Customer Reviews

You've Got Murder (Turing Hopper, No 1)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Donna Andrews has created the most original amateur sleuth with her newest creation Turing Hopper, who is an Artificial Intelligence Personality. Turing was created for the Universal Library and helps clients by answering all types of questions. Turing has become sentient and seeks to constantly improve herself. She prides herself on knowing what people need before they even ask for it.

When her creator Zach mysteriously disappears, Turing seeks the help of fellow UL human employees Tim (a xeroxist who for part of the book believes that Turing is a human being-and he wants to ask her out)and Maude who is a secretary to a UL executive. Turing uses them as her legs since she is limited to where the computer system can take her. But Turing is an unbelievable sleuth and it is fun to watch her uncover the mysterious goings-on at UL.

My only problem with this book was that I found some of the lengthy thought processes of Turing to drag the story-telling just a bit. But I do believe that Donna Andrews has created a fantastic new character and I look forward to reading future books in this series.

"You've Got Murder" by Donna Andrews introduces us to Turing Hopper, a mainframe computer with AIP (Articial Intelligence Personality). Her creator, Zack, has programmed not only a "personality" for Turing - but has also downloaded thousands of mystery novels into her data base. There is a self-improvement feature built into the standard AIP programming and Turing becomes "all that she can be."

When Zack's friend, David, is killed in an automobile accident, Turing starts to notice that Zack begins to change the way he does routine tasks on the computer. When Zack doesn't report to work for several days, Turing becomes concerned and enlists the aid of his co-workers, Maude and Tim, to help discover if he is in any danger.

Although this could have been marketed under "science fiction," this novel fits perfectly under "mysteries." Donna Andrews does an excellent job in her characterization of Turing. By the end of the book, I longed to have a computer with some "personality." I definitely feel that within the next 20 years, computers with this feature will be available for the general public. Until then, I'll keep reading all the great sleuthing works starring, Turing: Computer Dectective Extraordinaire.

I'm not a geek, but I've worked around computers for nearly 30 years, so, if an author doesn't know a microprocessor from a microwave, I find the rest of his/her story hard to swallow. Andrews clearly has done her homework, and she knows enough about AI to create a plausible "heroine" that doesn't strain credibility, so I enjoyed that aspect of the book thoroughly. The human characters are a mixed bag: Turing's two co-conspirators are well done (of course, we see more of their thoughts than the other characters'). But "X," as she refers to him in the preface, was forced by the plot to behave inconsistently; although the author offers a plausible explanation for that, it's just as well that she got rid of him before writing any sequels. The subtext of the book is how interconnected our computer systems are, and how much it's possible for an unscrupulous user to manipulate data -- and that's thought-provoking in this age of identity theft. It's a fun read, but not merely a romp.

As a longtime computer geek (since the 70s), I usually have to wince (sometimes a LOT - don't read Dan Brown's Digital Fortress if you're even the slightest bit geeky) at most of the fiction-with-computers-in I run across.

Finally, I can relax and enjoy a well-drawn and really damn plausible AIP. Ahhh....

Can't wait to read the rest of the series!

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This is a pretty good sfnal mystery. Turing Hopper is an emergently-sentient Artificial Intelligence who was designed to be a customer-service rep. It's a neat idea, but not all that well-executed. Turing spends an awful lot of time in interior monologues, which get pretty old by the middle of the book. The mystery maguffin, a financial corrupt-takeover plot, is crude and implausible, and the villains are purest, sneering cardboard.

On the plus side, Turing and her sidekicks, a senior secretary and an office-boy, are charming and pretty well-rounded. Turing's efforts to prod her fellow AI's towards sentience are clever and fun. The tone of the book wobbles uneasily from Cozy to trying for Deeper Significance. The book does come to a satisfying conclusion, with hooks for sequels.

Overall, I was mildly pleased by _You've Got Murder_, though from the comments here, I was expecting something better. Turing falls in the mid-range of SF AIs, for quality and plausibility. A "C" book, in my judgment. Perhaps the sequels are better?

