I’ve noticed that many of my friends who read SFF also read mysteries. Not only that—authors who publish in SFF sometimes publish mysteries as well (which are often more profitable). Indeed, some authors even write SFF mysteries. Here are five recent SFF mysteries I liked.
A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark (2021)
When Al-Jahiz restored magic to the world there were consequences. Not the least of them was the abrupt collapse of various imperia as subject peoples suddenly obtained the means to throw off colonial shackles.
While newly independent Egypt might be forgiven for seeing its freedom as a positive development, Lord Alistair Worthington remained profoundly disappointed at what he saw as a betrayal. In hopes of reversing this reverse, he founded the Hermetic Brotherhood of Al-Jahiz. Its goal was to deliver to good Englishmen like Lord Worthington the sorcerous means to return a disordered world to sane, efficient British rule.
Perhaps Alistair’s final foray into the mystical arts went awry? No way to tell; Lord Worthington and his companions are too incinerated to bear witness. It falls to special investigator Fatma el-Sha’arawi of the Egyptian Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments, and Supernatural Entities to determine the cause of the Brotherhood’s sudden conflagration. It’s important. The entity behind the Englishman’s sudden demise is still very much active, extremely powerful, and does not have Egypt’s best interests at heart.
***
Seven of Infinities by Aliette de Bodard (2020)
Scholar Vân struggles to make a meagre living as a tutor despite the challenges she faces as a product of the lower classes. The well-to-do often will not value instruction if it is delivered by someone from the lower orders. As if class were somehow contagious.
She is now faced with an even greater problem: an unexplained corpse found in quarters belonging to Vân’s student Uyên.
The Militia demands that all such deaths have satisfactory explanations, whether true or not. Vân’s personal history, if viewed in an unfavourable light, might make her an acceptable scapegoat. Thus, a reason for Vân and her criminally-inclined shipmind ally The Wild Orchid in Sunless Woods to figure out who the dead woman was, what killed her, and what brought her to Uyên’s quarters.
Detection leads them in an unexpected direction. What begins as a possible murder mystery transforms into a treasure hunt…albeit one that has already left a trail of bodies in its wake.
***
The Apothecary Diaries 01 by Natsu Hyuuga (2020)
Kidnapped and sold as a maid to the rear palace, the sprawling residence for the emperor’s many wives and consorts1, Maomao is determined to keep a low profile until her term of service is over and she can return to her old life as a would-be apprentice to her apothecary foster-father in a nearby red light district. Bright, pragmatic, and aloof, Maomao sees little to covet in the endless squabbles of the rear palace.
Sadly for this plan, Maomao’s observant nature, unusual skills, and inability to restrain from interfering in potentially lethal misadventures draw the attention of powerful eunuch Jinshi. Maomao has committed an error even riskier than offending one of the court’s most powerful functionaries. She has inadvertently shown that her deductive prowess could be useful. Which means, of course, when confronted with seemingly inexplicable mysteries—or even just the need for a toxin-resistant food taster—it is to Maomao that Jinshi turns. And if things go horribly wrong? Well, that probably won’t affect Jinshi.
***
Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey (2019)
Osborne Academy for Young Mages’ Health and Wellness teacher Sylvia Capley is beside herself…which is to say, she is bisected and quite dead. The official explanation is that Capley died due to a magical misadventure for which no living person and certainly not the school can be held accountable. Nevertheless headmaster Marion Torres fears that Capley was murdered. If she were, it’s probably a good idea to catch the killer before they kill again.
Torres does not turn to the first interested amateur sleuth she encounters (as do so many characters in mystery novels). She hires professional detective Ivy Gamble to determine if Capley was murdered and if so, by whom. Ivy brings to the task many useful qualifications rarely found in one person, not least of which is that, unlike most detectives, Ivy is familiar with magic. Ivy’s sister teaches at Osborne.
