You've Got Murder by Donna Andrews features amateur sleauth Turing Hopper. She isn't a person or even a talking cat or dog. She's an AIP, an artificial intelligence personality, and, of course, she lives inside a computer. Zack, her programmer, has not logged onto the net for over a week. She cannot detect any kind of activity anywhere. When she illicits the help of two humans who work at University Library to help her search for Zack, they uncover more than they bargained for, perhaps even a murder. All of them, especially Turing, fear for their safety. An interesting look at the effect of computers on our society plus an entertaining read. Part of a new series, so am looking forward to more to come.
Click Here for Murder
2nd title in this new series. Hopper Turing draws on all her cyber skills to help investigate the murder of a gifted computer programmer, Ray Santiago, found shot to death in a Washington, D.C., alley, his laptop stolen. Turing and human colleagues Maude Graham and Tim Pincoski at Universal Library outside D.C. discover that Ray cleverly constructed a false identity and was deeply involved in the role-playing game subculture. Dangerous criminals have been preying on those gamers who turn to live-action role playing. The narrative mimics real software with layers of security for access to different databases and with worms to deny access and destroy intruders.
Access Denied
3rd in this fun and unique series. Turing Hopper has been monitoring the credit cards of notorious criminal-at-large Nestor Garcia, waiting for signs of activity. When suddenly thousands of dollars of purchases begin appearing, Turing traces them to deliveries to a vacant house in northern Virginia. For Garcia to be using his credit card in such a manner is highly suspicious, so Turing and "her" assistants, including human friends Tim and Maude, who work for Washington's Universal Library, start investigating. Tim watches the vacant house, but when a dead body turns up, Tim could well be the police's only real suspect in the murder. Later, someone tries to break into Maude's house, and Turing realizes that a devious plot is unfolding. Could Nestor Garcia be behind it all? It is so entertaining to watch Turing try to figure humans out. She has to learn that just because she has an interest not everyone shares her passion. She turns Maude's backyard into a jungle because Maude had mentioned she liked flowers.