Stars: 5 out of 5
Pros: Unique mystery series handled well.
Cons: A little slow at times, but strong second half.
The Bottom Line:
Sci fi, mystery
Well executed combo
Fans of both will love
Winning Science Fiction Mystery Combination
You've Got Murder the first book in Donna Andrews' second series.
Blending science fiction and mystery, it stars fully sentient Artificial
Intelligence Personality (AIP for short) Turing Hopper and her human friends
Maude Graham and Tim Pincoski.
When Zack doesn't show up at work for several days in a row,
Turing is concerned. Since Zack is Turing's creator, she takes their
interactions very seriously. Since his habit is to log into his computer no
matter if he takes a day off or not, she knows something is up. She does what
she can to find him, but her resources are limited to on-line sources.
Frustrated by the inability to go investigate in person, she asks Maude and Tim
to help out. What the three of them uncover begins to give Turing a picture
that causes her to worry more. Zack seems to have stumbled on something huge.
But was he killed or is he hiding out? And can Turing protect her human friends
as well as the other, not quite sentient AIP's in the database Turing calls
home.
I've enjoyed Ms. Andrews' Meg Langslow series, but was a bit
skeptical when it came to this book. An AIP as the main character? This just
sounded too far-fetched for me. Yet she pulled it off with no trouble what so
ever. All three of the main characters come off as fully developed. Most
interesting naturally was Turing, who reminded me of similar characters in the
various Star Trek series. She has true strengths and weaknesses and grows the
most as a character because of the story. The plot is a little slow getting off
the ground, but the time is used to establish Turing and her environment and is
needed to understand what happens. Once the story takes off, it moves at
lightning speed. Turing, Maude, and Tim share the point of view, making the
best dramatic use of the story. The ending seemed a bit rushed, but only a
little.
You've Got Murder won an Agatha Award for best mystery novel and is
the book that turned me into a full-blown Donna Andrews fan. There's nothing
else quite like it out there, and it will please fans of both mystery and
science fiction.
And you must read the Turing Hopper Mysteries in order.
And you must read the Turing Hopper Mysteries in order.
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