The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal

September 9, 2022

The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal

Tesla Crane and her brand new spouse Shal, a retired detective, are on their honeymoon on an interplanetary cruise ship to Mars. But just a few days in, a passenger is stabbed outside their suite and Shal's fingerprints are on the knife. Another body shows up in the ship's recycling plant, but this passenger is unaccounted for on the ship's passenger list. Who is the second victim? Why is someone trying to frame Tesla's husband? With Shal on house arrest, it's down to Tesla and her service dog Gimlet to solve the mystery.

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This is a light witty mystery that is an homage to the Nick and Nora Charles mysteries by Dashiell Hammett. Nick is a detective who marries Nora, a wealthy heiress. They solve mysteries, drink cocktails, exchange witty repartee, and have a little white terrier named Asta. The most popular of the Nick and Nora mysteries is The Thin Man (hence the play on the title The Spare Man). It's a popular trope and they've been spoofed before, most notably in the movie Murder by Death, where they're Dick and Dora Charleston (Dora is played by Maggie Smith).

What I found really annoying was Tesla's MANY ailments. She is in constant pain, has panic attacks, gets flashbacks and seizures from flashing lights or pyrotechnics. At times, Tesla's problems really detracted from the mystery, since there was so much detail about how much pain she was in or descriptions of her flashbacks and panic attacks. Any ONE of her physical problems would have justified bringing her service dog along. But really, Tesla is a mega-gazillionaire, so she could have brought her adorable little dog with her, no excuses required. 

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC.

Nick and Nora Charles with Asta