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E.J. Copperman is the pseudonym of American author Jeffrey Cohen.

He uses the pen name when writing mystery and cozy mystery novels, and his real name when penning mystery and non-fiction books.

Born in Newark, New Jersey, Jeffrey graduated from Rutgers College before proceeding to work as a newspaper reporter, teacher, magazine editor, and screenwriter.

He has over the years written for several publications, including The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, American Baby and USA Weekend.

Under his alter ego, he has written series such as Agent to the Paws Mystery, Asperger's Mystery, Fran and Ken Stein Mystery, and many more.

Jeffrey currently lives in New Jersey with his wife and two children, where he enjoys playing the guitar, watching Major League Baseball, and playing crossword during his abundant free time.

More about E.J. Copperman

Genres: Cozy Mystery, Mystery

United States

Pseudonym: E.J. Copperman

Website: http://www.ejcopperman.com/

Website: https://www.aarontucker.com/wp/

Agent to the Paws Mystery

  1. Dog Dish of Doom (2017)
  2. Bird, Bath, and Beyond (2018)

Asperger's Mystery

  1. The Question of the Missing Head (2014)
  2. The Question of the Unfamiliar Husband (2015)
  3. The Question of the Felonious Friend (2016)
  4. The Question of the Absentee Father (2017)
  5. The Question of the Dead Mistress (2018)

Fran and Ken Stein Mystery

  1. Ukulele of Death (2023)

Haunted Guest House Mystery

  1. Night of the Living Deed (2010)
  2. An Uninvited Ghost (2011)
  3. Old Haunts (2012)
  4. A Wild Ghost Chase: A Haunted Guest House Mystery Novella (2012)
  5. Chance of a Ghost (2013)
  6. An Open Spook (2013)
  7. The Thrill of the Haunt (2013)
  8. Inspector Specter (2014)
  9. Ghost in the Wind (2015)
  10. Spouse on Haunted Hill (2016)
  11. The Hostess with the Ghostess (2018)
  12. Bones Behind the Wheel (2019)

Jersey Girl Legal Mystery

  1. Inherit the Shoes (2021)
  2. Judgment at Santa Monica (2021)
  3. Witness for the Persecution (2022)
  4. And Justice For Mall (2022)

Mysterious Detective Mystery

  1. Written Off (2016)
  2. Edited Out (2017)
Fran and Ken Stein Mystery
Mysterious Detective Mystery

Detailed book overview

Agent to the Paws Mystery

Dog Dish of Doom

Kay Powell wants to find that break-out client who will become a star. And she thinks she's found him: His name is Bruno, and he has to be walked three times a day.

Kay is the Agent to the Paws, representing showbiz clients who aren't exactly people. In fact: they're dogs. Bruno's humans, Trent and Louise, are pains in the you-know-what, and Les McMaster, the famous director mounting a revival of Annie, might not hire Bruno just because he can't stand them.

This becomes less of an issue when Trent is discovered face down in Bruno's water dish, with a kitchen knife in his back. Kay's perfectly fine to let the NYPD handle the murder, but when the whole plot seems to center on Bruno, her protective instincts come into play. You can kill any people you want, but you'd better leave Kay's clients alone.

Author: E.J. Copperman
First Release: 2017
ISBN: 978-1432853501
Publisher: Wheeler Publishing
Bird, Bath, and Beyond

Kay Powell, theatrical agent to non-human animals, is babysitting—that is, birdsitting—her client, a parrot named Barney, on the set of his new TV show, Dead City. 

When the show’s charismatic star is shot in his trailer between scenes, the only eyewitness to the crime is—you guessed it—Barney. And even though Kay keeps explaining that even a “talking” parrot doesn’t actually converse with people, the investigators insist on interrogating the bird for information he clearly can’t communicate.

Suspects accumulate like birdseed, and before long it’s clear the killer believes Barney might actually be able to supply useful evidence. Even Barney can’t fly away from this one.

Author: E.J. Copperman
First Release: 2018
ISBN: 978-1432857011
Publisher: Wheeler Publishing

Asperger's Mystery

The Question of the Missing Head

Samuel Hoenig answers questions for a living. And as a man with Asperger's Syndrome, his unique personality helps him ferret out almost any answer there is. But his latest question is a rather odd one―who stole a preserved head from the Garden State Cryonics Institute?

Arriving at the scene of the crime accompanied by his new colleague, Ms. Washburn, Samuel finds that what started out as a theft has escalated to murder. With suspects and motives emerging at a rapid rate, one final question remains―can Samuel's powers of deduction uncover a killer in the face of overwhelming odds?

