Murder by Memory

Murder by Memory is a science fiction mystery novella by Olivia Waite and the first book in the Dorothy Gentleman series. Aboard the HMS Fairweather, a generation ship crossing the stars, death is usually only a setback: each passenger's mind is kept in a memory book on the shelves of the ship's great Library and can be loaded into a fresh body when needed. Dorothy Gentleman, the ship's centuries-old detective, is called in when a passenger, Janet Dodds, turns up dead. That same day Dorothy's own memory book is wiped, and the ship's backup brings her back in a body that belonged to someone else. Suspecting the two events are connected, she starts asking questions. The story pairs the comforts of a classic cozy mystery with inventive science fiction and was a 2026 Hugo Award finalist for Best Novella.