Science Fiction: uploading minds to virtual reality, exploring Mars, Native American detective

[Thalla]

Read this around twenty years ago-which means nothing to me: my father, who was born in the '40's, hoarded science fiction novels, and he had two rooms filled with them. The novel was the second one in a series. I read 50 chapters, which was about half the book, and gave up, because it was too convoluted.
One plot was about a female astronaut exploring ancient ruins on Mars. Another plot was about a widow who uploaded her husband's mind to a virtual reality world, but something went wrong, and there was some sort of conspiracy about the company that offered the service. Another plot was about a female ceo who ran a tech company and had issues with homeless people living in tents suction-cupped to her skyscraper windows. And the last plot was a Native American detective, brilliant at solving crimes, but a buffoon around women, who was investigating something.
And no, this was not a short story anthology: somehow, this was all one novel, but as I said I gave up reading because after 50 chapters none of the points were connecting. The back cover made it sound like it was all about a shady virtual reality company offering immortality-but there was very little of that in the book. So I want to remember the title so I remember to never try reading it again.