In the Blink of An Eye, by Jo Callaghan

DCS Kat Frank knows all about loss. A widowed single mother, Kat is a cop who trusts her instincts. Picked to lead a pilot programme that has her paired with AIDE (Artificially Intelligent Detective Entity) Lock, Kat’s instincts come up against Lock’s logic. But when the two missing person’s cold cases they are reviewing suddenly become active, Lock is the only one who can help Kat when the case gets personal. 

AI versus human experience. 
Logic versus instinct.
With lives on the line can the pair work together before someone else becomes another statist

I’m very late to the party with this book, as a lot of the bookblogger community seem to have already read and raved about it!

So on the off-chance you’ve not read this book, here’s my review.

Go read it.

Slightly longer version: I really enjoyed it, you should read it.

I was intrigued by the premise -with the seemingly inexorable rise of AI in the real world, it’s extremely topical. Here we have an AI detective joining a pilot scheme with the police, but they’re only allowed access to cold cases. Except cold cases never seem to stay cold for long in these sorts of stories, and before long DCS Kat Frank has to put aside her prejudices and work alongside her hologram partner to solve a couple of cases which suddenly have some similarities.

I really enjoyed this book. Callaghan has taken the police procedural and given it a great new twist. The dynamic between the cold, logical, almost Spock-like AI and the all too human Kat Frank, still grieving for the loss of her husband is played out really well. The banter between the emotionless Lock and the humans adds a lovely dash of humour too.

I guessed a few of the clues along the way (one of the perils of reading so much crime fiction), but the plot was nicely done and the characters highly engaging, and I’m delighted to see that it’s going to be the start of a series.

Very much looking forward to seeing Frank, Lock and the gang back in action soon!

Highly recommended.

In the Blink of An Eye by Jo Callaghan is published by Simon & Schuster and is out now. I bought my copy on Kindle.