More a mystery than science fiction, though the mystery is ultimately based on the SF premise. A bit slow paced. ( )

A very enjoyable young adult - science fiction - mystery. Leila is a clone working on mining of an asteroid. When her sister is murdered the Overseers don't care. But Leila who is a fan of old detective novels decides she will solve the mystery. She can not give up asking questions to find out the truth about he sister and their existence. ( )

I really enjoyed reading this book - it was easy to read and hard to put down. It took me a while to get a handle on Leila's personality, but I liked the world-building. The mystery was enough to get me interested and the ending was satisfying. ( )

Leila wants answers - but she’s not getting any. A designed clone working out a contract on an asteroid mining outpost (nicknamed Hell by the 3 Overseers) , Leila is part of a group of six cloned siblings, the Ells, just as there are six Ays (well, five, really), six Bees, and six Jays. Except that there aren’t six Ells, just Leila and Lily, and Leila can’t quite remember what happened to her four sisters. When Lily is murdered, it seems it may have been because Lily was asking too many questions. Now it’s Leila’s turn to ask the questions.

Leila is an Agatha Christie fan and models her investigation on the methods of Miss Marple, but she’s naive and inexperienced and no one seems to be telling her the truth. Everyone seems to be keeping secrets….

[Death of a Clone] is an excellent science fiction and mystery genre cross. The references to Christie’s novels (particularly to Miss Marple) will please mystery fans and the science fiction elements are critical to the story itself - it’s not just an interesting setting.

As I read, I found myself with a growing sense of unease - well, I don't want to say too much. I’ll admit I wasn’t quite sure what to expect out of this book, but I was amply rewarded by reading it.

Something about St. Mary Mead reminds me of Hell--a small, enclosed society; the stifling claustrophobia and social stratification; and all those secrets lying beneath the veneer of respectability.

Goodreads Synopsis:
An Agatha Christie thriller in space!

The Overseers may call it Hell, but for Leila and the other clones, the mining base on asteroid Mizushima-00109 is the only home they’ve ever known. But then Leila’s sister Lily is murdered, and the Overseers seem less interested in solving the crime than in making their mining quota and returning to Earth.

Leila decides to find the murderer, just like the heroes of her old detective novels would. But Hell is a place of terrible secrets, and a love of cozy mysteries may not be enough to keep Leila from ending up like her sister.

My Review:
In the distant future, space travel is frequent. At least it is when the earth is running dangerously low on precious metals and resources. Cloning is also a huge thing, as it's hard to find people who want to give up such a huge chunk of their life to mine on an asteroid like the one Leila lives on with her "family", on one they've nicknamed Hell. It's an unwelcoming clump of metal with a toxic atmosphere and a pale sun, and induces headaches for the people living there. But they do what they have to, work until the collection ship arrives, where the clones will earn their passage to Earth, and the Overseer's will finally get to go home. Most families have more than four clones in them, but Leila's family only consists of her and her sister Lily. There were supposed to be four others, but something happened with them, supposedly they didn't grow properly. Lily has been suspicious for a very long time that something happened to their missing sisters, but Leila thinks nothing of it and continues her work.

I know I say this a lot, but this book is completely unlike anything I've read lately. Not only is the murder mystery completely unique, the characters are a lot different than any other I've read about, and not just because they're clones. It's easy to read, and easy to imagine. I would love to have a copy on my shelf to read again and again, and that's really saying something because I don't usually want to read books more than once because I have so many to read. Leila is an amazing person, full of surprises, and I really love that she plays detective even though she's never even known what a detective is outside of the books she reads. I was sucked into the story immediately, and I couldn't put it down until I was finished. I absolutely loved it. The story is just so interesting, and I couldn't predict it at all. The characters are interesting too, despite being clones raised in the same conditions, they're all so different. The ending is a whole other thing all together. It's more horrific than I ever could have imagined, and I loved every second of it. I definitely recommend you check out this story if you get the chance!

Here's a link to the book on Amazon, and another link to the Author's Twitter.

https://www.amazon.ca/Death-Clone-Alex-Thomson/dp/1781086346/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&...

https://twitter.com/mr_alexthomson

Thanks for reading! Check out this review and more at my blog.
(Radioactivebookreviews.wordpress.com) ( )