Murder Mysteries...in Space!
A helpful way to understand a literary genre is as a set of reader expectations. Sci-fi readers expect that fictional worlds and technology will be consistent and have clear limits, so that readers can maintain a solid understanding of what’s possible within the book’s universe and what’s not. Similarly, readers of mysteries expect intrigue, a central character to unravel all the secrets, and clues to follow along the way. In the end, the mystery’s solution must fit with the established facts.
So what happens when sci-fi and mysteries collide? Authors must juggle both sets of expectations effectively. If a sci-fi murder is finally explained by some previously unmentioned technology, readers are let down both by the lack of clear sci-fi worldbuilding and by the absence of any previous foundation for the mystery’s solution. The worst of both worlds!
Successful sci-fi mysteries, on the other hand, use rules of their worlds not only to clarify the setting, but also to lay out all the pieces on the proverbial game board where the mystery plays out. If the author maintains this sensibility, fulfills both sets of genre expectations (or subverts them skillfully), and pulls off a surprising but logical conclusion, the result is a great read that falls into both the sci-fi and the mystery categories.
If such a genre mash-up sounds exciting, explore this selection of mysteries set in space (and in a couple of other “out there” sci-fi settings) all available in the Mercer County Library System collection.
While part of a small space exploration crew on an abandoned planet, a psychologist confronts a gruesome murder and twisted secrets as she races to prevent history from repeating itself in the form of space-borne madness.
Humanity's last hope of survival lies in space... but will a random death doom the venture? Our planet is dying and the world's remaining nations have pooled their resources to build a seed ship that will carry colonists on a multi-generational journey to a distant planet. Everything is set for a bright adventure... and then someone is found hanging dead just weeks before the launch. Fear and paranoia spread as the death begins to look more and more like a murder. The authorities want the case settled quickly and quietly so as not to cause panic... and to prevent a murderer from sabotaging the entire mission. --Summary from Amazon.com
The Mimicking of Known Successes presents a cozy Holmesian murder mystery and sapphic romance, set on Jupiter, by Malka Older, author of the critically-acclaimed Centenal Cycle.
On a remote, gas-wreathed outpost of a human colony on Jupiter, a man goes missing. The enigmatic Investigator Mossa follows his trail to Valdegeld, home to the colony's erudite university--and Mossa's former girlfriend, a scholar of Earth's pre-collapse ecosystems. Pleiti has dedicated her research and her career to aiding the larger effort towards a possible return to Earth. When Mossa unexpectedly arrives and requests Pleiti's assistance in her latest investigation, the two of them embark on a twisting path in which the future of life on Earth is at stake--and, perhaps, their futures, together. --Summary provided by publisher.
A locked-room murder mystery set at a hotel for time travelers--in which a detective must solve an impossible crime before her own grip on reality crumbles--from the author of The Warehouse.
On any ordinary day, the Fairbanks--affectionately known to its staff as the Paradox Hotel--is packed with ultra-rich tourists dressed for a dozen different time periods, all anxiously waiting to catch their "flights" to the past. And as if that weren't strange enough, proximity to the timeport makes for some odd side effects. The clocks run backwards on occasion, and ghosts sometimes stroll the halls--or so it's whispered. Now, though, half a dozen of the world's most powerful people have arrived for a summit. Or maybe auction's a better word. The prize: no less than control of time-travel technology itself. On top of that, the hotel's snowed in, and the timeline's acting even stranger than usual. Which means nobody's leaving until further notice. And there's a killer on the loose. Or, at least, that's what head of security January Cole suspects. Except the corpse she's found is one that, somehow, only she can see. And the accidents starting to befall their prestigious guests...well, the only way those could be assassination attempts is if the killer's operating invisibly and in plain sight, all at once. Which is surely impossible. And...well, even January's got to admit her credibility's not as strong as it could be. Because her gig here amounts to paid retirement, a pity posting for a former agent whose temporal perceptions have been so scrambled by the effects of timeline radiation that she's not fit for active duty. January's sure her condition is letting her glimpse something others can't. But she also knows her symptoms are getting worse--which means she might not solve this puzzle before she loses her grip on reality altogether --Summary provided by publisher.
Hugo and Nebula Award winner Mary Robinette Kowal blends her no-nonsense, hard-SF approach to life in space with her talent for creating glittering high society in this stylish SF mystery.
Tesla Crane, a brilliant inventor and an heiress, is on her honeymoon via an interplanetary space liner. Cruising between the Moon and Mars, she's traveling incognito and 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. –From dust jacket.
Amateur detective Mallory Viridian's talent for solving murders ruined her life on Earth and drove her to live on an alien space station, but her problems still follow her in this witty, self-aware novel that puts a speculative spin on murder mysteries, from the Hugo-nominated author of Six Wakes.
From idyllic small towns to claustrophobic urban landscapes, Mallory Viridian is constantly embroiled in murder cases that only she has the insight to solve. But outside of a classic mystery novel, being surrounded by death doesn't make you a charming amateur detective, it makes you a suspect and a social pariah. So when Mallory gets the opportunity to take refuge on a sentient space station, she thinks she has the solution. Surely the murders will stop if her only company is alien beings. At first her new existence is peacefully quiet... and markedly devoid of homicide. But when the station agrees to allow additional human guests, Mallory knows the break from her peculiar reality is over. After the first Earth shuttle arrives, and aliens and humans alike begin to die, the station is thrown into peril. Stuck smack-dab in the middle of an extraterrestrial whodunit, and wondering how in the world this keeps happening to her anyway, Mallory has to solve the crime--and fast--or the list of victims could grow to include everyone on board... --Summary provided by publisher.
Cal Sounder is a detective working for the police on certain very sensitive cases. So when he's called in to investigate a homicide at a local apartment, he is surprised at first to see that the victim appears to be a rather typical, milquetoast techie. But on closer inspection, he finds the victim is over seven feet tall. And even though he doesn't look a day over thirty, he is actually ninety years old. Clearly, he is a Titan--one of this dystopian, near-future society's genetically-altered elites. There are only a few thousand Titans worldwide, all thanks to Stefan Tonfamecasca's discovery of the controversial T7 genetic therapy, which elevated his family to near godlike status. A dead Titan is big news . . . a murdered Titan is unimaginable. But Titans are Cal's specialty. In fact, his ex-girlfriend, Athena, is a Titan. And not just any Titan-she's Stefan's daughter, heir to the Tonfamecasca empire. As Cal digs deeper into the murder investigation, he begins to unweave the complicated threads of what should have been a straightforward case, and it soon becomes clear he's on the trail of a crime whose roots run deep into the dark heart of the world. Titanium Noir is a tightly woven, intricate tale of murder, betrayal, and vengeance. --Summary provided by publisher.
--by James D., West Windsor Circulation
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