The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older

The Mimicking of Known Successes presents a cozy Holmesian murder mystery and sapphic romance, set on Jupiter, by Malka Older, author of the critically-acclaimed Centenal Cycle.

On a remote, gas-wreathed outpost of a human colony on Jupiter, a man goes missing. The enigmatic Investigator Mossa follows his trail to Valdegeld, home to the colony’s erudite university―and Mossa’s former girlfriend, a scholar of Earth’s pre-collapse ecosystems.

Pleiti has dedicated her research and her career to aiding the larger effort towards a possible return to Earth. When Mossa unexpectedly arrives and requests Pleiti’s assistance in her latest investigation, the two of them embark on a twisting path in which the future of life on Earth is at stake―and, perhaps, their futures, together.

3.5

A cute second-chance love story with a murder mystery set on Jupiter in a post-apocalypse. The pacing was a bit slow for a novella but it didn't bother me that much. I can't wait to meet Mossa & Pleiti again in the sequel ????????????

As soon as I read the blurb that this is gonna be a Holmesian f/f mystery, I knew I was gonna read it. And this was a quick delight.

This is a story that's taking place in a far future on Jupiter, so the author drops a lot of information about this world and how humans came to be here from earth at various moments in the narrative, so it never felt info dumpy but we also only get little necessary information that moves the plot. The pacing was pretty quick and I really thought I was on the verge figuring it out all out when the final twist came completely out of left field, which was a fun surprise.

But the beauty of this book is definitely the two main characters. Mossa and Pliete are such a contrast to each other - Mossa being an investigator, definitely a more reserved workaholic, while Pliete is a bit more impulsive and livelier Classics scholar - but theirs is a very interesting dynamic. The initial hesitation and discomfort because they are meeting after many years but then the easy camaraderie and trust that gradually seeps is very well depicted and I loved their deepening intimacy as the story goes.

Overall, this was a very fun and entertaining murder mystery in a still developing sci-fi world, and some very sweet sapphic romance in the making. I finished it in one sitting and now I'm even more excited because this is gonna be a series. I can't wait to meet our couple again.

??Cozy space mystery set in Jupiter. The setting is interesting: humanity has fled a dying Earth and has build rings around Jupiter with interconnecting platforms. All transportation is made through rail cars that connects to stations.?? A university professor mysteriously disappears: did he jump off the rings? Was it murder or suicide? It has Sherlock Holmes vibes with Investigator Mossa and her scholar girlfriend Pleiti. Intertwined with the mystery, there are discussions about ecosystem's equilibrium and the hope to transform Earth into a habitable place again. There is also some romance but it's very subtle. The language was a bit over the top to me, too formal. It made the dialogues seem unnatural.??
One thing bothered me: Jupiter is 10 times bigger than Earth in diameter, and building rings going around the whole planet seems....impractical? almost impossible? It wasn't clear if those rings were actually surrounding the whole circumference of the planet.