Ada: A programme for Jenny

After tracking down Jenny Bagshot, the frightened ex-mistress of a nobleman, Ada finds her with her throat slashed, dying. Jenny chokes on her blood as she tries to speak. Picking out eight children’s letter blocks from a box beside her she pushes them toward Ada. Ada realizes Jenny is trying to name the slasher with the blocks. She comes to see them as data for a program that can employ a device that has intrigued her, Mr. Babbage's Analytical Engine. Before she can compose it, her own life is almost forfeit, at Astley's Circus, where she tries to question an equestrian; he becomes a second murder victim. Clues to both murders leads to Buckingham palace, where Queen Victoria's family appears intimately involved with the plot. Ada finishes her program and writes another, to rescue the crown. An Incomparable, Sybil Ringwood, a radically inclined Scotland Yard officer, inspector Raikes, and his companion, Mr.Latimer provide help.Ruth H. Shimer, (AKA Sam Taggart with her husband, Robert) lives Silicon Valley, California, where the computer industry is a strong focus. Husband Robert and two daughters, Pat and Laurel, have worked as computer programmers and consultants. Ada Lovelace, the world’s first programmer, is a natural interest. Ruth Shimer concentrated on the historial setting and added the mystery element. She won a Mystery Writers of America Edgar for a best first novel, SQUAW POINT.