Unfortunately, Ivy doesn’t have even a smidge of magical talent. Her plan to investigate the suspicious death by posing as a fellow magician is bold but will be hard to carry off convincingly. And quite dangerous, if there’s a homicidal sorcerer lurking on Osborne grounds…
***
A Study in Honor by Claire O’Dell (2018)
Dr. Janet Watson returns from her service on the Federal side of the American New Civil War with a medical discharge, a second-hand, defective prosthetic limb, and dismal career prospects. Her professional qualifications are excellent, but few hospitals are interested in hiring a one-armed Black surgeon struggling with PTSD. Thus, Watson must settle for a technician’s post well below her talents and for a roommate with whom to split the rent. The job is unsatisfactory. The roommate is alarming.
Why Sara Holmes (occupation classified, probably spy) is so determined to share her luxurious apartment with a roommate at all, let alone Watson in particular, is unclear. That she is determined to do so is manifest, if only from the implausibly low rent. Still, living in luxury with a nosy, pushy (occupation classified, probably spy) is preferable to a squalid room in a crowded tenement. Particularly when Watson takes too close an interest in a mystery that powerful people very much do not want solved. Having offended well-connected people unburdened by ethics, Watson’s survival may depend on her quirky roommate’s ingenuity.
***
There are lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of F&SF mysteries—I almost wrote an essay focusing Holmes and Watson pastiches and may still do so. But I settled on an assortment, like a gift box of chocolates. Do tell me which chocolates/books you would have preferred. Comments are below.
In the words of Wikipedia editor TexasAndroid, prolific book reviewer and perennial Darwin Award nominee James Davis Nicoll is of “questionable notability.” His work has appeared in Publishers Weekly and Romantic Times as well as on his own websites, James Nicoll Reviews and the Aurora finalist Young People Read Old SFF (where he is assisted by editor Karen Lofstrom and web person Adrienne L. Travis). He is a four-time finalist for the Best Fan Writer Hugo Award and is surprisingly flammable.
[1]Wait, isn’t this a historical mystery? Although the author appears to have China in mind as one model, the setting does not appear to be China but rather a plot-enabling Asian Ruritania. It’s close enough to speculative fiction to justify me recommending it here.
I do need to catch up on the Aliette de Bodard mysteries- thanks!
I think a Holmes/Watson pastiche collection would be fun. When reading the Annotated Sherlock Holmes many years ago, it was interesting how many Baker Street Irregulars were SF writers.
Since I’m holding off on Holmesian fiction, let me recommend Katherine Addison’s Witness For the Dead.
This is often a fun and unexpected mix!
Much less recent, but I enjoyed Illegal Alien by Robert J. Sawyer, which is a near-future courtroom drama, but with an extraterrestrial defendant and a few nifty sci-fi twists.
Can’t not mention Fugitive Telemetry: Murderbot investigates! In (eventually) mutually respectful teamwork with human security personnel.
Great selection today! The two of these I’ve read are marvelous.
Magic for Liars is an emotionally deep and wrenching story and makes you really feel for the narrator and other characters.
@PamAdams, Witness for the Dead is absolutely great. No question. I don’t know if you saw the last previous book from Katharine Addison (Sarah Monette) which was another unusual Holmesian fantasy variation, Angel of the Crows. It was a great deal of fun seeing how differently specific Holmes mystery story lines played out in this world, where neither the character analogous to Watson nor to Holmes is what you might expect and both are hiding something.
Aliette de Bodard’s Seven of Infinities was quite wonderful, spring-boarding more from the Arsene Lupin story tradition than the Holmes stories, and her The Tea Master and the Detective is another excellent mystery set in the same Xuya universe.
Master of Djinn was already on my TBR list, because I loved Clark’s earlier stories in that setting, and I’m adding Claire O’Dell’s A Study in Honor because it sounds very much what I’d like.
I’m just dipping a toe into manga at this stage, so Apothecary Diaries may have to wait.
Asimov’s The Caves of Steel fits this category nicely and is an early example of American detective science fiction. Interestingly, my father had a signed first edition of it.
The Nine Lives of Catseye Gomez by Simon Hawkeis a fun fantasy/mystery. So is The Holmes Dracula File by Saberhagen.
I actually have all of these except for The Apothecary Diaries. I will have to correct that.
And I would throw Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty in the mix.
