Ukulele of Death

by E. J. Copperman

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781448310494
Publisher:	Severn House
Publication date:	05/02/2023
Series:	Fran and Ken Stein Series , #1
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
File size:	974 KB

About the Author

E.J. Copperman is the nom de plume for Jeff Cohen, writer of intentionally funny murder mysteries. As E.J., he writes the Haunted Guesthouse and Agent to the Paws series, as well as the Jersey Girl Legal mysteries and the brand-new Fran&Ken Stein mysteries; as Jeff, he writes the Double Feature and Aaron Tucker series; and he collaborates with himself on the Samuel Hoenig Asperger's mysteries.

E.J. Copperman is the nom de plume for Jeff Cohen, writer of intentionally funny murder mysteries. As E.J., he writes the Haunted Guesthouse and Agent to the Paws series, as well as the Jersey Girl Legal mysteries and the brand-new Fran&Ken Stein mysteries; as Jeff, he writes the Double Feature and Aaron Tucker series; and he collaborates with himself on the Samuel Hoenig Asperger's mysteries.

A New Jersey native, E.J. worked as a newspaper reporter, teacher, magazine editor and screenwriter, before his first book was published to critical acclaim in 2002. In his spare time, Jeff is an extremely amateur guitar player, a fan of Major League Baseball, a couch potato and a teacher of screenwriting at Drexel University in Philadelphia.

Editorial Reviews

03/27/2023

Copperman (And Justice for Mall) launches a light and lively paranormal-tinged series featuring New York City–based sister-and-brother detective team Fran and Ken Stein. The tall, strapping siblings are more than just average gumshoes: they’re “genetically perfect superbeings” created by a pair of scientists who disappeared decades ago, leaving their “children” in the care of their aunt Margie, a former journalist. Are they human? Yes, except for the fact that they have to plug into a wall socket every now and then to renew their energy. The action picks up when their investigative agency, which specializes in finding birth parents for adoptees, acquires a new client, who wants them to find her bio-dad. Her only clue to his identity is that he is a collector of stringed instruments, and once owned a rare Gibson ukulele that is coming up for auction in London. In the midst of their investigation, both Ken and Fran are abducted by a mad scientist, and their identities—a closely guarded secret for their entire lives—threaten to come to light. Copperman has loads of fun with his blatantly silly conceit, and Fran’s narration zips along at a fast and furious pace. Fans of Copperman’s Jersey Girl Mysteries will enjoy themselves. Agent: Josh Getzler, HG Literary. (May)Correction: The author's last name was misspelled in an earlier version of this review.

Publishers Weekly

Twisty and bonkers and fun

Multi award-winning author Catriona McPherson on The Ukulele of Death

E.J. Copperman is one of my all-time favorite authors . . . Call a cab to take you to the bookstore the minute a new one comes out. They’re that good

Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine

With unique, larger-than-life characters (literally), and an outlandish premise, this one may appeal to Janet Evanovich fans

Booklist

Sandy is a Jersey girl, a competent, tenacious, yet vulnerable heroine in a cast of vividly described characters and in a story with multiple plot twists that's enlivened with humor and set against the glittering backdrop of Hollywood

Booklist on Inherit the Shoes

04/01/2023

Siblings Fran and Ken Stein were orphaned at a young age and as adults have become PIs who help people find their families. A new client wants to find her father; all she knows about him is that he collects rare musical instruments. When the client is murdered, Fran becomes determined to finish the case and find the father. To her surprise, there are connections to her own parents, who were scientists doing advanced medical research when they died in a car crash. This research might be related to the USB ports both siblings have under their arms. Masked figures attempt to kidnap Fran and Ken as they work to find out just what is going on and who is behind it while at the same time allowing themselves to feel the slightest bit of hope that their parents may not in fact be dead. VERDICT With an enjoyable mix of sci-fi and mystery elements, Copperman's latest (after And Justice for Mall) features an intriguing and likable pair of detectives whose complementary skills help them survive and thrive and maybe even find their family.—Dan Forrest

Library Journal

With a mixture of spunk and quirkiness, narrator Cara Swingline brings Fran and Ken Stein to life in this lighthearted mystery series. Working as private investigators who help clients find their birth parents, the siblings search for a missing ukulele that could lead to a client's father. The deep, throaty voice Swingline gives to Ken unintentionally makes him sound obtuse. But Swingline's natural delivery of Fran's witty inner dialogue and snarky comments helps ground the story. Aunt Margie has a calming voice, and Richard Mankiewicz, an NYPD cop who is courting Fran, sounds appropriately matter-of-fact. This is a lighthearted, quick, and enjoyable listen. The slightly nonlinear plot is not overly suspenseful, but listeners are rewarded with a satisfying ending. E.P. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine

OCTOBER 2023 - AudioFile

2023-04-12
Copperman launches yet another new franchise with perhaps his most offbeat protagonist to date.

How could the creator of a sleuth who communes with ghosts, a problem-solver on the autism spectrum, and an animal talent agent with a knack for detection push the envelope even further? By creating a detective who is herself created. Fran Stein learned at a young age that she and her brother, Ken, were made in a lab by her mother, a professor of genetics and biology who taught at Rutgers under the alias Olivia Grey, and her husband, a neurologist known to the world as Brandon Wilder. The Grey-Wilders have long since disappeared, leaving Fran and Ken to be raised by their “Aunt Margie,” actually a journalist who was working on a story about the brilliant scientists when they decamped for parts unknown and who then sacrificed her career to raise Fran and Ken. When she grew up, Fran naturally became a private eye specializing in helping adults find their long-lost parents and pressured chronically underemployed Ken into joining her. Their latest client, Evelyn Bannister, wants the pair to find a Gibson Poinsettia ukulele that she claims will lead to her birth father, an avid collector. The siblings think her story stinks like week-old sushi but play along to see what her game really is. Evelyn’s murder pushes Fran to keep going, and pursuing the homicide leads her into a perplexing relationship with 5-foot-8 Det. Richard Mankiewicz. (Like most lab-created humans, Fran is on the statuesque side.) The solution is likely to strain the credulity of even die-hard Copperman fans, but what his shaggy dog story lacks in verisimilitude, it makes up in commitment to its wacky premise.

What next?

Kirkus Reviews