I was tempted by a locked room murder mystery - but when the locked room is an asteroid and the suspects are all clones - I couldn't resist. It's a clever story that actively tells you how clever it is by referencing Agatha Cristie mysteries throughout the tale. And it works.

The characters, while clones of each other, are all distinct and have their own personalities and motivations. The protagonist - a scientific Ell named Leila - has the perfect born yesterday innocence. She has only known 21 people her whole life, and so she must learn new skills to figure out who murdered her twin clone Lily.

There are plenty of mysteries and it keeps you guessing right to the end. Well worth a read!

Not my usual read and the writing style slowed my reading speed considerably, but the story was engaging and wonderful.

This has been out for, um, ages now. I did actually start it as soon as I got it, and then I had my dissertation and moving and a thousand other excuses. When I actually sat down to finish it, though, it’s a very easy read and went by quickly. It was a little bit predictable to me, but it comes together nicely, and I do enjoy the constant references to Golden Age crime fiction (or at least Agatha Christie; now I think about it, I’m not sure whether any others were mentioned).

I probably shouldn’t say too much about it for fear of spoiling the reveals — it is kind of fun to just read and let things fall into place for yourself, after all. But I do find it weird that it has a lot of similarities with another recent book, One Way (S.J. Morden). There’s a slightly different angle, but nonetheless a lot of similarities, right down to the ending (which I peeked at in the case of One Way, which I haven’t quite finished). If I remember rightly they must have been being published at the same time, so it’s not a matter of plagiarism — just a kind of synchronicity, I think, but it definitely gave me deja vu!

Not bad, but nothing particularly astonishing either.

Hubo una edad de oro de la literatura detectivesca a principios del siglo pasado, liderada por la dama del crimen Agatha Christie. Y como otros muchos, yo tuve mi época de devorar este tipo de novelas. En las décadas posteriores la irrupción de la tecnología en la investigación quitó parte de la gracia a los libros, que fueron tendiendo cada vez más a la parte menos reflexiva de la investigación.

Para volver a disfrutar de libros de este corte, son necesarias unas circunstancias especiales. Y, sorprendentemente, la ciencia ficción nos puede dar unos escenarios estupendos para crímenes de resolución incierta. Esto es porque una de las virtudes del género es la posibilidad de cambiar las reglas del juego. Por ejemplo, en Six Wakes de Mur Lafferty las víctimas del crimen son unos clones en una nave espacial, convirtiéndose en una vuelta de tuerca al típico caso de la habitación cerrada.

Death of a Clone toma una idea similar. En un remoto asteroide se sitúa una colonia minera explotada por clones bajo la supervisión de tres humanos "normales". El trabajo debería estar repartido entre los cuatro grupos de seis clones idénticos según sus características particulares, pero al comienzo de la novela ya nos encontramos en una situación desequilibrada, porque solo quedan dos miembros de uno de los grupos. Y cuando aparece muerta una de ellas, la gemela restante decide investigar, basándonse en los libros de Poirot y Marple que ha devorado en su tiempo libre.

El punto de partida, resulta muy atractivo. Si los personajes son clones, ¿serán sus motivaciones iguales o habrá diferencias entre cada uno de ellos? ¿Qué papel representan los supervisores en el control del trabajo? Si han matado a un clon, ¿seguirán con el siguiente hasta acabar con la estirpe? Y ¿por qué no había veinticuatro clones desde un principio?

Estas son solo algunas de las preguntas que nos podemos hacer con el planteamiento inicial del libro, pero claro, no todo es lo que parece (¿dónde estaría el misterio si no?).

La idea, como digo, es buena, aunque la ejecución no tanto. La prosa del autor es en ocasiones demasiado plana para expresar los sentimientos que sin duda poseen los personajes. También tiene algunos problemas de ritmo mientras se está llevando a cabo la investigación, quizá achacables a la propia estructura de la novela, demasiado centrada en la estrecha visión de la protagonista. Se desaprovechan algunas oportunidades de exponer debates éticos que podrían ser muy interesantes, pero es posible que el autor no estuviera interesado tanto en este aspecto como en el propio desarrollo del misterio.

Los secretos del pasado que van surgiendo cumplen escrupulosamente su papel sorprendente y a la vez homenajean a sus referentes. Death of a Clone es una lectura corta y disfrutable. Siento interés por la siguiente obra de Alex Thomson, la verdad.

Disclaimer: I received an e-ARC from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I love science fiction and mysteries, having both together can be difficult - Thomson delivers a really great murder mystery set on an mining asteroid.

