The third and newest in E.J. Copperman’s Fran & Ken Stein series of mysteries, Switcheroo is both amusing and serious. The amusing parts evince Copperman’s trademark style. He is one of my favorite mystery authors, and if you type Copperman in the search box at the top of this blog, you will find links to my reviews of several of his novels. The serious parts concern autism and adoption — so if those topics interest you, you will definitely want to read Switcheroo. There is also a bit of science fiction to boot.

You don’t really need to have read the two previous books in the series in order to understand this one, but of course you will have a more complete picture if you do so. You also don’t need to be from New Jersey, though it would help in this case, as it does in so many other situations.

You also don’t need to know Copperman’s real name, but I will tell you anyway. It’s Jeff Cohen. In addition to the Copperman nom, he also writes under his “real” name, just to keep you on your toes. Whether you read him as Copperman or as Cohen — or even as the two of them in collaboration, which is the case for one of his/their novels — you will learn something and will enjoy and appreciate him. Or them. Whatever.

Categories: Books