Hardcover, 368 pages
English language
Published Oct. 11, 2022 by Doherty Associates, LLC, Tom.
Hugo, Locus, and Nebula-Award winner Mary Robinette Kowal blends her no-nonsense approach to life in space with her talent for creating glittering high-society in this stylish SF mystery, The Spare Man.
Tesla Crane, a brilliant inventor and an heiress, is on her honeymoon on an interplanetary space liner, cruising between the Moon and Mars. She's traveling incognito and is reveling in her anonymity. Then someone is murdered and the festering chowderheads who run security have the audacity to arrest her spouse. Armed with banter, martinis and her small service dog, Tesla is determined to solve the crime so that the newlyweds can get back to canoodling--and keep the real killer from striking again.
Witty low stakes riff, not so noir - the vibe is more 5th Element romp given the cruise ship setting, and the mystery bends to suit - but true to the original in prominent stiff drinks, and comfortably egalitarian in gender roles.
I've never read Dashiell Hammett's "The Thin Man", but if that's a grounded precursor to this spacefaring mystery I should! This was a fun sci-fi/noir/mystery romp with great characters (and excellent dog representation).
Early on I was noticing all the accessibility/inclusion bits more than the story itself, which certainly prompts some self-reflection. There's a certain obvious silliness in accepting an interplanetary honeymoon cruise without missing a beat, but tripping over gender-neutral titles.
Once I settled into the story I was fully engaged and could not stop reading (mostly listening actually - the narration is top notch as usual from the author).
I'm looking forward to the upcoming/teased episode of the Writing Excuses podcast in which Mary Robinette will take us deeper into this book.
Fantine is my hero. I want a cup of tea with her and Avasarala from the Expanse series.
Ahh, this was lovely. The bones of this are Agatha Christie, its a locked room mystery on an interstellar cruise liner. The twist is that it is structured like Hammet's the Thin Man and uses that as the character templates for the protagonists.
It sailed along with brim and vigor and no small amount of wit. A vastly entertaining romp with some science fictional elements. Given this is Kowal, the space and speculative tech elements are spot on as well.
It wasn't 5 stars for me because I felt some plot elements didn't come together at the end but that's probably more a me thing. I inhaled this in like 2 sittings while away for the weekend and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Definite recommend.