SF mysteries by Jack Vance include the excellent Night Lamp, all three of the Cadwal books, and of course the Magnus Ridolph stories. On the Holmsian side, Alexis Hall’s The Affair of the Mysterious Letter is a fun read with a side nod to Robert W. Chanbers.
Anthony Boucher wrote SF, and mysteries, but as far as I can remember, no SF mysteries.
I thoroughly enjoyed Jedediah Berry’s The Manual of Detection.
Harry Turtledove, The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump, which is hysterically funny in so many ways, and presents a genuine mystery too.
These probably qualify for the category:
Who Censored Roger Rabbit? by Gary Wolf
The Rivers of London novels by Ben Aaronovitch
Didn’t we do this already?
Someone mentioned, but I’ll add it here: The Mountains of Mourning from the Vorkosigan saga.
I’m not sure if Greg Bear’s Queen of Angels counts, because even though the setup involves investigating a murder, the crime itself matters less to the plot than the various other shady characters who have connections to the culprit, and the culprit doesn’t exactly matter except as kind of a psychological horror sketch. But it’s still a pretty interesting book with an unusual take on medium-near-future politics and a vivid example of Bear’s interest in “fates worse than death.”
12: there are tons and tons and tons of good spec fic mysteries so there’s room for dozens of pieces on same.
I also have a soft spot for Jonathan Lethem’s Gun, with Occasional Music – which I realize isn’t for everyone due to it being a very blatant and whimsical PK Dick pastiche which treats world-building as sort of a game or a dare, but I really like some of the ridiculous ideas that that game-like approach produced: like, the familiar detective-movie cliché of a cop snarling “I’m asking the questions here!” becomes a rule that cops and PIs are the only people allowed to ask anyone any questions about anything.
The Lord Darcy books by Randall Garrett.
Altered Carbon (and, presumably, sequels) by Richard K.Morgan.
8
Well, there’s “Rocket to the Morgue”…..
@18 Rocket to the Morgue is definitely SF-adjacent, but does it count as actual SF? I haven’t read it, although it seems to be avaliable as an ebook now.
I love sci-fi mysteries – detectives in space (and time)! There are so many good ones. I wanted to bring up some older titles that bring warm memories.
Mindstar Rising by Peter Hamilton – first in a series about a freelance telepathic operator with a noir-like tone. The series gets to bigger questions later, but my favorite were the earlier ones.
When Gravity Falls by George Alec Effinger – another beleaguered private eye type seeking to catch a killer implanted with the personalities of multiple killers. He gets his own implants to help.
The Disappeared by Kristine Kathryn Rusch – Miles Flint is a retrieval artist who seeks fugitives for crimes against alien cultures
Forests of the Night by S. Andrew Swan – set 100 years in the future, Nohar is a genetically modified tiger who is also a private eye and also caught in a huge conspiracy. What more could you want?
The list could be longer! It’s such a good sub genre to mine.
I recommend Carter and Lovecraft and After the End of the World by Jonathan L. Howard. Lovecraftian murder mysteries. I’m hoping for a third book, but it might be on indefinite hold.
The mystery in The Witness for the Dead was so mysterious that the author didn’t know who the murderer was until three quarters of the way through the book. This is not the recommended method of writing a mystery and she will attempt to avoid it in the future.
ETA: Witness makes me think there should be a post on SFF murder mysteries where the victim was a really unpleasant person..
Bujold also has Diplomatic Immunity and Cetaganda from the Vorkosigan Saga. As well as Penric and the Fox.
Non-SF: The Dog Park Club by Cynthia Robinson features a group of well-meaning people whose common point is that they all use the same dog park deciding to solve the supposed murder by her husband of one of their number, who has vanished. It turns out that random assortments of people do not necessarily have the requisite skills to solve a murder or even to carry out surveillance without being spotted. By the end of the case, they’re a lot less sure their missing friend is dead, let alone murdered, they certainly don’t hang the crime on their friend’s husband, and the (adult) protagonist has to be rescued by his granny. As I recall, the maybe it was never a mystery in the first place novel was very polarizing: readers loved it or they hated it.
The Clark, Gailey and O’Dell books I’ve read and can cheerfully recommend.