Author: E.J. Copperman
First Release: 2014
ISBN: 978-0738741512
Publisher: Midnight Ink
The Question of the Unfamiliar Husband

For Samuel Hoenig, Asperger's isn't so much a syndrome as it is a set of personality traits. And as the sole proprietor of a business called Questions Answered, Samuel's put his personality traits to good use, successfully answering every question he's ever been asked.

But when his newest client asks about the true identity of her so-called husband, Samuel recruits his former associate, Janet Washburn, for insight into a subject that's beyond his grasp―marriage.

Working as a team seems to be the right approach...until the inscrutable spouse is found dead in Samuel's office. Feeling like he's been taken for a fool, Samuel is more than willing to answer a new question posed by an unexpected inquirer: who killed the unfamiliar husband?

Author: E.J. Copperman
First Release: 2015
ISBN: 978-0738743509
Publisher: Midnight Ink
The Question of the Felonious Friend

"Is Richard Handy really my friend?"

It's been one year, two weeks, and three days since Samuel Hoenig opened the doors of Questions Answered. The personality traits of his Asperger's Syndrome help him maintain objectivity―a critical component of his business's continuing success.

But when Tyler Clayton, a young man who also has Asperger's, asks if a store clerk is truly his friend, Samuel, for the first time, can't bear to give an objective answer. It's a dicey situation that only gets worse when one of the key players ends up dead. Resolving to do the right thing, Samuel, with help from his associate Ms. Washburn, wades into the murky waters of friendship, and the answer he finds may be a revelation to himself most of all.

Author: E.J. Copperman
First Release: 2016
ISBN: 978-0738743516
Publisher: Midnight Ink
The Question of the Absentee Father

"Where Is Your Father Living Now?"

Samuel Hoenig, proprietor of a business called Questions Answered, doesn't have strong feelings about his estranged father. After all, you can't miss what you never had. But when Samuel's mother receives an enigmatic letter and asks him where his father lives, Samuel is duty bound to provide an answer.

Unfortunately, answering this question means taking a trip to Los Angeles with his associate, Ms. Washburn. The personality traits of Asperger's Syndrome make flying across the country a major challenge for Samuel. Little does he know that as troubling as flying is, it's nothing compared to the danger they'll face when they land.

Author: E.J. Copperman
First Release: 2017
ISBN: 978-0738750798
Publisher: Midnight Ink
The Question of the Dead Mistress

"Is my husband having an affair with a dead woman?"

For Samuel Hoenig, the proprietor of a unique agency called Questions Answered, the answer to this most recent question is simple. Since there's absolutely no evidence that apparitions exist, it would be impossible for Ginny Fontaine's husband to be having an affair with one.

But Samuel's associate, Janet Washburn, isn't so easily convinced.

Wrestling with his complicated feelings for Ms. Washburn, Samuel proposes that she take the lead on the question. As soon as her research begins, the husband in question ends up dead, leaving Janet and Samuel wondering if they stand a ghost of a chance at unraveling this twisted tale of danger and deceit.

Author: E.J. Copperman
First Release: 2018
ISBN: 978-0738750613
Publisher: Midnight Ink

Fran and Ken Stein Mystery

Ukulele of Death

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.

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 ...

Author: E.J. Copperman
First Release: 2023
Ebook: B0BM9ZZ1QR
Publisher: Severn House Publishers

Haunted Guest House Mystery

Night of the Living Deed

Newly divorced Alison Kerby wants a second chance for herself and her nine-year-old daughter, so she’s returned to her home town on the Jersey Shore to transform a fixer-upper into a charming—and hopefully profitable—guest house. But when a bump on the head leaves her seeing not only stars but spirits, Alison realizes the real challenge she’s facing is out of this world.

The two residing ghosts are Maxie Malone, the foul-tempered former owner of the house (who has definite opinions about Alison’s design plans), and Paul Harrison, a private eye who’d been working for Maxie—both died in the house on the same night. The official cause of death was suicide, but the ghosts insist they were murdered, and they need Alison to find out who killed them—or the next ghost in the guest house will be Alison herself...

Author: E.J. Copperman
First Release: 2010
Ebook: B0040QE39O
Publisher: Berkley
An Uninvited Ghost

Alison and her resident gumshoe ghost are on their next case when the deceased Scott MacFarlane floats in worried that he accidentally killed a prominent local woman. Turns out she's still alive...that is, of course, until she's murdered-in Alison's house. Now, between the demands of her guests and the arrival of a reality television crew, Alison must find the killer before she sees reality from the other side.