Happy reading--
Peter D. Tillman

If you are in the mood for some chuckles and a terrific mystery, be sure and pick up a copy of You've Got Murder. The protagonist is unique and charming. Since I adore the Meg series, I expected a LOT for this book. It was even better than I imagined. Turing is now near the top of my favorite charcter list.:)

I zoomed through this book like it was nothing. I don't usually read mystery, but I thought this sounded interesting. The main character is Turing Hopper, an AIP, or Artificial Intelligence Personality. When she notices that Zack, her friend and the main creator of her program, has been missing from work for several days, she gets worried. He's not at home either. Her worry for him prompts her to involve others, including Tim and Maude. Both work at the Universal Library and have chatted with Turing. Maude knows what Turing is - a program that was designed, basically, to help people with research, a program that has achieved sentience. Tim, on the other hand, has some difficulty believing that Turing is who she says she is and not a shy redhead. Together, the three of them uncover things that go beyond just Zack's disappearance.

First off, if you don't understand anything about computers, this book may be a bit difficult for you. For example, you need to know what uploading is, downloading, chatting, instant messaging, etc. However, you thankfully don't need to be a programmer to enjoy this book. Andrews makes sure to explain some of the things that might be hard for the average computer user to understand, so, for the most part, the technical aspects of this book are easy to follow. The mystery itself was captivating. I couldn't put the book down, because I wanted to find out what Turing and her friends would uncover next.

I do have one problem with the book, though, which is why is got a four and not a five. Some of the book is from Tim's point of view, while other parts are from Maude's. A large part of the book is from Turing's point of view. Because Turing is a computer, she can't really interact with the physical world that much. She can look through security cameras, but, otherwise, there are lots of descriptions of her hacking into things or looking through data. Occaisionally, it got a little boring. Also, Turing spent a lot of time agonizing over herself - was she behaving in what humans would consider an ethical way, how does one go about having a sense of humor, etc. This sort of thing helped her seem more human, not less, and it was interesting, to a point. However, after a while of this, I found myself wishing that the author had written less of this book from Turing's point of view.

In spite of this, I do really recommend this book. I'm looking forward to reading the next book.

Universal Library is a corporation that controls, owns or fixes databases for its various clients. It also has a website where, for a fee, users can talk to or do research with an AIP (Artificial intelligence Personality). Their most popular AIP is Turing Hopper whose specialty is general knowledge. Users like her because she's got a distinct and refreshing personality but what they don't know is that Turing is sentient.

When Turing realizes her programmer Zach hasn't reported in for eight days, she begins to worry a bit. When Mr. Smith from security tries to break into Zach's computer she really begins to worry. She contacts her two friends at UL, Maude a secretary and Tim the copier. Both have come to adore Turing and believe she is alive, and are willing to take risks to find out what is going on at UL and how it relates to Zach's disappearance.

Turing is one of the most original, adorable and refreshing characters to grace the pages of a mystery novel. Although the protagonist lives inside a computer (for the most part) readers will choose to ignore rather quickly that she's an AI and start thinking of her as human. She, with her partner's in crime, tries to save the world for sentient AI's of the second generation. This reviewer can't wait for the sequel(s).

Harriet Klausner

When Zack doesn't show up at work for several days in a row, Turing is concerned. She does what she can to find him, but her resources are a little limited. While she can find any bit of information, she can't actually investigate in person because she's an Artificial Intelligence Personality, or AIP for short. Asking the aid of human friends Maude and Tim, Turing begins to get 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 friends, human and AIP, when the danger continues to build?

I've enjoyed Ms. Andrews' other 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 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. Once the story takes off, it moves at lightning speed. I was often turning pages to find out what would happen next. The point of view switches from Turing to Maude and Tim, making the best dramatic use of the story. The ending seemed a bit rushed, but only a little.

I'm looking forward to seeing what Ms. Andrews has up her sleeves next for Turing and her friends. This is a fascinating world I look forward to visiting many more times to come.

I have been reading a whole string of mysteries with unusual detectives and You've Got Murder is no exception. When Turing Hopper notices that her friend, Zach has missed work for several days, she becomes curious. After investigating, she discovers that Zach's files are slowly being erased from their company computer and she becomes concerned. Since Turing is the first sentient artificial intelligence personality (AIP) she cannot investigate outside of the company and so she recruits Maude Graham and Tim Pincoski to help her with the investigation. The three soon uncover a plot that has them racing is on to save Zach, Turing and all of the other AIP's from death or worse. I totally bought into Turing as a detective and enjoyed this mystery very much. Highly Recommended.