The Spare Man - BookWyrm

Hardcover, 368 pages

English language

Published Oct. 11, 2022 by Doherty Associates, LLC, Tom.

ISBN:: 978-1-250-82915-3

(1 review)

Hugo, Locus, and Nebula-Award winner Mary Robinette Kowal blends her no-nonsense approach to life in space with her talent for creating glittering high-society in this stylish SF mystery, The Spare Man.

Tesla Crane, a brilliant inventor and an heiress, is on her honeymoon on an interplanetary space liner, cruising between the Moon and Mars. She's traveling incognito and is reveling in her anonymity. Then someone is murdered and the festering chowderheads who run security have the audacity to arrest her spouse. Armed with banter, martinis and her small service dog, Tesla is determined to solve the crime so that the newlyweds can get back to canoodling--and keep the real killer from striking again.

5 editions

73pctGeek reviewed The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal

Not enough banter for a Nick and Nora-like

3 stars

Tesla Crane is about to enjoy a Moon to Mars honeymoon cruise, when murder disrupts everything.

A sci-fi mystery novel which is light on mystery and sci-fi, and heavy on Tesla dealing with trauma and pain. None of the characters were particularly likeable, and I found quite a couple, in particular, increasingly obnoxious. Also, it didn’t really allow solving the murders along with the protagonist. Though I appreciate what the author set out to do—Nick and Nora in space—it didn’t work for me. The banter didn’t sparkle, and I simply didn’t like it very much.