Bodard I hope to get to this year (so many books, so little time).
Hyuuga is new to me but this story looks interesting.
Apothecary was a delightful surprise, as was the very different 27+ volume Ascendance of a Bookworm, which is about a bookish woman who avoids the most common cause of death in Japan–being hit by Truck-kun–only to be crushed to death when her books fall on her during a minor earthquake. She is reincarnated in the body of a young girl, but very soon discovers three major challenges: her host body is terminally ill, the society she is in appears to be pre-literate, and her host’s family are peasants. So she sets out to create paper, and a publishing industry on her own.
Various – re Vorkosigan, Don’t forget Memory as well.
@23 I’ve very glad Addison/Monette didn’t chose to go that route. Though I feel it would very much fit an opera centered murder mystery.
I think Scalzi’s Dispatcher books are mysteries, though complicated by the fact that people are very resistant to dying. But it’s always a plus when you can throw your gumshoe down an elevator shaft without ending the book.
The Dresden Files has lots of mysteries, of course.
@27 – same with Seanan McGuire’s October Daye books – virtually every plot is “Fairy Changeling has to figure out who in Fae is doing something bad and do something about it” and, in particular, her Every Heart is a Doorway.
Haven’t gotten around yet to reading A Master of Jinn but P. Djeli Clark’s novella The Haunting of Tram Car 015 has certainly whet my appetite for it.
I just finished reading the four volumes of Rosemary Kirstein’s excellent Steerswoman books, and while technically they might not be considered “mysteries”per se, they have that kind of feel to me, especially the fourth book where Rowan and Co seem to employ some traditional gumshoe tactics to figure things out. There are some caper-like elements too, I thought.
Mao Mao of The Apothecary Diaries is a delightful character — she is intelligent enough to be keenly aware she is a low-class menial among powerful and dangerous people and she tries very hard not to be noticed or stand out. But. Her intelligence is handcuffed to an insatiable curiosity and tendency to meddle. She is also greedy, deceitful and totally without scruples, traits that serve her surprisingly well in the hothouse of the palace with its lethal politics and manoeuvering for status. Unfortunately for her she is also easily bribed although the nature of the bribes offered are… something else.
Definitely a fan of De Bodard, O’Dell and Clark. The Gailey is on Mt. TBR..
Oldie but a goodie “The Risk Profession” by Donald West;lake.
@18/@19: IMR, Rocket to the Morgue pastiches SF writers (although not as broadly as the one Lord Darcy novel, Too Many Magicians) but everything has a mundane explanation. ISTR that the other Sister Ursula novel, Nine Times Nine, leans closer to a supernatural explanation before dispelling it.
Lee Killough had several SF novels tilting toward police procedurals, although some (e.g. The Deadly Silents) do involve mysteries (unlike The Demolished Man, where we’re shown the murder and get to watch the police try to prove it).
My first encounter with H. Beam Piper’s Paratime series was Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen. Early on it mentions that Verkan Vall had recently concluded a campaign against cross-timeline slavers.
That meant nothing to me at the time. But Piper had already written the story, called Time Crime. It’s an SF police procedural.
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/18151/18151-h/18151-h.htm
Piper also wrote a non-SF mystery, set between the end of WWII and the start of the Korean War. It was called Murder in the Gunroom. When I learned about it, I ordered a copy from B&N. The clerk objected that Piper wrote science fiction. I said he wrote one contemporary murder mystery before he found his proper writing niche. She thanked me for the information.
That book was where I learned that WWII was also called Schicklgruber’s War. Fortunately, Hitler was in no position to sue for libel.
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/17866/17866-h/17866-h.htm
It’s my impression that most sf these days includes a murder mystery.
How about a list of sf from the past 20 years or so that *don’t* include murder mysteries?
Alastair Reynolds’ The Prefect and its sequel Elysium Fire, which features a particularly horrific crime.
Paladin Burke @5 — I remember guessing what was going on in Asimov’s The Naked Sun almost immediately, having been primed by having recently watched the original Star Wars movie. Specifically the aftermath of the Tusken Raiders’ attack.