From the Publisher
"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
"[A] playful hybrid of Golden Age Detective fiction and an entirely novel version of the generation-ship trope.... Playful in tone but serious in aspect, it makes for a refreshing morsel."—Locus
"Intelligent and always surprising, Waite’s book artfully weaves a queer love story into a unique mystery/science fiction hybrid form that is pure entertainment from start to finish...An engaging novella that combines cozy-mystery charm with the edginess of high-tech SF."—Kirkus
"An incredibly fun and clever novella."—BookRiot
Praise for Olivia Waite's Feminine Pursuits series
“Waite delivers a luscious gem with The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics...a bittersweet read that will make your heart ache, bursting with genuinely funny, remarkable surprises.” — Entertainment Weekly
“A stunning story of healing, passion, science and trust… a beautiful and soul-satisfying read that’s the best romance I’ve read this year—and this decade” — Smart Bitches Trashy Books
“Superbly written...[and] simply stellar in every way...Everything in this resplendent romance is done to perfection.” — Booklist (starred review)
“Utterly charming and subtly subversive.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“[A] sweet lesbian Regency that deftly explores the rigid societal strictures imposed on women personally and professionally.” — Library Journal (starred review)
“Waite’s writing is gorgeous and always purposeful” — Bookpage
“Waite’s writing is often gorgeous and evocative” — Lambda Literary
“I found myself nearly racing to finish the book… Her character work in particular shines. All these people she creates stay in your imagination. Those characters live outside the page, leave a mark on the reader.” — The Lesbrary
“This superb novel, set during Regency times, unveils the love story between two intelligent women... Waite gives full voice to the unfair prejudice that women faced. She also provides a multi-ethnic Regency world that comes alive with scientific curiosity. Highly recommended for fans of both Remarkable Creatures and Gentleman Jack, this first in the Feminine Pursuits series deserves widespread attention.” — Historical Novels Review
MARCH 2025 - AudioFile
Blair Baker narrates this sci-fi mystery. Dorothy Gentleman is a detective aboard the HMS FAIRWEATHER, an interstellar passenger ship--spaceship, that is. To her surprise, she wakes up in an unfamiliar body just as a murder victim is found, a situation that leads to several more terrible developments. Baker's depiction of Dorothy's initial confusion over her predicament quickly gives way to confidence and competence as she finds her investigative footing. Baker's tone and cadence are a good fit for the semiretired ship's detective. While Baker's portrayals of the murder suspects are slightly indistinguishable, other secondary characters, such as Dorothy's nephew, Ruthie, and the ship's computer, Ferry, are charming and distinctive. K.M.P. © AudioFile 2025, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2025-03-08
The detective on an interstellar passenger ship becomes embroiled in a murder involving indefinitely preserved minds and switched bodies.
Narrator Dorothy Gentleman never expected to suddenly wake up in another woman’s body. But when a magnetic storm threatens to damage the glass library book containing all of Dorothy’s memories, the ship’s computer does an emergency download of the detective’s mind into the body of a young woman named Gloria Vowell and tells her that another body is lying dead elsewhere on the ship. As Dorothy proceeds with her investigation, she makes another shocking discovery: Gloria and the deceased are connected. In this tightly plotted novella, Waite follows Dorothy as she uncovers the truth behind why the victim, Janet Dodds, had drowned in a bathtub full of “memory liqueur,” a substance that recalled the loveliest parts of Earth, the planet from which the ship departed 300 years before. Her twisting path leads to encounters with delightfully quirky characters, like her brilliant but irresponsible nephew, Rutherford, and Violet, a yarn-store proprietor who once dated Gloria and toward whom the narrator is instantly attracted. Her investigations lead to the discovery that Janet’s memory book—which sat near the one containing her own memories—was deliberately sabotaged rather than storm-damaged, and that Gloria is now irrecoverably dead. Horrified that a killer may be roaming the ship and that the woman she has fallen for may be involved, Dorothy realizes that she must quickly bring the first real murderer of her interstellar investigative career to justice or risk the quasi-immortality she and her shipmates have taken for granted. Intelligent and always surprising, Waite’s book artfully weaves a queer love story into a unique mystery/science fiction hybrid form that is pure entertainment from start to finish.
An engaging novella that combines cozy-mystery charm with the edginess of high-tech SF.