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&qid=1532402517&sr=8-1&keywords=death+of+a+clone

https://twitter.com/mr_alexthomson

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

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by Deatg of a Clone by Alex Thomson. I never would have read this book if it wasn’t and ARC but am glad I did. The book, while short, is jam packed with mystery and intrigue. I don’t know what made me have a hard time putting it down, but The combo of mystery and sci-fi was something new and somewhat exciting. While reading I was constantly thrown for twists. At times I felt like I could guess the ending but Alex Thomson was able to keep me on my toes. I think this book is worth the read for any mystery reader.

Thanks to Alex Thomson and Abaddon for providing me with an advanced reading copy.

This is an interesting mystery. There are a limited number of people on the astroid so there are limited number of suspects. We see the mystery through Leita eyes. She is a clone as are most of the other on the astroid. Leita is channeling Miss Marple as she worked through who killed her sister clone. Her sister was close to learning a secret and as Leita works she finds the clues her sister found. This is a good mystery and it is solved but for me it was sad ending. It does highlight what we do to one another is the quest for wealth.

I received a free copy of the book in return for an honest review.

Leila is a clone bred to work on the relentless job of mining on an asteroid called Hell by the Overseers who manage the mining operation and keep the clones in order. The Overseers and the clones all live for the day when they have made their mining quota and can return to Earth.

But when it becomes apparent Leila’s sister Lilly has been murdered, Leila cannot understand the disinterest in the Overseers, and she becomes determined to solve the crime in the same way the detectives, like Miss Marple, do in the old crime books she has been given to read.

Death of a Clone is a very interesting take on the style of investigation by Agatha Christie’s detecting protagonists. If you think about it for a moment though, Leila’s desire to find a murderer on an asteroid with a very limited population of mining personnel, and an apparent resistance by the Overseers, seems an insane act. But it really brings home a great many factors in play with regards to Leila’s life, who she is, and where she sits in the scheme of things.

Despite the dreadful, relentless life Leila lives as an individual who has been bred to be effectively a slave, she is a very caring person. The monumental naivety she displays by potentially putting her own life at risk by doing the investigation in a place where she has nowhere to run if things get out of hand actually speaks to a deeper truth Leila must discover. Because this of Death of a Clone becomes far more than just a whodunnit in space. Knowing she is pretty much on her own also adds to the element of tension as your worry becomes anxiety over when it will be Leila’s turn to be killed by Lilly’s murderer, making you as a reader metaphorically continually look behind you as the clues add up and Leila pushes harder for the truth.

That Leila has very limited resources means that she really does have to work through the process of detection in the old-fashioned way by finding clues and interviewing her suspects. As each clue begins to reveal another layer of Leila’s world, your concern for her grows, but you also have an increasing sense of claustrophobia, because the asteroid is so small and without their pressure suits the places the clones can go is even more limited. This says so much about what the asteroid really is to the clones.

The result is a twisty-turny crime story, but also one that will break your heart when you learn the truth.

I thoroughly enjoyed this space thriller/murder mystery, based on a mining asteroid populated with clones. As a huge Agatha Christie fan, I was pleasantly surprised at how well her type of whodunnit translated to the sci-fi genre. There is a possibility of a sequel here, which I would love to see Mr Thomson!

Life is Hell after the Death of a Clone in this intriguing sci-fi mystery.

In the near future, Leila is a clone working on an asteroid mining metals no longer found on Earth. Lily, Leila’s sister clone is murdered. Leila vows to solve the crime using investigative techniques learned from Miss Marple.

The merging of space opera, human dynamics and a traditional amateur sleuth was done seamlessly. The frequent Christie references were fun. The murderer was readily apparent but another mystery was a complete surprise. 4 stars!

Thanks to Abaddon and NetGalley for an advanced copy.

Death Of A Clone is the debut from Alex Thomson; it’s a rarity – a nuanced science-fiction story, with a weather eye fixed on the traditions of the ‘cozy’ mystery genre. It blends the patterns of Poirot and Marple with thoughtful questions about humanity and its future.

The location for all of this is Hell. Well, not literally, but close enough. Hell is the name of an asteroid plummeting through the edges of the outer solar system. It’s cold, dark, and lacks an atmosphere. It is not, to put it mildly, a fun place. It does, however, have one thing going for it – it’s rich in metals. A mining crew is settled on the asteroid, their lives defined by a rota, which tells them who should be where and when in order to meet their quota. They’re isolated in the tumbling black…and they’re all clones.

