Published by NewCon Press, 2021
An intriguing murder mystery that pays homage to Asimov’s seminal robot stories and also to the classic detective tale.
Investigator Abbey Oma is dispatched to a remote and failing Martian colony tasked with solving the murder of scientist Jerem Ferrer. The killing took place in an airlock-sealed lab, and the only possible culprit is a robot incapable of harming humans…
Abbey soon discovers the case is by no means as open and shut as she might have hoped, with political and commercial interests at stake and local resentments threatening both her work and her very life.
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Reviews
“…a fascinating mystery to solve while we are in the hands of a unique investigator and then get into a wider tale exploring humanity itself… a mixture of The Doctor and Columbo, [detective Abbey Oma] is a six-foot three private investigator who loves banter, often has to resist the urge to hug people and is very perceptive at working through the evidence and witnesses… a very successful novella mystery and also a great piece of science fiction.” Runalong the Shelves
Guest blog posts and interviews
- Genre mashups (locked-room mysteries and SF), Civilian Reader
- Starting points when writing Universal Language, Runalong the Shelves
- Influences on the novella, RisingShadow
- Interview (detective voiceovers, mystery plotting and book recommendations), Runalong the Shelves
- The mysterious allure of the Red Planet, Sci-Fi Bulletin
- Author focus, Ian Whates’s blog
Tim Major 
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