Murder by Memory

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.