Well, almost all, anyway.

The clones exist in ‘families’, each with a defined role. Some do the heavy lifting. Others the sorting and classification of ore. Others do more agile work. Each family carries traits – be they stolidity and a certain refusal to rock the boat, or a wry cynicism – Within the families, they’re aware of each other, but telling each identical member from the others is something of a task. The clone families are also not the only people on Hell. They’re supervised by three men, who are not clones themselves. These Overseer’s are responsible for production, for maintaining the velocity of their work crews. This is a closed system, and its also an emotional hothouse. The authority of an Overseer is backed by weaponry, and by the promise that after enough time has passed, everyone on the rock will get to go back to Earth – a home that none of the clones have ever seen.

There’s issues here around identity and power, of course. The Overseers carry nominal authority, but are significantly outmanned by the clones which they oversee. The clones, in turn, fight to meet their mining quota in the pursuit of a dream – as the alternative is an eternity on a desolate rock. In this instance, Hell is both a desolate rock and other people. Because the interpersonal dynamics of the clone families are always shifting; certain families are engineered to be attacted to the others, and there’s a question here of volition, of the amount that genetics make up reasoning, and on how far outside the bounds people are willing to push themselves.

On which note: whilst Hell is a wonderfully realised backdrop, a stark wasteland which carries horror in its very prosaic drudgery, it’s the characters which steal the show. Well, one, anyway. Leila is our protagonist, one of a pair remaining from a clone family cut short by accident. What she knows is life on Hell, but what she dreams of is Earth – an Earth spoken of in stories from an Overseer’s books – of village greens, red post-boxes, and murders which get solved in time for tea. Leila is sympathetic; she’s prone to self-examination, and in looking at herself and others, we see the collective power structure which persists – the clones working under their overseers, the overseers constrained by the number of clones and the necessity of meeting a quota. But we also see the relationships binding Hell together, and Leila’s eyes let us see the simmering feuds and resentments which are quietly frothing under longstanding social norms. How one group doesn’t trust another not to cause trouble. How one group keeps to themselves, with accusations of a hidden agenda. How the Overseers are flawed individuals – not authority figures as much as men given authority and let loose. Hell is a pressure cooker, and the story draws out these pressures, throws them under a light, and lets us explore them – but with the awareness that more are hidden away, still, that there are currents which have yet to be fully explored.

Given that the clones are meant to be identical, it’ delightful that each we see in detail has such a unique voice; Leila in particular is incisive, introspective, and prepared to make hard decisions in pursuit of truth. Her contrast to the bullish members of one ‘family’ and the manipulations of another is stark, but clean – these are people, the text declaims. Even if they’re stamped out of a die, their individuality, their struggle, is unique and to be appreciated. This is true from the simplest – those who try and break up their similarities with props or facial hair – to the more complex, those who keep their individuality locked within their emotional core.

In any event, each of the clones and their three overseers lives, truly; and in plumbing the depths of mystery, we get to know a great deal more about many of them. I was delighted by the delicate, complex power dynamics of the story, something which works because each of the characters we’re shown has something different about them, an individuality at conflict with the bald faced dehumanisation of cloning. In any event, these are well-drawn, complex, humanised characters – and ones for whom I felt, by the end, a full measure of empathy and sympathy.

The plot – well, more than usual, that would be telling. It is, not to give anything away, a murder mystery. That said, it both appropriates and subverts the tropes one might expect from that, gleefully playing into the comparisons with Christie whilst keeping a stream of fresh ideas running through.

The clues are there. The body is there. Thecriminal? Also there. Hell is a very, very large locked room, which challenges us to think in terms of means, motive and opportunity. It has enough red herrings to keep you guessing, and enough complexity and truth within it to make revelations a delight. But it’s not just a whodunit – though it is a good one. This is also a sci-fi story, and if it explores a murder, it does so through a lens of power, of agency, and of a future where individuality may be suppressed, but not denied. There’s enough mystery here to keep you turning pages, and enough pathos and other emotional weight to make you feel each revelation like a kick in the gut.

This is a story which has power, I say. One which will explore the best and worst of what we have within us, and wrings out its reader emotionally whilst showing that to them. It’s clever, both in the stories it hides, and the story it tells – a multi-faceted jewel in the literary ore. If you’re looking for something new, something which will challenge you to think, and also challenge the way in which you think, this one’s for you. I’s a page turner, one which will keep you up into the night – but also a story which wants to ask the big questions, then waits to see what your answers are. Give it a try.

