The Mimicking Of Known Successes by Malka Older

 

A man has gone missing at a remote station on Jupiter where the human race has landed after ruining Earth for inhabitation.  Did he step off into space or was he pushed?  Investigator Mossa has been sent to find out what happened.

Mossa enlists the help of her former girlfriend, Pleiti.  Pleiti has stayed at the university where the two met, now as a researcher into Earth's former ecosystems in the hope that one day humans can recreate the Earth as it was and return.  There is still tension over their breakup but Pleiti agrees to help and soon is caught up in Mossa's work.

Someone doesn't want the answers found.  Mossa is attacked at the planet's only zoo by a carnivore who has been set loose and it's obvious some of the people they are talking to are lying to them or at least not telling the entire truth.  Can the two women find out what happened?

This is the first in Older's science fiction series.  The two women are very different yet they have a strong attraction to each other and can almost read each other's minds.  Humans have made a mess of things on Earth and are desperately trying to find a way to get back and reestablish life as it was.  The book is reminiscent of Victorian mysteries and readers won't quickly figure out the mystery.  This book is recommended for both science fiction and mystery readers.