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Infinite Archive - Mur Lafferty

I've been enjoying Mur Lafferty's work for a while, ever since the absolutely brilliant Six Wakes. And with her "Mid-Solar Murders" series, Lafferty has proven a dab hand at blending two genres that are rather tricky to turn into gumbo - detective stories, and science fiction. But here we are, with the third entry in the series, Infinite Archive. And you know what, it's as fun and as thoughtful and as clever as the previous two instalments. It manages  to write a compelling mystery inside of a world at once strange and familiar, surprising us without ever being, well, unfair. If you're an existing fan of the series, you know what you're walking into. Everyone else, well, it's a journey.

Speaking of journeys. Mallory Viridian remains our protagonist for this volume. A woman who, despite her best efforts, keeps turning up when people end up dead. And then keeps solving the murders that keep, for some reason, happening around her. Because the alternative is a trip to jail. But Mallory is living a quieter life now, on a space station far, far away from most people. And while she's a detective by necessity, she's an author by trade, writing fiction base don the murders that she solved. Which leads to the question - once the murders dry up, what can she write about? Fortunately, or unfortunately for Mallory, that question may well be answered. Her agent and a swarm of other people, regular human people who have a tendency to fall down dead around Mallory, are coming to visit her far, far away space station. As a murder mystery cruise. Her agent is ready to sell her on some other ideas - showing off science fiction and pitching cosy murders to a woman who lives, well, in space. It's a delightful shift in setting for Mallory - away from the  exotically known corners of her own weird space station and its esoteric inhabitants. Now she's on a cruise ship, which also happens to be a space ship, trying to solve a murder which may, or may not, be very real indeed. The murder-cruise is a historical staple of the mystery genre, and this one evokes the best parts of Christie, from its strange crew and passengers, to the even odder ship, to the baffling going son. Why is it bigger on the inside than the outside? Why are half the crew (at least) hiding something? Exactly how much blood are we going to have to clean out of the carpet this time? It's a knowing wink to the genre, a kind, even loving one, and that sense of comfort mixes well with the more off-kilter sci-fi ideas. 

Mallory remains an entertaining protagonist, as well. She's, well, complicated. Having people die around you all the time is probably enough to give anyone a complex. But Mallory is smart, kind and compassionate as well as having a razor's-edge intelligence, and, well, something of an undisclosed edge. But the Mallory of this book starts out trying to work out who she is, now that she's not immediately solving murders or writing books - looking toward a pathway of self-definition, even as the universe does its level best to both define her and throw enough problems into the mix that she doesn't have time to breathe, nevermind think. We've all had days like that, I think. Or weeks! Mallory Veridian lives it, and we live it with her. The fatigue, the irritation, the confusion, the moments of insight and clarity, the warmth of friendship returned. She's, yes, complicated, but if not always kind, always humane. And as ever, watching her delve into the depths of madness that is both an alien space station and...well, space-borne murder-mystery cruise, which I can't believe I typed with a straight face, well, its downright fun. Mallory isn't always sympathetic, but I sure can empathise with her and her struggles - and those of her friends and colleagues too. Mallory serves as the medium into their world, and she's thoroughly entertaining. 

I don't want to dig into the plot overmuch, because the mechanics of it tick over quite nicely, and it has enough stakes, large and small, to keep you turning the page. To see who did what. And why. And how. There's a lot going on here, moving parts kept carefully on track until, well, in this metaphor they crash into each other and make a big tangle that Mallory has to come and unpick. But the story works, it's smart and well paced and it doesn't cheat - you can figure out what's going on with the same information Mallory has, give or take. It's clever and tense and has some observations about humanity and how we act in environments strange and familiar that bear thinking about. Anyway, in the end, this is a good time, and if you've been looking for a sci-fi murder-mystery piece, this will satisfy that itch. And if you're an existing fan, all the better - it's a fun read!