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Verdict: An inventive, award-shortlisted Holmes-and-Watson mystery set on Jupiter, with two former lovers as the detective pair and a world readers keep calling brilliant, held back by deliberately formal prose that loses a real share of readers and a novella length that leaves the romance and the cast underfed.
Best for: Readers who love Sherlock Holmes pastiche, cozy science fiction and quiet second-chance sapphic longing, and who will take a mannered narrator and a closed door in exchange for a genuinely original setting.
Heat level: ★☆☆☆☆ (1/5 — glimpses and kisses)
Rating: ★★★★☆ (3.5/5 — a 3.59 Goodreads average across 10,673 ratings against a Publishers Weekly star and four award shortlists, with the prose splitting readers down the middle)
Tropes: Sapphic Sherlock Holmes, former lovers as detective partners, second chance, slow burn, cozy mystery, missing person case, academic setting, space colony, climate exile, series opener.
The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older is the first of The Investigations of Mossa and Pleiti, a 169-page novella published by Tordotcom in March 2023 — a lesbian mystery and science-fiction detective story set in the human settlements that cling to Jupiter after Earth became uninhabitable, in which a brusque investigator walks back into the university life of the scholar she used to love and asks for her help with a disappearance.
It has a 3.59 average across 10,673 Goodreads ratings, a 4.2 on Amazon across 1,082, a starred Publishers Weekly review and shortlist places for the Hugo, Nebula, Locus and Ignyte awards. That gap between the critics and the readers is the story here: the professionals were close to unanimous, and a large minority of readers bounced off the voice. Both halves of that split are worth understanding before you start.
What Is The Mimicking of Known Successes About?
The Mimicking of Known Successes is a detective story first, a science-fiction novel second and a romance a distant but important third. It borrows its shape from Sherlock Holmes on purpose — the brilliant, abrupt investigator, the companion who narrates, the tea, the deductions — and then transplants all of it to a gas giant, where humanity lives on platforms and rail lines strung through the atmosphere while scholars study what Earth used to be in the hope of one day going back. Goodreads shelves put Mystery and Science Fiction well ahead of Romance, which is the right order of expectations.
Pleiti is the Watson: a scholar of Earth’s lost ecosystems, settled into academic routine and not expecting to see Mossa again. Mossa is the Holmes: an investigator with a reputation and little patience for social niceties. They were together once, and it ended. Pleiti narrates, so the whole book is filtered through a woman who is trying very hard to be composed about the person standing in front of her. That is where the romance lives.
What Makes This Sapphic Sci-Fi Mystery Work
- The Jupiter setting: The most consistently praised element in the reviews. Readers call the settlement premise brilliant and imaginative, and several say the cold, gas-wrapped world feels lived in rather than explained.
- A cozy book on a hostile planet: Tea, scones and libraries against lethal weather outside. “Cozy” is the recurring word, and readers who wanted a gentle mystery found it here.
- The Holmes and Watson inversion: Critics and readers alike single out how the pastiche is handled — Strange Horizons argues the narrator-companion improves on her predecessors, and several readers read Mossa as a neurodivergent Holmes.
- A second-chance romance told in glances: The rekindling between two former lovers is quiet and adult. Its admirers say it is romantic precisely because it is restrained.
- Economy: A full case, a world and a relationship in under 200 pages. Rebecca Roanhorse is among the Goodreads reviewers praising how much it does at novella length.
Book Synopsis
A man has gone missing from a remote platform at the far edge of Jupiter’s human settlements, and in a place where the atmosphere outside the railings will kill you, missing tends to mean something final. Investigator Mossa takes the case. It does not stay remote for long. The trail bends back toward the university, where scholars work to reconstruct the living systems of the Earth humanity abandoned — and where Pleiti has built a careful, quiet life.
