Nobody's Baby by Olivia Waite ~ a Review

by Donna Huber

Welcome to the HMS Fairweather, Her Majesty's most luxurious interstellar passenger liner! Room and board are included, new bodies are graciously provided upon request, and should you desire a rest between lifetimes, your mind shall be most carefully preserved in glass in the Library, shielded from every danger.

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free book was provided for an honest review.

March 2026; Tordotcom; 978-1250342263
audio, ebook, print (144 pages); sci-fi cozy mystery

Nobody's Baby is book 2 in the Dorothy Gentleman series. I reviewed book 1 Murder by Memory, and enjoyed the book. Book 2 is a cute, if a little silly, sci-fi cozy mystery.

I don't think you necessarily need to read book 1 to enjoy this one, but since they are novellas, both are a quick read. 

We get a lot more world-building in this book. It is so much about the technology this time.  This is more about how society works. There is some discussion of laws. There is a new piece of technology introduced - flickers, which are sort of like movies. 

Speaking of technology, it is interesting that there is not a lot of advanced technology for a futuristic society that is capable to long range plantery colonization. Like, why wasn't all film, books, etc recorded in the ship's memory or the cloud? Why do they have to rely on human recollection? 

Then, there is a mention of filling out paperwork by hand. I mean, even today, we do most forms and reports on the computer, yet Dorothy is writing by hand on real paper. That begs the question, where do they store all that paperwork? It is mentioned several times that centuries have passed. Is there some sort of record retention rule? I know that the memory books are digitally stored, so maybe the paper is digitized, but then why not start digitally?

I think there was a little more character development in this book. I mean, it is a novella, so there is only so much space. It is a cozy mystery, so there isn't a lot needed for the plot, so I'm glad Waite delved more into the characters. 

I kind of wonder why cozy mysteries always involve a murder, as there are other crimes and mysteries that could be solved. Since no one can actually die in the traditional thought of dying, murder isn't really the focus in this book. (The ship's residents store their memories in digital books, and when something happens to their current body, they get a new one and their memories are downloaded to the new body). In this book, the mystery is how a baby is born on the ship. 

Supposedly, every resident has had something (like a biological control) done so that they can't conceive. It is a way to ensure they have enough resources to reach the planet they are headed to. Though with most of the characters we have been introduced to are gay (though I guess a couple we meet in this book might be considered bisexual), I'm not sure how much birth control was actually needed. 

If you are looking for a quick, entertaining read, then pick up this book. 

Buy Nobody's Baby at Amazon

Donna Huber is an avid reader and natural encourager. She is the founder of Girl Who Reads and the author of how-to marketing book Secrets to a Successful Blog Tour.

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