In “The CS Detective” (http://tinyurl.com/hx44nbg) Google engineer and author Jeremy Kubica introduces readers to the algorithms that power computer science by putting his own twist on a classic detective story.

In the book (No Starch Press, $17.95, 256 pages), half humorous detective tale, half introduction to the essentials of search algorithms (algorithms that find information within data), readers meet Frank Runtime, disgraced ex-detective turned private eye and search expert. When Frank's former police chief suspects a traitor in the ranks, he turns to Frank to crack the case. Luckily, Frank has no shortage of algorithms at his disposal to get the job done.

Readers follow Frank's investigation as they learn about search algorithms like best-first and breadth-first search, iterative deepening, exhaustive search, parallelizing, and more. With Frank's help, readers learn when to apply intuitive methods, and how to adapt search algorithms to unusual situations.

A unique new way to introduce beginners to high-level technical topics, The CS Detective” adds to the collection of bestselling, forward-thinking STEM books that No Starch Press has published for more than 20 years.

Kubica is a principal engineer at Google working on machine learning and algorithms. He has a PhD in robotics from Carnegie Mellon University and a BS in computer science from Cornell University. Kubica is the author of the popular Computational Fairy Tales blog.