Midwest Book Review
... one of the most original, adorable and refreshing characters to grace the pages of a mystery novel.
Publishers Weekly
In a detour from her first three outings featuring the delightful Meg Langslow (Revenge of the Wrought-Iron Flamingos, etc.), Andrews pulls her quirky new sleuth, Turing Hopper, from cyberspace. Turing, named for AI pioneer Alan Turing, is an AIP Artificial Intelligence Personality and the star of a vast number of research programs housed at Universal Library (UL) in Crystal City outside Washington, D.C. Turing's personalized banter with her customers is so down to earth she seems almost real, and she herself begins to believe she's becoming sentient. When her programmer, Zach Malone, mysteriously disappears, Turing suspects foul play and explores every avenue within her capabilities to find him. Needing human aid, she asks Tim Pincoski, UL's "Xeroxcist," and Maude Graham, secretary to a UL executive, for help. Programming an investigation takes Turing beyond her limited form and all three into corporate espionage, danger and murder. UL surveillance cameras are everywhere, and Turing's capacity to invade files and data in almost every area scarily evokes Big Brother. Without a doubt, this is a unique effort executed with great skill. The high-tech investigation, Turing's plan for herself and her ruminations about becoming almost human are sure to engage computer buffs everywhere. Fans looking for the lighthearted, humorous romps of the author's earlier books, however, may be disappointed. (Apr. 2) Forecast: Blurbs from the disparate likes of biographer Daniel Stashower, regionalist Earlene Fowler and Edgar-winner Steve Hamilton should help propel this unusual entry from Agatha and Anthony awards-winner Andrews onto genre bestseller lists. The loss of some cozy readers could be more than made up for by a crossover boost from SF fans at home with computer technology. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
Why would Zachary Malone, nonpareil programmer at Universal Library, have gone AWOL from cyberspace for five days? His friend Turing Hopper, concerned about his absence from work, e-mail, and online services, searches police and hospital records and credit-card databanks for some trace of him, but to no avail. The obvious move at this point would be to phone the police, but Turing can't do that because she's only an AIP-an Artificial Intelligence Personality that Zack created along with the likes of market analyst John Dow and chessmaster KingFischer. When the reams of mystery fiction Zack downloaded into Turing make her realize that she's as homebound as Nero Wolfe, she goes in search of an Archie Goodwin, and finds two prospects-50ish secretary Maude Graham and programmer Tim Pincoski, who's always been convinced that Turing's a real person-willing to do the legwork that will tie Zack's disappearance to the recent "accidental" death of his colleague and best friend, David Scanlan, and a deep-laid plot to cut all Universal's AIP's loose after blaming them for the corporation's financial woes. The bizarre nature of the investigation limits the suspect pool to the sinister powers at Universal Security and their masters at Data Integrity Systems, but Andrews (Murder with Puffins, 2000, etc.) adroitly keeps up the suspense and even manages something of an eleventh-hour surprise. Ever since HAL ran off the rails in 2001, it's been only a matter of time since somebody put a computer to work on the right side of the law. Turing fills the bill with more energy and charm than most fictional detectives.