Pleiti has not seen Mossa in a long time, and she has arranged things so that she would not have to think about why. Now Mossa is in her rooms, drinking her tea, asking questions about colleagues and research programmes and who might have had reason to want the missing man out of the way. Pleiti knows the institution; Mossa knows how to read people. Reluctantly, and then less reluctantly, they start working the case together.
The deeper they go, the less the disappearance looks like an isolated event. The research that fills the university’s libraries is not academic in the idle sense: it is the plan for whether and how humanity might one day go home, and some people care about that plan very much. As the rail cars carry them between platforms and the questions start pointing at the people Pleiti works beside, she has to decide how much she trusts her own institution — and how much of the old ease with Mossa she is willing to let back in.
My Review
The idea here is wonderful, and it is why this book collected four award shortlists. A Sherlock Holmes story on Jupiter is a pitch; a Sherlock Holmes story on Jupiter in which the scholarly business of the plot is working out how to repair the planet people fled is a book with a spine. Older does not info-dump; the world arrives in details — rail lines, weather, the tea everyone drinks constantly — and feels like somewhere people have lived for generations.
The second real strength is the partnership. Mossa and Pleiti are two competent adults with a history, and the book trusts you to read that history in what they do not say. Pleiti is no bumbling sidekick; she has expertise Mossa needs. Publishers Weekly’s starred review says Older “packs a punch in this slim volume.”
Where it struggles is the voice, and that is not my private complaint — it is the single most repeated criticism in the lower-rated reviews. Pleiti narrates in a deliberately formal, faintly Victorian register, and readers call it stilted, ponderous, overwrought and stuffy; a Sword and Laser book club thread on Goodreads is titled after exactly that complaint. At least two Goodreads reviewers stopped partway, both citing the narration. Around that sit the structural costs of the length: supporting characters readers describe as flat or forgettable, a world several wanted explained further, a mystery some found opaque until late, and — flagged by Strange Horizons, which otherwise loved it — a late piece of technology that does convenient work in the solution.
The fair counterpoint is that the formality is a choice. Defenders in that same book club thread point out the characters are classicists who live inside an old tradition, and that the register is characterisation rather than failure. Whether that reads as clever or as a wall, you will know within twenty pages.
One expectation to reset: this is sold with the words “sapphic romance” near the top, and it is closed-door, slow and understated. If a love story is what drew you, calibrate; if you wanted a mystery and worried about a romance crowding it, relax.
My honest note: A five-star setting and a four-star partnership inside a voice that will either charm you or keep you at arm’s length. If mannered narration pulls you out of a book, sample it first. If it clicks, you have three novellas waiting, and readers rate each one higher than the last.
| Element | In The Mimicking of Known Successes |
|---|---|
| Central relationship | Mossa & Pleiti — investigator and scholar, former lovers working a case together, second chance |
| Core tropes | Sherlock Holmes pastiche, second chance, slow burn, cozy mystery, missing person case, academic setting |
| Setting | Human settlements on Jupiter after Earth’s collapse — platforms, rail lines and a university devoted to restoring Earth |
| Heat level | 1/5 — glimpses and kisses |
| Series | The Investigations of Mossa and Pleiti book 1 of 3 published — the case resolves; the relationship continues in the sequels |
| Content notes | Disappearance and possible death, climate collapse and the loss of Earth, peril in a lethal environment, academic power politics |
How Spicy Is The Mimicking of Known Successes?
Barely at all — a 1/5. Unusually for a book this far from genre romance, romance.io does index it, and its band is the lowest one: “glimpses and kisses,” from a small pool of 48 ratings. The Goodreads reviews match that exactly; nobody describes anything explicit, and the romance lives in looks, memory and shared cups of tea. This is a novella about wanting someone back, not about getting them into bed.
The one thing worth knowing in advance is that the romance is quiet enough that some readers found it muted or even confusing; if you need the relationship stated plainly, it may frustrate you. No reviewer flags any sexual content at all. For the same low-heat register in sapphic speculative fiction, The Space Between Worlds sits in the same “glimpses and kisses” band, and Gideon the Ninth is closed-door too.
