And Then There Were (N-One)

I, regrettably, haven't been reading fiction lately, and with this novella I got a toe back into the water. It's a quick read, and once it gets going, it hums right along, and you find yourself wondering what other people you could have been if things had gone slightly different in your life. Here the main character meets a whole convention-worth of these other people. And that helps her clarify what is actually most important in her life. It's charming, and there's a murder mystery, definitely a worthwhile read.

This is the story that made me fall in love with Sarah Pinsker's writing. In an alternate world full of Sarah Pinskers, we know who dunnit. The joy of this closed room murder mystery is getting to the which one? And why?

If I discovered a wormhole technology to parallel worlds, I hope that I would invite all of my other selves to come visit and see if we can identify all of the points of departure.

The scene at the hotel checkin where they are looking up everyone by name reminded me of many years ago I worked as an election judge in NYC for a precinct that consisted of a single apartment building. We had to ask people when they cam e to vote what their address was - they all started by saying the street number and name, but literally everyone in the book lived at that same address so it wasn't helpful for finding them.

The publisher has the full text online: www.uncannymagazine.com/article/and-then-there-were-n-one/

Numerous versions of Sarah Pinsker from different multiverses get together for a convention on an isolated island. But when a murder takes place, it is up to an investigative version of Pinsker to figure out who did it.

As in mysteries of this sort, the clues are scattered throughout the story, and it might be possible for an attentive reader to figure out who is the suspect. But the motive is science fictional and would involve a yearning for living a different life, when the numerous Sarah Pinskers have already lived multiple lives.