Author: E.J. Copperman
First Release: 2011
Ebook: B004GXC7YE
Publisher: Berkley
Old Haunts

The ghosts haunting Alison Kerby's Jersey Shore guesthouse are sad. Maxie wants to know who murdered her ex-husband, and Paul pines for his still-living almost-fiancee. The only one who isn't missing her ex is Alison-because The Swine just arrived on her doorstep...

Author: E.J. Copperman
First Release: 2012
Ebook: B005GSYYLC
Publisher: Berkley
A Wild Ghost Chase: A Haunted Guest House Mystery Novella

Three years ago in a large Victorian house on the Jersey Shore in the town of Harbor Haven, fledgling private investigator Paul and his client, Maxie Malone, were murdered. Since then, recent divorcee and reluctant ghost whisperer Alison Kerby and her 10-year-old daughter Melissa have moved in and converted the place to a guesthouse, where Maxie and Paul are now checked in for an eternity and ready to solve any case that comes their way—or at least spook the guests (who love it).

Alison’s got a lot on her plate at the moment, however, so when Paul discovers the three-hundred-year-old ghost of a small boy in the house, he decides not to involve her in the case. The boy, named Eagle of the Sun, says he’s searching for his missing mother. Paul’s happy to help Eagle of the Sun find her, though something about the boy’s story doesn’t add up. But why would a lost little ghost lie?

Author: E.J. Copperman
First Release: 2012
Ebook: B007P7ESR2
Publisher: Berkley
Chance of a Ghost

Even with a blizzard bearing down on New Jersey, Alison can count on at least two guests—Paul and Maxie, the stubborn ghosts who share her shore town inn. Then there’s her widowed mother, who hasn’t just been seeing ghosts, she’s been secretly dating one: Alison’s father. But when he stands her up three times in a row, something’s wrong. Is he a lost soul…or a missing apparition?

Their only lead is an overdramatic spirit—stage name Lawrence Laurentz—who doesn’t take direction well and won’t talk until they find his killer. Alison will reluctantly play the part of PI, but when the clues take a sinister turn, the writing is on the wall: If Alison can’t keep a level head, this will be her father’s final act—and maybe her own.

Author: E.J. Copperman
First Release: 2013
Ebook: B0095ZMQEE
Publisher: Berkley
An Open Spook

Haunted guesthouse owner Alison Kerby may have only recently discovered her ability to communicate with ghosts, but for her mother Loretta, it’s been a lifelong gift. As Alison prepares her Jersey Shore guesthouse for what promises to be a huge storm, Loretta helps out by tackling a different issue when the winds blow in an unexpected visitor: the ghost of Sgt. Robert Elliot. 

His request? Help him find the POW bracelet from the Vietnam War that bears his name. But no sooner does Elliot make his appeal than he suddenly disappears, cutting off contact, and leaving Loretta to wonder...why here? Why now? And why the vanishing act?

The answers begin to materialize when Alison’s lone remaining guest shows up unwittingly holding a clue to the case—on his wrist. A coincidence? Hardly. And Loretta has good reason to believe that the sergeant’s spirit has a secret he’s yet to share. Something he’s been holding on to for more than forty years. Something he’s dying to put to rest.

Author: E.J. Copperman
First Release: 2013
Ebook: B00BWVMFQ8
Publisher: Berkley
The Thrill of the Haunt

Alison Kerby’s guesthouse is already crowded with spirits. The last thing she needs is a whole new batch of haunts settling in.

As Alison’s reputation as “the ghost lady” grows, so does her business—and not always in a way she’d like. Tourists may be flocking to her guesthouse for a chance to glimpse her resident spirits, but her special abilities are also bringing unwanted private investigation cases to her door. And she has no choice but to take a case when the local homeless man is found murdered under mysterious circumstances, just hours after asking for help in exorcising a specter.

If that weren’t enough to deal with, Alison’s other PI case soon turns fatal, as the mistress she was spying on for a jealous wife turns up dead as well. The cases seem like they couldn’t possibly be linked, but with a mountain of clues, motives and suspects—both living and dead—Alison will have to think fast before someone else checks out for good…

Author: E.J. Copperman
First Release: 2013
Ebook: B00BDQ39LM
Publisher: Berkley
Inspector Specter

Just when she thought she’d seen everything…

Detective Lieutenant Anita McElone is one of Harbor Haven’s finest. She’s also a hard-boiled ghost skeptic. So when she shows up on the doorstep of Alison Kerby’s Haunted Guesthouse to ask for supernatural help in solving the murder of her former partner, it’s hard to tell which woman is more flabbergasted. But McElone is dead serious, so Alison promises to help in any way she can—even asking her resident ghosts, Paul and Maxie, for help with the case.

