I’m a smidge perplexed by my relationship with Malka Older’s The Investigations of Mossa and Pleiti series. I think it boils down to loving them in concept but not in practice. The idea of a mystery a la Arthur Conan Doyle or Agatha Christie mixed with the cozy character-driven sci-fi of Becky Chambers sounds right up my alley – which means I’m looking forward to them each time, and then struggle to sink in. I’ve given myself some time and I think a big part of it, and something I clocked way back in The Mimicking of Known Successes, is that I really struggle with being in Pleiti’s point of view.
The story this time follows Pleiti as she is asked to help investigate threats against a former classmate as she is on the eve of receiving an academic promotion. Pleiti is asked because she as a fellow academic understands the politics at play, and the damage even the hint of plagiarism could have on one’s career. She is without Mossa, who is experiencing a bout of Jovian Melancholy, and has declined to join Pleiti. Broadly Older is using the structure of The Hound of the Baskervilles to underpin her story, but I don’t know that it served the plot well here as I found myself rather uninterested in the mystery and a bit disappointed with how it was handled (I’m just not sure that Older followed the ‘rule’ of fair play).
I do love how Older continues the expansion of the world, of the ongoing nods to current pop culture that permeate the world, how truly multi-cultural the society of the platforms are, and the creature comforts that have made their way forward in time. I’m also always intrigued by the bigger ideas that Older is poking at – mental health, overcorrection, the emotional forces that are greater than ourselves. I just wish I liked it better. But I imagine I’ll be reading book four once it appears.
Bingo Space: Middle. This is the third of five announced Mossa and Pleiti books.
