Death of an Author

ou don’t have to struggle to find reviews of Death of an Author, a crime novella written with several sophisticated artificial intelligence (AI) programs. The claim is that 95 percent of the book is computer generated, mostly using ChatGPT, and reviewers are transfixed by the notion that AI can produce anything that halfway functions as fiction. Especially since the AI-produced fiction we already have is pretty miserable. But the real question is: how does it hold up as a mystery, the genre the title clearly lays claim to? Surprisingly well, actually. In no time at all, mystery readers will encounter the tropes that assure them they’re in familiar territory, with enough mild plot developments to keep the pages flipping, if not flying, and language that ranges from the clunky (diction!) to the lovely. Scholar Gus Dupin is invited to the funeral of Canadian literary star Peggy Firmin, “a pioneer of using artificial intelligence to manufacture literary artifacts,” who was murdered in the outskirts of Toronto. While he never met Peggy, Gus has spent the better part of his life writing about her. Her funeral turns out to be an exclusive affair—with some fun walk-ons, like Michael Ondaatje—and feels as though it’s lifted right out of Agatha Christie, if the Dame had access to avatars. And guess who’s the prime suspect? The story moves on, becoming a bit too meta, too smarty pants for this reader. But let’s just agree that it’s fascinating and fun. I reviewed it as an ebook, but the publisher produces primarily audiobooks.