NEW SERIES FROM E.J. COPPERMAN! AND AN INTERVIEW

May 2 marks the debut of a new series from our friend E.J. Copperman (Haunted Guesthouse, Jersey Girl Mysteries).  Say hello to Fran and Ken Stein, PI's!

Meet Fran and Ken Stein - a private investigator duo who refuse to let a little thing like being not entirely human stop them from doing their jobs.


"Twisty and bonkers and fun" Multi award-winning author Catriona McPherson

After losing their parents when they were just babies, private investigators Fran and Ken Stein now specialize in helping adoptees find their birth parents. So when a client asks them for help finding her father, with her only clue a rare ukulele, the case is a little weird, sure, but it's nothing they can't handle.

But soon Fran and her brother are plunged into a world where nothing makes sense - and not just the fact that a very short (but very cute) NYPD detective keeps trying to take eternal singleton Fran out on dates.

All Fran wants to do is find the ukulele and collect their fee, but it's hard to keep your focus when you're stumbling over corpses and receiving messages that suggest your (dead) parents are very much alive.

Ukuleles aside, it's becoming clear that someone knows something they shouldn't - that Fran and Ken Stein weren't so much born, as built . . .

The Ukulele of Death is the first in a new series of light-hearted, paranormal tinged mysteries that are filled with off-beat humor, heart and the wry wisdom that's E.J. Copperman's signature style.

ROCCO's Review:  A different kind of cozy with a good plot, told in E.J. Copperman's inimitable style of blending in humor.  (Cat-ch the irony in the character names, LOL).  A definite five star debut!

Bonus:  E. J. Copperman interview!

ROCCO:  Welcome back, EJ!  Please tell us about your newest book and/or series.

 E.J.: Thanks for inviting me back! It’s always a pleasure.

UKULELE OF DEATH is the first book in a series about Fran and Ken Stein (I’ll give you a second), two very tall, very strong private investigators (and siblings) who are asked by a client to find a rare ukulele she thinks can help her find her birth father. Things go steadily downhill from there. And the fact that Fran and Ken aren’t exactly normal humans does play into the story…

 

 ROCCO  Readers always have a favorite character. Do you have a favorite from this book and/or series?

 

EJ: Well, Fran narrates so I spend most of my time in her head. But I think people will enjoy her friend the US Marshal, the accessible billionaire who offers to help and of course Fran and Ken’s “Aunt Margie,” who raised them after their parents were forced to flee New York City.

 

ROCCO:  Once you’re finished writing a book, how long is it before you start writing the next?

 EJ: It depends on whether I have a contract for something else. I’m writing the second Fran and Ken book now, to be followed by the sixth Jersey Girl Legal Mystery. So that’ll keep me busy for a bit.

 

 ROCCO:  Where do you do your best writing?

 EJ: Wherever I happen to be. Location doesn’t really enter into it. I do my MOST writing at my desk in my office, because I’m there most of the time.

 

ROCCO:  Any new projects in the works?

 EJ: Well, this is the first in a series, so that’s new, and the aforementioned Jersey Girl #6 (following AND JUSTICE FOR MALL), and then… there are possibilities.

ROCCO:  What do you love to do in your free time? LOL Do you get much free time?

 EJ: Not as much as I'd like LOL. I watch baseball games; I’m an ardent fan. I spend time with my amazing spouse and sometimes our children, who have had the nerve to grow up and move into homes of their own.

 

ROCCO: Where can readers go to learn more about you and your books?

 EJ: The easiest place is at http://www.ejcopperman.com of course. There you’ll find info, news (such as it is), reviews and anything else you might, for reasons I couldn’t imagine, want to know about me. I’m also on Facebook, Twitter and very occasionally Instagram. I’d be on TikTok but nobody wants that.

 

Thanks so much for an amazing interview, E.J.

 

Ukulele of Death debuts in bookstore today!

Amazon link:

https://www.amazon.com/Ukulele-Death-Fran-Stein-Mystery/dp/1448309700/ref=sr_1_1?crid=11KZR8S2PMYDS&keywords=ukulele+of+death&qid=1681322334&s=books&sprefix=ukulelie+of+death%2Cstripbooks%2C202&sr=1-1