Who Should Read This Book?
You’ll likely love it if: you have a soft spot for Holmes and Watson, you want science fiction that feels cozy rather than grim, you like romance that simmers in the background of a case, and you enjoy a narrator with a distinctive, old-fashioned voice.
You may want to skip it if: formal or mannered prose keeps you at a distance, you need a fully explained world with hard-science rigour, you want the romance on the page and at the centre, or you like a mystery with a large, well-drawn suspect pool.
In short: one of the most original settings in sapphic mystery, delivered in a voice that decides the book for you in the first chapter.
What Readers Are Actually Saying (September 2026)
This is not a BookTok book, and it never needed to be. There is no viral moment; the TikTok mentions I found are scattered cozy-SF recommendation lists, and no meaningful Reddit footprint turned up. What it has instead is a traditional literary-SF career. Publishers Weekly starred it, Library Journal pitched it at Holmes-pastiche lovers, and Locus, Reactor, Strange Horizons and Smart Bitches, Trashy Books reviewed it warmly — Smart Bitches gave it a B+ and wanted it longer. It was a Nebula nominee and a Hugo, Locus and Ignyte finalist for best novella. On Goodreads, fellow novelists including K.J. Charles and Alexis Hall rate it five stars. Readers found it through award ballots, genre press and book clubs, not algorithms.
The audiobook is part of that reach. Blackstone Publishing released it alongside the print edition in March 2023, narrated by Lindsey Dorcus and running 4 hours 27 minutes — short enough for an afternoon. Listener comment on the narration specifically is thin; at least one book-club reader says the audio helped them settle into the formal language.
Prefer audio? Listen to The Mimicking of Known Successes on Libro.fm — the audiobook shop that supports independent bookstores.
Why readers love it (according to the discourse): The setting, first and most consistently — “brilliant” and “imaginative” recur, and at least one reader who rarely reads science fiction found it accessible. Then the coziness, which readers name as the surprise: warmth, tea and scholarship set against a lethal planet. The Holmes and Watson dynamic draws real affection, and several readers see Mossa as neurodivergent, which they count as a plus. The romance’s fans love its restraint; Locus called the relationship “experienced and slightly battered and very, very real.”
What readers argue about and complain about: The prose, above everything. Low-star reviewers describe it as stilted, ponderous and overwrought, and the two did-not-finish reviews I found both name the narration. Second: length. The 169 pages that critics call economical, a good number of readers call thin — flat or interchangeable supporting characters, a world that raises questions it never answers, and a relationship whose history stays offstage. Third: the science. A handful of readers poke at the ecological logic of the setting and call it hand-wavy. Fourth, and more divided: the mystery. Some readers found it clever and satisfying; experienced crime readers in one Goodreads book club found the plotting weak, and others say the stakes stayed unclear until late. One reader counted more than twenty mentions of tea.
The series question everyone should ask first: book one stands on its own. The case is solved inside the novella and there is no cliffhanger, though the relationship is clearly built to continue. The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles followed in February 2024 and The Potency of Ungovernable Impulses in June 2025, and readers rate them progressively higher — 3.89 and 3.96 on Goodreads against book one’s 3.59. Goodreads lists placeholder entries for books four and five with no titles or dates. If the world charms you, the numbers say the series rewards staying.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is The Mimicking of Known Successes a romance novel?
Not primarily. It is a science-fiction mystery with a second-chance sapphic romance running underneath, and Goodreads readers shelve it as mystery and science fiction first. The relationship between Mossa and Pleiti matters, but the case drives the book.
How spicy is The Mimicking of Known Successes?
A 1/5. romance.io puts it in its lowest band, “glimpses and kisses,” and no reader review describes anything explicit. The romance is carried by longing and history rather than on-page intimacy.
Does The Mimicking of Known Successes end on a cliffhanger?
