Simon Grave and the Curious Incident of the Cat in the Daytime

Boswell (A Grave Misunderstanding) continues his genre-defying series in this ambitious, if uneven, adventure featuring luddite detective Simon Grave and his coterie of human and robotic sidekicks. Crab Cove is a quirky town that relishes tradition even as it embraces celebrity look-alike robots called simdroids. No one embodies that ambivalence better than Det. Simon Grave. When a conference on crime is interrupted by the discovery of a dead body and a deactivated Betty White simdroid, Grave must balance a demanding case with helping his ailing father make his final arrangements. Simon is assisted by the nearly invisible Sgt. Barry Blunt and Holmes-like simdroid Charlize, whose talent for logic helps untangle this web of medical intrigue. Distracting asides, inconsistent tone and language, and aggressive sexualization of Charlize obscure an otherwise well-constructed story. This SF police procedural will primarily interest series fans. (Feb.)