THE IMPOSITION OF UNNECESSARY OBSTACLES

A detective and her academic lover team up to solve another mystery on Jupiter’s atmospheric platforms, in this follow-up to The Mimicking of Known Successes (2023).

Investigator Mossa and her former classmate, Scholar Pleiti, have settled into a comfortable (if not entirely defined) relationship, so it’s no wonder that Mossa calls upon Pleiti again for assistance with her latest case, the disappearance of 17 people from Valdegeld University over the past two academic terms. Mossa is convinced that these disappearances must be connected, and that the key lies with two missing students who were apparently in a relationship. Meanwhile, Pleiti must contend with the social and personal turmoil surrounding the death of Rector Spandal, a previously respected university official who murdered a street preacher, stole valuable biological samples, and attempted to escape to a presumably still poisoned Earth, potentially delaying or destroying the long-range strategy for a wider return. As in the classic British mysteries this series draws upon so heavily, issues of class come strongly to the fore in this investigation, as well as the inclination of institutions to cover up the misdeeds of their officials. There’s also an equivalence to the sunset of the British Empire, at least in part: The mysteries in the previous installment as well as this one stem from the rejection of an apparently stagnant status quo that comfortably imagines a distant resettlement of Earth but isn’t doing much to further that goal or to improve current conditions. Mossa and Pleiti can’t quite yet accept that things in their society might have to change, but they at least appear to be thinking about it.

A cozy science-fiction mystery wrapped around something sharper and more complex.