This takes place on Mars. It was supposed to be a popular tourist destination for people from Earth, but financial support fell off, and contact with Earth is uncommon. An investigator is sent from Earth when a human is killed and a robot is blamed. Robots are supposed to be programmed never to kill humans, and it could have major repercussions if it is possible. ( )

Abbey Oma is an optic (investigator) dispatched by Sagacity, the “world banker,” to Mars to investigate the death of Jerem Ferrer, a scientist. The victim lived in a now-defunct crawler base and it appears he was murdered by a robot. Robot labor underlies Earth’s social and industrial base. A verified finding that a robot could harm a human would have catastrophic consequences.

The story unfolds in a series of brief episodes. Oma travels from place-to-place to meet with idiosyncratic characters. Her destinations are selected without prior rationale, given the plot a jerky quality. In each location, the structures and people are described in extensive detail, further slowing plot movement. The creatively imagined locations and characters vary from inept smugglers to gifted artists and include a pair who kidnap Oma and maroon her in an abandoned museum without life support.

The story ends when Oma determines how the robot was fooled into causing the death of Ferrer. The identity of the killer is not determined. Most likely, the two that attempted to murder Oma were involved, but they were not identified either. Apparently, the sole objective of Sagacity, Oma, and the author was to eliminate the fear that a robot could murder a human.

Readers will no doubt experience the discomforting side of the Zygarnic Effect. ( )

I am grateful to the NewCon Press for providing me with a pdf review copy of "Universal Language" by Tim Major.

This short science fiction mystery is entertaining and holds the reader's interest. As a publisher's blurb declares, the book draws upon the robot stories of Isaac Asimov and classic "sealed room" mystery stories, both of which are welcome sources for new material. It also reads like early Heinlein, another plus. The story hinges upon whether a robot is capable of killing a human being. Abbey Oma, the six-foot-three female "Optic" from an all-powerful entity called Sagacity, arrives on Mars from Earth prepared to conduct a personal investigation. She is assisted by the first Mars colonist that she encounters, Franck Treadgold.

The Mars crawler base, where the death occurs, is sparsely populated, and Oma's first person narrative introduces us to few of the human inhabitants. We get better acquainted with the potential robot killer, Ai383, and with several other robots, known collectively as aye-ayes (pronounced "aye-eye", for articial intelligence), which have a superficial resemblance to humans, but no facial expressions. Their arms are fingerless, ending instead with electronic blue circles capable of manipulating materials magnetically simply by pointing.

Ever resourceful, Oma survives murderous attacks before bringing her investigation to a satisfactory conclusion, leaving the increasingly competent Franck to clear up the final loose ends. The locked room solution is clever and satisfactory.

The time period for the story isn't clear, but it must lie in the far distant future, since Oma makes the trip from Earth to Mars in less than eight days, an achievement requiring not simply newer technology, but new physics. In addition to its incredible speed (up to half the speed of light would be necessary), the spaceship that brings Oma from Earth to Mars was so simple to operate and so energy independent that a colonist on Mars could hijack it and fly it back to earth. There is a reference to the year "ninety-five". I doubt that the necessary new science would be available in 2195, so 2295 seems more likely, if our dating system is still in place.

Besides meeting the essential requirement that it is a pleasant, enjoyable story, the narrative describes a reasonable Martian colony. Future devices are capable, but not described in detail, which is appropriate for a first-person contemporary narrative. A sexual encounter is understated and compatible with evolved social customs. There is an appropriate Martian life form, similar to a crab on earth, which produces silicon diamonds, and these creatures lend interest. Finally, the aye-ayes are treated as "real" organisms, not machines. They attend religious services, and their inclusivity is praiseworthy.

On the other hand, many details reflect contemporary England, and these anacronisms are a distraction. Examples include English units (six-foot-three) and currency (20-£ coin), analogue clocks, a "Columbo squint", music by Alice Coltrane and Nina Simone, and abundant adolescent cursing. Someone might listen to Coltrane and Simone in 2195 or 2295, but she would certainly mention more recent artists, and it is composers, not performers, whose work survives the ages. No attempt has been made to add language appropriate to the story's setting, as Orwell did by making "Ford" a time reference and "mother" a swear word in "Brave New World". ( )

I enjoyed this book. It had an interesting mystery, and I liked the protagonist. I did find some of the action scenes a bit dull though. If you are looking for a quick, fun, sci-fi mystery, I would recommend it. ( )

[Disclaimer: I got this book via LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program] It's no doubt the story starts really well. Ok, you may or may not appreciate the Asimovian echoes; but I appreciated the choice of Tim Mayor to build up slowly the feelings, and even the exterior aspect, of the main character, Abbey Oma. Unfortunately, while going on I got lost in a plot which at least for me does not have head or tails. There are characters who remain dangling, like the niece of the victim Hazel Ferrer or even Franck, the "Watson" of Oma. At the end of the book the killers are not even exposed: Oma just shows who is the instigator. Even the title is a dead clue: sometimes it seems to be the key of the plot, but at the end it was not even a red herring, but just something which could have been happened but is irrelevant. It's a pity, since the story had potential. ( )