Stars: 5 out of 5
Pros: Twisty plot and well developed characters
Cons: The ending is a bit rushed.
The Bottom Line:
Turing on the case
With another chapter that
Furthers the story
Hi Tech Hit and Run
Delete All Suspects is the fourth in Donna Andrews genre blending
series. Combining a hint of science fiction with mystery, she came up with
Turing Hopper, Artificial Intelligence Personality (AIP), and her friends Tim
and Maude.
PI Tim Pincoski is beginning to get tired of the background
checks that have become his bread and butter in recent months so he jumps when
a different kind of case is offered to him. Eddie Stallman is in critical
condition in the hospital after a hit and run accident leaves him in a coma.
His grandmother is convinced that it was an attempted murder and even thinks it
has to do with Eddie's computer business. She wants to hire Tim and his
partner, Claudia Diaz, to find out why someone would want to hurt him over the
web sites he hosted.
Anything computer related is over Tim's head, so he
immediately turns to his friends. While Turing tries to gain access without
leaving any traces, Maude Graham sorts through the clutter in the basement room
Eddie lived in hoping to find a password that will help them gain access
without hacking.
Tim and Claudia, meanwhile, track down and interview Eddie's
friends. What they uncover is a trusting guy who let too many people have
access to his system. Several friends seem to be taking advantage of that
trust. But did one of them run him down to keep Eddie from turning them over to
the authorities? Or is something else to blame for Eddie's accident?
This series has been a favorite since book one. Once again,
Donna Andrews delivers a great mystery with engaging and well-developed
characters. Since this series builds on each book, you really must read them in
order to fully understand the people and relationships here. Even though enough
background is given to bring new readers up to speed, this necessitates
spoiling previous books in the series.
AIP Turing continues to be the best-developed character in
the series. Even though she's not human, Ms. Andrews brings her hopes, desires,
and wants to life in a realistic way. Turing takes up a new hobby this time
around, pets. Watching her want what humans take for granted and the trials she
puts her human friends through to get them provides for some nice comic
moments.
This isn't to say that the humans aren't well developed as
well. Maude and her struggle between loyalty to Turing and her desire to become
closer with her boyfriend Dan is well handled. I find myself rooting for them
to stay together even if I can't see how the two of them can work things out.
Tim's insecurities are equally endearing. He and Claudia make a great team.
Since point of view shifts seamlessly between these three characters, they are
the best developed in the series, but that's not to the detriment of the
others, including the new characters.
The plot, as always, is top notch. Things seem to be
straightforward for quite a while, but there are several twists to watch out
for that I never suspected were coming. While this book doesn't deal
exclusively with series nemesis Nestor Garcia, that storyline gets a nice twist
as well. The ending was once again a bit rushed, but a second, slower reading
helped me straighten everything out in my mind.
This series continually entertains. Adding that to its
unique premise, Delete All Suspects will easily entertain science fiction and mystery fans
equally.
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