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A review by scrooge3
The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal
3.0
2023 Hugo Award finalist - Best Novel
A super rich and famous couple on a luxury cruise (to Mars)? - check; lots of drinking? - check; lots of sexual innuendo? - check; a cute dog? - check; a locked-room mystery? - check. Dashiell Hammett would be proud to know his book [b:The Thin Man|80616|The Thin Man|Dashiell Hammett|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1321111302l/80616._SY75_.jpg|1336952] is still inspiring writers. Although this cozy mystery has lots going for it, including bits about hidden disabilities, PTSD, gender identity, and other important topics, ultimately it's just an ordinary mystery with some stock characters and too many contrivances to count. One of the big things I missed was more time spent getting to know the suspects and their possible motives for murder. There are some very interesting red herrings, but they're almost an afterthought, buried in an often confusing array of actions. The mystery's solution really isn't something that arrises organically from the investigation, but rather appears mostly out of luck. In books like this, the local police or security authorities are painted as inept, a trope that is not terribly believable. It's even harder in a science fiction setting, because there are often "magical" solutions to problems that readers can't see. Kowal does her best to contrive to minimize these advanced technological gimmicks, but can't get rid of them completely. This is a solid outing by a usually excellent writer, but not quite up to some of her previous efforts.
A super rich and famous couple on a luxury cruise (to Mars)? - check; lots of drinking? - check; lots of sexual innuendo? - check; a cute dog? - check; a locked-room mystery? - check. Dashiell Hammett would be proud to know his book [b:The Thin Man|80616|The Thin Man|Dashiell Hammett|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1321111302l/80616._SY75_.jpg|1336952] is still inspiring writers. Although this cozy mystery has lots going for it, including bits about hidden disabilities, PTSD, gender identity, and other important topics, ultimately it's just an ordinary mystery with some stock characters and too many contrivances to count. One of the big things I missed was more time spent getting to know the suspects and their possible motives for murder. There are some very interesting red herrings, but they're almost an afterthought, buried in an often confusing array of actions. The mystery's solution really isn't something that arrises organically from the investigation, but rather appears mostly out of luck. In books like this, the local police or security authorities are painted as inept, a trope that is not terribly believable. It's even harder in a science fiction setting, because there are often "magical" solutions to problems that readers can't see. Kowal does her best to contrive to minimize these advanced technological gimmicks, but can't get rid of them completely. This is a solid outing by a usually excellent writer, but not quite up to some of her previous efforts.