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Constance and Charlie #3
Smart House
Charlie and Constance are invited to a VERY unpleasant weekend party given in a super deluxe computer (AI) controlled house. The nasty genius who gives the party has arranged they must play a game of Murder. Things go downhill quickly and horribly with bodies and the creeping question ever at hand. Is the HOUSE doing it?
272 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1989
16 people are currently reading
138 people want to read
About the author
Kate Wilhelm
275 books444 followersKate Wilhelm’s first short story, “The Pint-Sized Genie” was published in Fantastic Stories in 1956. Her first novel, MORE BITTER THAN DEATH, a mystery, was published in 1963. Over the span of her career, her writing has crossed over the genres of science fiction, speculative fiction, fantasy and magical realism, psychological suspense, mimetic, comic, and family sagas, a multimedia stage production, and radio plays. She returned to writing mysteries in 1990 with the acclaimed Charlie Meiklejohn and Constance Leidl Mysteries and the Barbara Holloway series of legal thrillers.
Wilhelm’s works have been adapted for television and movies in numerous countries; her novels and stories have been translated to more than a dozen languages. She has contributed to Quark, Orbit, Magazine of Fantasy and ScienceFiction, Locus, Amazing Stories, Asimov’s Science Fiction, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Fantastic, Omni, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Redbook, and Cosmopolitan.
Kate Wilhelm is the widow of acclaimed science fiction author and editor, Damon Knight (1922-2002), with whom she founded the Clarion Writers’ Workshop and the Milford Writers’ Conference, described in her 2005 non-fiction work, STORYTELLER. They lectured together at universities across three continents; Kate has continued to offer interviews, talks, and monthly workshops.
Kate Wilhelm has received two Hugo awards, three Nebulas, as well as Jupiter, Locus, Spotted Owl, Prix Apollo, Kristen Lohman awards, among others. She was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2003. In 2009, Kate was the recipient of one of the first Solstice Awards presented by the Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA) in recognition of her contributions to the field of science fiction.
Kate’s highly popular Barbara Holloway mysteries, set in Eugene, Oregon, opened with Death Qualified in 1990. Mirror, Mirror, released in 2017, is the series’ 14th novel.
Wilhelm’s works have been adapted for television and movies in numerous countries; her novels and stories have been translated to more than a dozen languages. She has contributed to Quark, Orbit, Magazine of Fantasy and ScienceFiction, Locus, Amazing Stories, Asimov’s Science Fiction, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Fantastic, Omni, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Redbook, and Cosmopolitan.
Kate Wilhelm is the widow of acclaimed science fiction author and editor, Damon Knight (1922-2002), with whom she founded the Clarion Writers’ Workshop and the Milford Writers’ Conference, described in her 2005 non-fiction work, STORYTELLER. They lectured together at universities across three continents; Kate has continued to offer interviews, talks, and monthly workshops.
Kate Wilhelm has received two Hugo awards, three Nebulas, as well as Jupiter, Locus, Spotted Owl, Prix Apollo, Kristen Lohman awards, among others. She was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2003. In 2009, Kate was the recipient of one of the first Solstice Awards presented by the Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA) in recognition of her contributions to the field of science fiction.
Kate’s highly popular Barbara Holloway mysteries, set in Eugene, Oregon, opened with Death Qualified in 1990. Mirror, Mirror, released in 2017, is the series’ 14th novel.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
October 24, 2018
Los que ya conocéis mis gustos lectores sabéis que no soy lectora de ciencia ficción, o al menos no una lectora asidua. Este libro apareció ante mí buscando la ficha de otro título y me llamó la atención su sinopsis.
Estamos ante una historia con tintes de ciencia ficción pero también estamos ante un thriller policíaco de los clásicos. No puedo contar mucho sin desvelar nada de por donde se encauzará la trama, pero sí os puedo decir que me ha recordado mucho a algunas novelas de Agatha Christie; un único escenario que es la casa, muerte y sospecha dentro de ella.
Decir también que este es el segundo libro de una serie donde los protagonistas son Charlie y Constance, un matrimonio que se dedica a la investigación privada. A pesar de ser el segundo, se puede leer sin problemas ya que no hay spoiler de casos anteriores ni información relevante que nos hayamos perdido sobre ellos.
La pareja me encanta; tienen una relación muy fresca y divertida. Según he apreciado, ella es la de la mente más despierta aunque él también sea sagaz pero me gustó mucho el mutuo sentimiento de admiración que se profesan.
En cuanto a la trama, a pesar de que alguna cosilla ha sido simple conjetura para la resolución, creo que es muy original y está muy bien resuelto a pesar de que parece complicado.
¿Recomendaría este libro? Sí, sin duda alguna. Una mezcla de ciencia ficción (suavecita) donde predomina el género policíaco clásico, un "whodunnit" (¿Quién lo ha hecho?) y el estilo "misterio del cuarto cerrado".
Estamos ante una historia con tintes de ciencia ficción pero también estamos ante un thriller policíaco de los clásicos. No puedo contar mucho sin desvelar nada de por donde se encauzará la trama, pero sí os puedo decir que me ha recordado mucho a algunas novelas de Agatha Christie; un único escenario que es la casa, muerte y sospecha dentro de ella.
Decir también que este es el segundo libro de una serie donde los protagonistas son Charlie y Constance, un matrimonio que se dedica a la investigación privada. A pesar de ser el segundo, se puede leer sin problemas ya que no hay spoiler de casos anteriores ni información relevante que nos hayamos perdido sobre ellos.
La pareja me encanta; tienen una relación muy fresca y divertida. Según he apreciado, ella es la de la mente más despierta aunque él también sea sagaz pero me gustó mucho el mutuo sentimiento de admiración que se profesan.
