about her past. This one has a lot of introspection from Dorothy and after reading the synopsis of the third one coming next year I think it’s leading into it perfectly.

Happy reading!

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