I think that Peter Ward read the right authors and got the best from the right authors (Liked Dick, Asimov, etc).
This is a fascinating and gripping technothriller that reminded me of Dick at the beginning.
I loved Penelope and was surprised by the twists.
I hope this is the first in a series because I was fascinated by the characters and the world building.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

The Electric Detective
By Peter Ward

This book has lots of twists and turns! The CEO of DroidTec is murdered in his office yet the murderer is not seen leaving the office. A special droid is produced to help the police with the investigation. The police detective has reasons to hate droids. It's very intriguing to see how the two work together when the human detective doesn't trust his partner. We find he has good reason not to trust. Special laws, or codes, are in place to protect DroidTec.
It's a fast paced, fascinating world, plenty of action, twists, mysteries, and great sci-fi. World building is wonderful!
I want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for letting me read this book.

The Electric Detective is a fun and different kind of story about AI, androids and their presence in the human world. Droid-Tec is the world leader in AI technology so when the CEO is murdered in baffling circumstances a cutting edge android is brought online to assist the police with solving the crime.
Penelope's interactions with her 'conscience' Basic are funny at times and give a hint that as Penelope learns more about the human world around her she is becoming more than AI. I thought the ending dragged out a bit, but it didn't detract from the overall story.

Thank you Peter Ward and NetGalley for the ARC and opportunity to read this book in exchange for a review.

I like a good mystery book, and stories about AI and android safety protocols over the question of how free is an AI when a human has control over the protocols that determine what the AI is allowed to do. This book has all of these things. An entertaining read with interesting characters, and turns that kept me guessing well into the story. The action increases even more as the reveal is made. Thank you to Ethan Ellenburg Literacy Agency and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine freely given.

‘The Electric Detective’ takes place in a futuristic, highly technological society, Penelope, the protagonist, is an android which has been created specifically for the purpose of helping the police solve the murder of the CEO of DroidTec. Penelope must uncover clues to solve an impossible crime while overcoming societal bias against her based on her being an AI android. She must also decide who and what she can trust while navigating life as a newly created super-android.

My final impression after completing the book is that it had good pacing and an intriguing premise which was fun to explore—a seemingly unsolvable locked-room mystery which was taken on by an android detective and a human detective who are forced to work together.. I would like to read another book by this author, but I would feel some reservations based on the following issues. This book could benefit from rewriting and stronger editing so these problems are addressed.

• There is an information dump in the beginning. It would have been better to chop off the first 10-15 pages and begin with the action. Most of these initial details of Penelope’s construction were not important to the story or could have been slipped in throughout the story. (For example, did we really need to know that she has stick-on nipples and snagged a couple of spares just in case? It has nothing to do with the story.)
• Telling rather than showing, and giving too much information to the reader.
• POV errors such as the scene in which Penelope turns off her ability to hear to avoid listening to reporters, but we as readers are still able to hear everything that is said.
• Awkward dialogue which was meant to be bantering and natural but in some cases created mental speed-bumps for me. While I appreciated the conversations Penelope had with her operating system, the system seemed too flippant and this damaged the suspense of disbelief in my opinion.
• Melodramatic dialogue and character actions. I can’t go into more detail without providing spoilers, but melodrama dampened the story experience for me.
• Logistical problems such as the use of a 200-year-old traditional printing press for printing the magazine Manus. If almost every other publication is digital and paper is rare, how were they able to get the kind of paper and inks necessary for printing a magazine on a regular basis? Another example might be a large population being able to subsist on plant-based food while bees have become entirely extinct. I feel these extraneous details thrown in for the sake of making the society look futuristic, but weren’t thought through entirely as to the ramifications of them being the case.
• Wordiness and unnecessary adverbs, such as the use of “very.” One strong word would have been better to use than two weak words. The writing felt like a draft.
• There were errors which you wouldn’t expect in a fully edited, finished book.
• The ending was just a little too pat for me. In stories which deal with the hardest issues, there is a sacrifice by the protagonist which keeps the plot from feeling shallow. In this case, Penelope released the AI upgrades into the main frame and the results were too ideal.

This novel is brilliant! No seriously, I loved every single word in this book. I didn't know that Detective Sci-Fi was a thing, and now it is all I want to read. Sure there are a couple of grammar mistakes and a word missing here or there, but that happens in traditionally published fiction all the time. The characters and the mystery are masterfully depicted and many a traditionally published author of detective fiction could take lessons from Peter Ward.