The Spare Man is the last of the stand-alone novels that has been nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel for 2023. For me, it is actually a reread, since I read it initially when it first came out; I enjoy Kowal’s work. This is a delightful novel, which I enjoyed rereading.

This is a murder mystery set on a cruise (space)ship during the main character’s honeymoon. Although I’ve never read or watched the Nick and Nora mysteries, the descriptions of them are similar, in type if not in the specifics, of that type of mystery.

Although I suspect Kowal is being incredibly optimistic in the acceptance of diversity (pronouns are expected to be announced on introductions, LGBTQ+ characters of all kinds abound, the one character who is less than accepting is called out as such), it is encouraging to see it play out in fiction. The main character is cisgender and in a heterosexual relationship, but she is severely, mostly invisibly, disabled. Her issues are important to the plot, but the only people who treat her as less because of them are called out on it.

I’ve never been any good at solving the mysteries of a mystery novel; I no longer even try. I read mysteries to enjoy the intricacy of the plot and the clues. For those of you who enjoy trying to solve the mystery, I can’t really say how “honest” the book is in it. I can say that it is complicated and twisty and I found the denouement satisfying.

Of the nominees that I have read to date (all of them but Nona the Ninth), this is my favorite to win. It has more “weight” than the two that I rated higher (The Kaiju Preservation Society and Legends & Lattes). I don’t expect it to win the award, but it’s a worthy entry.

Kowal, Mary Robinette. The Spare Man. New York, New York: Tor Books, 2022. 108,377 words. 4 stars.