Book Review
Apr. 20th, 2023 07:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariThe Spare Man
by Mary Robinette Kowal
This sci-fi mystery novel is a clever take-off on The Thin Man, set on a luxury space cruiser headed to Mars. Tesla Crane is a brilliant engineer and heiress newly married to former detective Shal Steward and taking the cruise to Mars for their honeymoon. Unfortunately, their fellow passengers start turning up dead and Shal is among the initial suspects. Tesla, along with her very cute service dog Gimlet, must work both with and against ship security to solve the murders.
I had a lot of fun reading this book. The mystery was clever and interesting, even if I did figure out part of it very early on. Tesla is a fascinating character, at turns admirable and exasperating. She is very smart and savvy, and has a lot of privilege that she is willing to throw around to get to the bottom of things. She is also dealing with chronic pain and PTSD due to surviving a terrible accident in the past. I really liked how Kowal portrayed these things - realistically but not tragically. They're just a part of how Tesla moves through the world. Shal is charming and also very competent. I also loved the way Kowal combined futuristic sci-fi with retro noir elements and snappy banter.
by Mary Robinette Kowal
This sci-fi mystery novel is a clever take-off on The Thin Man, set on a luxury space cruiser headed to Mars. Tesla Crane is a brilliant engineer and heiress newly married to former detective Shal Steward and taking the cruise to Mars for their honeymoon. Unfortunately, their fellow passengers start turning up dead and Shal is among the initial suspects. Tesla, along with her very cute service dog Gimlet, must work both with and against ship security to solve the murders.
I had a lot of fun reading this book. The mystery was clever and interesting, even if I did figure out part of it very early on. Tesla is a fascinating character, at turns admirable and exasperating. She is very smart and savvy, and has a lot of privilege that she is willing to throw around to get to the bottom of things. She is also dealing with chronic pain and PTSD due to surviving a terrible accident in the past. I really liked how Kowal portrayed these things - realistically but not tragically. They're just a part of how Tesla moves through the world. Shal is charming and also very competent. I also loved the way Kowal combined futuristic sci-fi with retro noir elements and snappy banter.