No. The mystery is resolved within the novella. The relationship between Mossa and Pleiti carries forward into the sequels, but you are not left hanging on the case.
How many Mossa and Pleiti books are there?
Three so far: The Mimicking of Known Successes (2023), The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles (2024) and The Potency of Ungovernable Impulses (2025). Goodreads lists placeholders for books four and five with no titles or dates yet, and the sequels are rated higher than the first book.
Is there an audiobook?
Yes. It is narrated by Lindsey Dorcus for Blackstone Publishing, released in March 2023 and running 4 hours 27 minutes. It is also available on Libro.fm.
If You Loved The Mimicking of Known Successes, Read These Next
The closest match on this site is Even Though I Knew the End, another award-winning sapphic mystery novella from the same publisher, trading Jupiter for a supernatural 1940s Chicago. If what you want is K.J. Charles’s own take on a sapphic country-house mystery, Proper English brings the romance further forward and the heat up a notch. And for a far stranger science-fantasy mystery built around two women, Gideon the Ninth trades coziness for bones and gallows humour.
For more in this register, browse our lesbian mystery and thriller books list or the full Book Reviews collection.
The Bottom Line
The Mimicking of Known Successes is a small book with a large imagination. The Jupiter setting is genuinely original, the Holmes and Watson partnership is smart and adult, and the second-chance romance between Mossa and Pleiti has a restraint its fans find more moving than any grand gesture. It is also written in a formal voice that a sizeable share of readers find stiff, too short to give its cast and its world the room they need, and far quieter as a romance than its marketing suggests. If you can meet the narrator on her own terms, it is an afternoon’s pleasure and the door into a series readers like more with every instalment. Check The Mimicking of Known Successes on Amazon →
The Eikna Overall Ranking
On the Eikna scale, The Mimicking of Known Successes ranks as a critically adored sapphic science-fiction novella — original in setting and gentle in heart, held back by a mannered voice and a thin cast, and best approached as a Holmes pastiche in space rather than as a romance.
The Evidence Scorecard
Overall ★★★★☆ 3.5/5
- ✓ 3.59 average across 10,673 Goodreads ratings
- ✓ Hugo, Nebula, Locus and Ignyte shortlists
- ✓ 4.2 on Amazon across 1,082 ratings
- ✓ Formal prose is the loudest complaint
Romance ★★★☆☆ 3.2/5
- ✓ Former lovers with real history
- ✓ Restraint moves its admirers
- ✓ Adult, competent partnership
- ✓ Some readers found it muted
Characters ★★★★☆ 3.5/5
- ✓ Mossa reads as a fresh Holmes
- ✓ Pleiti is no bumbling sidekick
- ✓ Neurodivergent reading praised by readers
- ✓ Supporting cast called flat
Writing ★★★☆☆ 3.4/5
- ✓ Worldbuilding without info-dumps
- ✓ Starred Publishers Weekly review
- ✓ Defended as deliberate Holmesian register
- ✓ Stilted and ponderous to many readers
Emotional Impact ★★★☆☆ 3.4/5
- ✓ Exile from Earth gives it weight
- ✓ Rekindled longing lands for fans
- ✓ Cozy warmth against a lethal world
- ✓ Formal voice keeps some at distance
Heat Level ★☆☆☆☆ 1/5
- ✓ romance.io: glimpses and kisses
- ✓ No reader reports explicit content
- ✓ Romance lives in looks and history
- ✓ Mystery, not romance, is the draw
Ending ★★★★☆ 3.6/5
- ✓ Case fully resolved
- ✓ No cliffhanger
- ✓ Critics call the solution surprising
- ✓ Late technology does convenient work
Re-read Value ★★★★☆ 3.8/5
- ✓ Sequels rated 3.89 and 3.96
- ✓ 4 h 27 min audiobook for a second pass
- ✓ Setting rewards a slower reread
- ✓ Prose style discourages a return
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