You've Got Murder

You've Got Murder
by Donna Andrews

Though best known for her Meg Langslow series, I personally prefer Andrews' Turing Hopper series. This series came about as part of a challenge to create a unique mystery series protagonist...and you can't get much more unique than the character of Turing Hopper. Turing is a self-aware artificial intelligence, created as something of a fluke. The software sources that were used to create Turing included a database of mystery fiction, so Turing has a built-in penchant for trying to solve mysteries. When the programmer that "created" her disappears under suspicious circumstances, Turing assembles a small group of human helpers in the non-digital world to assist her in investigating her creator's status. The character of Turing is intriguing, and the fairly light-weight handling of the topic and mechanics of artificial intelligence is done deftly. But, this isn't a tech manual...it's a mystery, and Turing (and her helpers) use traditional (and computer-age) methods to solve their case. And the relationships between Turing and the human beings that serve as her "eyes and ears" in the physical world are fascinating. Only four volumes in the Turing Hopper series were written, but Andrews says she's open to revisiting the series in the future. Try this one...you'll like it! -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library

[ official Donna Andrews web site ]

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