This novel is dressed up as Science Fiction, but its roots are in the good old-fashioned detective tale. Except for his lack of skin, Schneider is the epitome of underdog detectives, looked down upon by his workmates, reviled by the public, watched with suspicion by his superiors and viewed with frustration by those who try to befriend him. His independent attitude doesn’t help.

In his society, robots have come a long way from Daneel Olivaw, but humans haven’t made the same progress. Thematically, this is a thinly disguised repeat of the struggles of blacks, women, gays, and other minorities to take their rightful place in society.

This is an impressive book because it is all so neatly put together. It’s a complicated plot with a surprisingly small number of characters, much more closely interwoven than at first appears. So, as the reader gets closer to the end the “Oh, so that’s why…” responses increase as everything becomes clear, and it all fits together like a jeweler’s jigsaw puzzle.

The main benefit of this tight mix is that there are few minor characters. Everybody gets enough page time for us to get to know them, and in the end, everybody counts. We like most of them, we sympathize with all of them, and finally, we have to make up our minds who to cheer for.

The multiple points of view are handled cleanly, and the reader is able to keep the character map clearly in mind. Except in a few cases, all of which lead to the biggest “Oh, that’s why…” in the story.

This is an original plotline, complicated but handled beautifully. The world building is kept to a minimum of essential qualities, and the sci-fi tech stuff doesn’t interfere with the action or the story. The writing style is clean, simple, and unobtrusive.

Highly recommended for Sci-Fi and real-time fans of good detective fiction.

Five stars.

This review was originally posted on Reedsy Discovery.