When Earth’s precious metals are mined into extinction, the Corporations, and the people who run them, decided to head out to the Asteroid Belt and mine there. But sending a human workforce would be costly and dangerous, so they created the workforce instead...

“We were brought into existence for this express purpose.”

Leila and her fellow clones on Mizushima-00109 don’t remember what came before, they only know they have jobs to do, and that the work is important to their Overseers. But when Leila’s sister, Lily, is found murdered, her interest in quotas wains as she set out to investigate whom in their tiny Asteroid colony killed Lily, and more importantly, why.

I love a good space drama and this book did not disappoint! It was easy to read, with a good cast of characters, and a thrilling, delicious side-dish of a twist. It was also decidedly human. Leila’s ‘voice’ was almost childlike in its naivety, but it was incredibly fierce, and stubborn, and independent - she’s my kind of character!

Death of a Clone, is not just a sci-fi, mystery/thriller. It raises philosophical questions about existence, needs, desires, and human rights. And that no matter how much ‘selective breeding’ science can give us, you “can’t stop the human spirit taking over. You can’t create personality.”

Thank you to Alex Thomson, Rebellion Publishing, and NetGalley, for an ARC of this compelling book, in exchange for an honest review. Highly recommend!

I very much enjoyed this book! It's a futuristic closed-room murder mystery set on a lonely Asteroid – with clones and references to Agatha Christie, Miss Marple and Hercules Poirot. This book isn't exactly full of action but a slow burning investigation. Everyone on the Asteroid Mizushika-00109 - refered to as "Hell" - is a suspect when one of the clones gets killed after asking too many questions about their heritage and their purpose on Hell. Her sister Leila is the one who read most of earths murder mysteries and takes it on herself to find her sisters murderer. While investigating she uncovers more truths then she could ever imagine.

Read this book if you love murder mysteries and the author placing so many traps you will sit on the edge of guessing right to the end. I really loved this one.

**Thank you for providing me with this ARC!**

Death of A Clone is set in a future where Earth has been depleted of metals and cloning has become viable. So teams of clones, supervised by Overseers, are sent out to various asteroids where they will mine, separate, and catalogue all the required metals. Our protagonist Leila, is one such clone, and she's been working out on Mizushima-00109 (nicknamed "Hell") alongside her brothers and sisters (who are also clones). Life is more or less routine for this little makeshift-family, until one day, a clone is found murdered in a mine shaft. Now Leila is determined to put all her amateur detective skills to use and nail the culprit.

This was a solid, fast-paced, uncomplicated whodunit set in space. The story gives you very little preamble and throws you right into the thick of things, which I appreciated, though it might be considered a little abrupt for some people.

Leila's character is reminiscent Veronica Mars with her sense of humour and "I'm going to solve this and you can't stop me" attitude. Her narration is easy and enjoyable, and I found her obsession with Agatha Christie mysteries quite charming.

I did, however, find the worldbuilding and character development rather shallow. With the former, I would have loved some in-depth exploration into the situation back on Earth and how these clones came to be made. There's also quite a bit of infodumping at the end, and the big reveal itself is a little abrupt and underwhelming.

All in all, how much enjoyment you get out of this book really depends on what you're looking to get out of it. Are you looking for a scifi that dives deep into the meaning of identity and the ethics of using cloned individuals as labourers? You won't find that here. Are you looking for a quick novel-form of Clue set in outer space? Then you got it.

One part murder mystery, one part speculative fiction, Death of a Clone examines the nature of identity and its reliance on memory.  Hell is a small mining colony on an asteroid far from earth. The workers are genetically engineered clones divided into families according to purpose - 5 Ays, 6 Bees, 6 Jays, and 2 Ells.  All family members are identical in appearance, but there are also deeper similarities which become clear as you read. In addition to the clones, there are three human overseers who manage the groups.  It is important to remember that all of the clones believe they will be sent to earth at the end of their 7 year tenure.


When her sister is killed, Laila begins investigating her murder, using the techniques she learned from reading Agatha Christie’s mysteries.  Haunted by elusive memories and troubled by the strange inconsistencies she discovers, Laila begins to realize that everything they believed may be wrong, and that seeking justice may have far reaching consequences.


The premise is an intriguing one - a clone investigating her sister’s murder.  The potential for deception is high, as it is difficult to distinguish between individual family members.  The Ays consciously try to make their appearances different, but the Bees and the Jays do not (sometimes consciously encouraging confusion).  Could one person of an identical (genetically) set be a murderer without the rest knowing or being complicit? On the other hand, there are the overseers - but what threat could Lily have posed?  Laila is both searching for her sister’s killer and following in her sister’s footsteps.


Death of a Clone is one of the more unusual tributes to Agatha Christie that I’ve come across.  There are flaws here and there, but most of those can be attributed to the narrator. Some are harder to accept, leaving the reader wondering.  For example why is there no means of communication with earth. Surely they want the minerals being mined on the asteroid and would need some way of knowing what supplies need to be replenished.  I was a bit disappointed by Thomson taking the easy out for the solution, but I still enjoyed the novel. Death of a Clone is a promising debut. I look forward to seeing where Alex Thomson goes from here.


4 / 5


I received a copy of Death of a Clone from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.


— Crittermom

DNF. The story does little to introduce the clones and the background of their existence. Where did they come from? Why are they used for mining instead of alterative methods? The clones are on an asteriod and they are there in family units, either male or female brothers and sisters. One sister dies and no one seems to care but her identical sister. Was she murdered? The sister remaining does not show any emotion over the death and the human overseers don't care. Nothing about this story grabbed my interest. Very shallow.

ARC provided by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
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Leila and her fellow clones are mining the asteroid Mizushima-00109 when her sister is suddenly murdered and the circumstances surrounding her death allude to something being very wrong on the asteroid. Leila has no one to trust and must figure out who the killer is on her own.

This was a quick 155-page read in my ebook format. The blurb was intriguing and the story was quite complicated for a book of such short length.

Leila is a very curious character and is hellbent on finding her sister's murderer while trying to uncover the secrets of the asteroid.

There are lots of things done flawlessly in this book:

1. The worldbuilding that occurs without even a hint of infodumping, everything seamlessly integrated into dialogue and scenes.

2. The character development (of even the background cast) that takes place over the span of less than 200 pages.

3. The sequence of events and the amount of attention each is given.

There are a few things that I thought could have been better:

1. The amount of events: more could have been added to this other than the murder, the investigation and the reveal.

2. The cliffhanger ending is a good setup for a second book. I just wish a little bit more had been revealed of the aftermath of the big reveal.

I think both of the above could have been achieved without extending the book length too much.

Other than that, I think the title of the book could do with more of an oomph. It's not entirely bad, but I do think that something a bit more powerful would reflect the contents of the book better.

Overall, this was a quick, enjoyable read and I would recommend it to anyone interested in a murder mystery mixed with sci-fi. From a genre-mixing perspective, this was perfectly imagined and executed.

Rating: 3.5/5 stars
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Short review on Litsy
ARC provided by NetGalley and publisher.

Plus points:
1. The worldbuilding that occurs without infodumping.

2. Character development

3. The sequence of events and the amount of attention each is given.

Things could have been better:

1. More could have been added to this other than the murder, the investigation and the reveal.

2. I wish a little bit more had been revealed of the aftermath of the big reveal.

3. The title

3.5/5 ⭐

A quick, enjoyable read in the “Agatha Christie in Space” vein. As the title suggests, there is a bit of tongue-in-cheekery here but it doesn't overpower. It also passes the sniff test for whether it would still be science fiction if we removed the genre-crossing elements. I’m still debating at what point the reader had enough info to solve the mystery but I think it was fairly late. The answer does satisfy, though.

The one flaw was a scene where the detective character confronted another character with a statement that he/she had expressed details of the murder scene that had not been released. That scene never occurred.

Things to fix before the final gets published: “ironical” on page 1 and the passage that says nickel and platinum are magnetic.

I received an advance electronic copy of this book from Netgalley.

Earth has been depleted of needed metals and elements. Four "families" of clone siblings have been sent to an asteroid (nicknamed Hell by its inhabitants) to mine its metals, under the supervision of overseers. It's the only life they have ever known. But as the story begins, one of the original four overseers has died, as well as one of the male clones. And then the only remaining clone sister of the protagonist Leila is murdered.

An Agatha Christie-style mystery combined with a life-sized game of Clue ensues, as Leila tries to solve the mystery. Everyone has something to hide, and as forgotten fragments of Leila's memories begin to surface, she realizes that her sister was on the verge of figuring out that something was rotten on Hell, and someone believed she had to be silenced.

I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5 because the ending was a bit abrupt, seemed unfinished, and left the characters hanging. I don't want to go into any detail because that would involve spoilers. A sequel to finish the story and bring the characters' journeys to a satisfactory conclusion might be in order, but I don't know whether the author has any such plans or not.