I’ll start with 2 things I found surprising. BTW, the book is The Electric Detective by Peter Ward.

Surprise #1 was the book was available on Netgalley. I’d like to thank Netgalley and the Ethan Ellenberg Literary Agency for a chance to read and review it after publication. I normally get Advanced Readers there but for some reason this was still available several months after publication.

The second surprise was how quickly I came to enjoy this book. I do like detective fiction but read very little science fiction. I particularly enjoyed the internal dialog between Penelope (the android) and Basic (her operating system). But I’m getting a bit ahead of myself.

The Electric Detective takes place in a futuristic technological society where androids do much of the work. The CEO of the biggest android maker is murdered in his office which has only one door which is under constant surveillance. The presumed murderer escapes without leaving through that door. Penelope is assigned to help the police investigate this crime.

There are many twists and turns along the way. It is an enjoyable read and it does make you think not only on this mystery but also artificial intelligence, androids and the future.