Hey Lemmings,
I’ve just finished up the second of John Scalzi’s Lock-In novels and I’m looking for some recommendations for some new books in the same vein. I’ve enjoyed a bunch of sci-fi mysteries like The Murderbot series, the I Robot novels, even Niven’s ARM stories. So throw me some more like that if you can.

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[–] 11 points 11 months ago (3 children)

The Expanse series, book 1 deals with one main character trying to solve the disappearance a a VIP's daughter. The series follows the POV of multiple characters, though, so it's not a straight up mystery because different characters have different things going on with them. However, the plot points do converge. Not necessarily in the same book, but they always converge.

It's an amazing series, though, even though it's not a mystery throughout. It blends different genres in. Noir mystery, horror, outbreak, political thriller, etc. The characters have consistent motivations, and while you may not always agree with their choices you will understand them. Also, the series is complete and it sticks the landing. And the human technology is rooted in hard science. No artificial gravity or laser blasters. Travel to different planets takes real time. High velocity has considerable strain on human bodies. It's extremely well thought out.

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 11 months ago

    I really enjoyed The Expanse - the books that is, I’m stuck in season 4 of the tv series which covers my least favourite book. But I definitely wouldn’t call it a real mystery, detective Miller and his hunt for Julie aside.
    But yeah don’t miss on The Expanse series it’s excellent.

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  • [–] 9 points 11 months ago

    Expanse and pretty much all of Asimov? :)

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  • [–] 9 points 11 months ago (1 child)

    I have not read Lock-In, but the synopsis sounds similar to Recursion by Blake Crouch

    Project Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir has some mystery, at least for a while while the character tries to figure out what's going on.

    If you're okay with a horror element, Dead Silence by SA Barnes. Astronauts are trying to figure out what happened on a space ship that seems to drive everyone insane

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 11 months ago*

    I found Locked In to be quite good, Recursion looks interesting from the wiki plot synopsis, like crime riff on Replay which is a really good book and a great concept. I’ll put Recursion in my bookshelf buffer.
    I love Andy Weir’s work, I’ve been a fan from his Casey and Andy webcomic days. I really liked Hail Mary but I’m more talking about detective mysteries rather then science mysteries :)
    I’m a bit iffy on horror, but mostly because I haven’t read enough to be in on the tropes. I do like the idea of space horror but I suspect that it all in the execution. Thanks I’ll give it go.

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  • [–] 7 points 11 months ago (1 child)

    Hyperion is a sci-fi version of the Canterbury tales, each chapter the story of one of the characters with an overarching mystery. It’s an absolutely great book that i don’t see recommended enough

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  • [–] [S] 3 points 11 months ago

    I’ve seen this book on a lot of shelves but I never knew about the Canterbury Tales concept. I drop this in to my bookshelf buffer just on the reference alone. Although I do reserve the right to picture Dan Simons as Paul Bettany ala A Knight’s Tale.

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  • [–] 4 points 11 months ago (1 child)

    The Dark Side, is a murder mystery on the moon.

    "In this dark and gripping sci-fi noir, an exiled police detective arrives at a lunar penal colony just as a psychotic android begins a murderous odyssey across the far side of the moon"

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  • [–] 4 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (2 children)

    Might not be an exact fit, but maybe Old Man's War by John Scalzi. It's not a mystery per se, but there is definitely an element of "what's actually going on here" for the main character to sort out.

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  • [–] [S] 1 point 11 months ago (1 child)

    It’s funny I started on Scalzi with Redshirts, which was good but felt like a short story that he padded out to make a novel with. I then read the Old Man Wars series and it just wasn’t for me. It felt like a slog to get through and I was about to give up on Scalzi but I figured the first Lock In book was already in my reading list on my library audiobook app so I’d give it a go, and man that turned me around on Scalzi really right in my groove. So I’ll give Fuzzy Nation a go next and see if I just don’t like the Old Man’s War series.

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  • [–] 4 points 11 months ago (1 child)

    You should try The Gone World by Tom Sweterlitsch. It’s a time traveling detective noir sort of thing with apocalyptic stakes.

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  • [–] 3 points 11 months ago (2 children)

    Check out Elizabeth Bear's White Space novels, not a trilogy but 3 books set in the same universe. Each has a main mystery set in a pretty well written universe.
    A bit more melodrama than what I usually read, but al in all a solid set of books.

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 11 months ago (1 child)

    This one seems hard to find but I’ll put a request in at my local library to see if they can get a copy on loan from another library system.

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  • [–] 2 points 11 months ago

    14 and The Fold, both by Peter Clines

    An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green

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  • [–] 2 points 11 months ago* (2 children)

    Altered Carbon (by Richard Kadrey?).
    A billionaire, in a fresh new body but missing a couple of days worth of memories, hires a special ops/detective to solve his own murder.

    It's a great book, but unfortunately the series isn't as consistently good as that first one.

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 11 months ago (1 child)

    I’ll definitely pop Altered Carbon on my list. I haven’t watch the series but didn’t they also have an issue with quality consistency? I often find 3rd or 4th books in series have drop in quality and the it pulls back up (The Expanse) or completely nose dove into the dirt (The Magic of Xanth).

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  • [–] 1 point 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

    Chasm City Alastair Reynolds is kind of like a neo-noir style story in the Revelation Space series, might be fun even if it isn't quite as mystery-centric as you'd like. House of Suns is a standalone by the same author that also has a mystery at the center of the story. It also might not be as mystery focused as you're looking for, I'm not sure. Anyway, I recommend Reynolds as often as I can.

    Edit: I can't believe I forgot about The Prefect and the two books that follow. They are also Revelation Space series books and are about a Prefect that investigates crimes in a society made up of mostly-independent communities in various space stations that orbit the planet Yellowstone in a large ring called the Glitter Band. Very good series.

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  • [–] 1 point 11 months ago

    The Quantum Thief, by Hannu Rajaniemi. First of a trilogy.

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  • [–] 1 point 11 months ago

    The Expeditionary Force. Sentient AI with a crew of humans searching for answers.

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  • [–] 1 point 11 months ago

    Asimov's Mysteries, published in (1968) is a collection of science fiction mystery short stories. When Asimov set out to prove that something was possible (science fiction mysteries, in this case), he didn't hold back!

    Edward D. Hoch wrote a series of several excellent science fiction mystery novels: The Transvection Machine (1971) about a teleportation machine that’s involved in an apparent murder, The Fellowship of the Hand (1973), and The Frankenstein Factory (1975). They all feature the same detective: Carl Crader of the "computer cops".

    In addition to the Gil Hamilton mysteries, Larry Niven also wrote interesting detective and murder stories around the idea of a society in which cheap teleportation booths are available to all. Several of those stories are collected in A Hole in Space (1974). Like many older authors, Niven has re-released some of his short stories in larger collections later in his career, so those stories are almost certainly available in other collections. Almost all of his short stories are gems.

    Happy reading! 🤓📖

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