En cuanto a la trama, a pesar de que alguna cosilla ha sido simple conjetura para la resolución, creo que es muy original y está muy bien resuelto a pesar de que parece complicado.
¿Recomendaría este libro? Sí, sin duda alguna. Una mezcla de ciencia ficción (suavecita) donde predomina el género policíaco clásico, un "whodunnit" (¿Quién lo ha hecho?) y el estilo "misterio del cuarto cerrado".
August 31, 2020
Tot i haver estat publicat en una col·lecció de ciència-ficció crec que es tracta més aviat d'un llibre de misteri, molt de l'estil de l'Agatha Christie, amb tocs de ciència-ficció. Potser això és degut al fet que els elements de la casa intel·ligent que se'ns mostren ara ja els tenim molt assimilats, suposo que quan es va publicar l'any 1989 no era així. És una història entretinguda, fàcil de llegir i sense gaires més pretensions però de tant en tant va molt bé topar-te amb novel·les així.
February 7, 2019
5/10. Y con esta nota se acabó mi relación con la autora (obvio).
March 6, 2018
Good book. Many plausible suspects.
Love this author. Creepy house. House of Tomorrow. No thanks to Walt Disney and Epcot. No thanks Ms Wilhelm. Read.
Love this author. Creepy house. House of Tomorrow. No thanks to Walt Disney and Epcot. No thanks Ms Wilhelm. Read.
March 1, 2018
Can your house kill you? That’s the question private investigators Charlie Meiklejohn and Constance Leidl face as they take on a case that involves a millionaire code monkey who clearly never grew up despite having achieved adulthood.
Gary Elringer is a brilliant programmer. His company has poured all of its resources into Smart House,a home that creates menus, regulates the house’s temperature, and talks to you. Can the house kill you, too? Elringer dies in the Jacuzzi during a weekend gathering of the company’s stockholders to whom he wishes to demonstrate Smart House.
This book is so dated as to be laughable. The thing is, Wilhelm usually writes excellent mysteries. Her Barbara Holloway legal series was excellent. But for whatever reason, this book just made me laugh when I shouldn’t have. It’s so ‘80s or at least early ‘90s. Guests are horrified when the house talks to them. Today, sighted people use Siri as a matter of course. This book has the same mentality that existed back in the late ‘80s when Chrysler introduced cars that spoke to you to point out that your door was ajar. There arose an entire cottage industry around the demands of the sighted public to turn that darn voice off. Chrysler soon made the feature go away. But, unlike this poor book, the world has changed much. Can there be any real doubt that houses of the future will be given voice—a feature so readily accepted by the public as to be unremarkable?
If you want a snapshot of the horror with which our counterparts who never relied on a screen reader viewed talking computers, this may provide you with a modicum of entertainment. Otherwise, frankly I didn’t find it impressive; doesn’t mean you won’t though.
Gary Elringer is a brilliant programmer. His company has poured all of its resources into Smart House,a home that creates menus, regulates the house’s temperature, and talks to you. Can the house kill you, too? Elringer dies in the Jacuzzi during a weekend gathering of the company’s stockholders to whom he wishes to demonstrate Smart House.
This book is so dated as to be laughable. The thing is, Wilhelm usually writes excellent mysteries. Her Barbara Holloway legal series was excellent. But for whatever reason, this book just made me laugh when I shouldn’t have. It’s so ‘80s or at least early ‘90s. Guests are horrified when the house talks to them. Today, sighted people use Siri as a matter of course. This book has the same mentality that existed back in the late ‘80s when Chrysler introduced cars that spoke to you to point out that your door was ajar. There arose an entire cottage industry around the demands of the sighted public to turn that darn voice off. Chrysler soon made the feature go away. But, unlike this poor book, the world has changed much. Can there be any real doubt that houses of the future will be given voice—a feature so readily accepted by the public as to be unremarkable?
If you want a snapshot of the horror with which our counterparts who never relied on a screen reader viewed talking computers, this may provide you with a modicum of entertainment. Otherwise, frankly I didn’t find it impressive; doesn’t mean you won’t though.
April 5, 2018
Another prize winner!
As usual, Kate Wilhelm kept me guessing until the very end. Smart House might be what every other person, (besides me) who doesn't love computers might fear! Thank you again, ms. Wilhelm.
As usual, Kate Wilhelm kept me guessing until the very end. Smart House might be what every other person, (besides me) who doesn't love computers might fear! Thank you again, ms. Wilhelm.
January 19, 2022
This is the first book of this series I actually have finished. Must be a glutton for punishment on my part. The book was readable and I finally cared for the characters enough to see who was guilty.
October 2, 2018
great book
September 21, 2021
Just barely three stars. Very talky and convoluted. I had some trouble keeping track of all the players in Smart House! Maybe not Kate's best novel.
July 21, 2022
Enjoy this couple.
April 14, 2008
I enjoy the Constance and Charlie team, and the quirky mix of "future" and presence in the theme of the novel. I think some of Wilhelm's most amusing writing is when she mixes science fiction and mystery.
June 23, 2009
A little loose on the clues and trying to keep track of everyone but a good, just for fun book.
November 15, 2009
Super fun. I love a good mystery. FYI: there is one character that a poor vocabulary.
March 31, 2011
not bad, not the best
November 6, 2013
this is the second constance and charlie book i have read and i am anxious to read a few more. Set on the oregon coast, i was familiar with the surroundings. A classic tale retold with modern twists.
January 2, 2015
Reminded me a bit of Clue.
February 7, 2015
I love the Charlie and Constance team
December 5, 2013
How technology can go wrong, and the people who love it.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews