What's this humorous SF mystery?

December 2, 2012 1:30 PM

What's this humorous SF mystery?

A library patron is looking for a novel she read a few years ago. She says it was a darkly humorous murder mystery about a detective in space, possibly a mining colony. The victim was a very tall, very ugly woman (possibly a prostitute?), and the killers kept having to move the body to different places outside the space station, hilarity ensuing.

Ring any bells? She thinks it was probably a male author.

posted by exceptinsects to Writing & Language (3 answers total)

Best answer: I'm pretty sure you're describing Allen Steele's short story "The Return of Weird Frank." It's not quite as you describe, but it does involve moving the corpse of a dead astronaut from place to place around a space station as a practical joke before it's taken one step too far and a very large woman throws the frozen corpse out the airlock.

Yeah. Pretty sure that's it.
posted by LinnTate at 8:10 PM on December 2, 2012

Response by poster: Wow, that does sound like it! I'll request it and see if it's the one she remembers. Thanks so much!
posted by exceptinsects at 2:16 PM on December 3, 2012

Response by poster: Yes, she says that is it!
posted by exceptinsects at 2:34 PM on December 3, 2012 [1 favorite]