As Paul’s spirit source reveals some troubling information about the deceased detective, Alison wrestles with what to tell McElone. First, though, she has to find her…because the lieutenant has suddenly disappeared.

Author: E.J. Copperman
First Release: 2014
Ebook: B00JJXV3H8
Publisher: Berkley
Ghost in the Wind

Never meet your heroes—especially when they’re dead…

Guesthouse owner, single mother, and reluctant ghost whisperer Alison Kerby is about to sit down to movie night with her family and friends when she’s struck speechless. Floating before her is the ghost of her musical idol, 1960s English rock star Vance McTiernan. He’s in desperate need of help from Alison and her resident ghostly gumshoe, Paul Harrison.

Reports claim that four months ago, Vance’s daughter died from a drug overdose. Vance, however, thinks she was murdered. While Alison agrees to help, Paul is suspicious of Vance’s motives. But after the body of the alleged killer is found in the movie room, Alison and Paul must act quickly before someone else finds a stairway to heaven...

Author: E.J. Copperman
First Release: 2015
Ebook: B00U5L7SXG
Publisher: Berkley
Spouse on Haunted Hill

Alison’s shady ex needs to use her haunted guesthouse as a hideout...

Where Alison Kerby’s ex-husband goes, trouble follows. This time, unfortunately, he’s brought that trouble right to her doorstep. On the run from a business deal gone bad, Steven, aka “the Swine,” owes some scary people a staggering sum of money. No need to panic, though. He has a plan: Sell Alison’s Jersey Shore guesthouse to pay them off.

Before Alison has a chance to read Steven the riot act, he disappears—after a mysterious man trailing him ends up full of bullet holes. Now the police are next to darken her doorway. For all his faults, Steven is still the father of Alison’s daughter, so with the help of ghosts Maxie and Paul, Alison sets out to find her ex and clear him of the murder. But if the bad guys get to him first, he may not have a ghost of a chance...

Author: E.J. Copperman
First Release: 2016
Ebook: B01CZCW48Q
Publisher: Berkley
The Hostess with the Ghostess

Solving a murder way too close to home, Alison Kerby can’t catch a break.

If Alison Kerby really wanted peace and quiet, she never should have opened the Haunted Guesthouse. The Jersey Shore lodge’s latest polter-guest is Richard Harrison, the recently murdered brother of long-time resident ghost PI Paul Harrison.

Alas, a beyond-the-grave brotherly reunion is nowhere in the foreseeable future—phantasmal Paul left the guesthouse months ago for parts unknown, and for all her ghost-whispering prowess, Alison has no idea how to find him. And she’s going to need Paul, because Richard’s isn’t the only murder still unsolved.

Richard, a lawyer in life, tells Alison that he had been working the case of a woman accused of murdering her stepfather. When Richard got too close to the truth, he was permanently silenced. Now, as Alison searches for Paul, she gets a creeping sensation that the murderer doesn’t appreciate her snooping around. If she doesn’t succeed in her hunt, she has the feeling that she’ll be the next to haunt the house.

Author: E.J. Copperman
First Release: 2018
ISBN: 978-1683319177
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Bones Behind the Wheel

Haunted Guesthouse proprietress Alison Kerby and her ghostly guest detective, Paul, “auto” know better than to dig into the case of a long-buried sedan and its now-skeletal driver.

Innkeeper Alison Kerby is determined to keep her mind, body, and soul focused on bringing high-spirited hospitality to her lodgers at the Haunted Guesthouse. She simply has no time for any more murder investigations, no matter what Paul Harrison, her resident ghost detective, says.

But this time, the mystery comes looking for Alison. Workers unearth a 1977 Lincoln Continental buried in the sand behind Alison’s guesthouse—and they discover a skeleton still belted in behind the steering wheel.

Paul, of course, is on the cold case—to the extent that a ghostly gumshoe can be—but Alison is still determined not to do the incorporeal investigator’s legwork. Not this time. But her new husband Josh is intrigued, and he offers to help Paul poke into the case of the cold Continental. Uh-oh...has Josh caught the investigation bug? It’s a harsh wake-up call for a harried businesswoman who’d thought she’d told the detective life to hit the road.

What can go wrong? How about everything? As Alison dodges stray bullets, discovers a gun in the guesthouse, and reluctantly probes a decades-old murder that turns out to be shockingly relevant even today, her specter inspector tries to keep her spirits up. But as she searches for the key to unlock the case, is Alison headed for her final check-out?

Author: E.J. Copperman
First Release: 2019
Ebook: B07D2HHQ55
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books

Jersey Girl Legal Mystery

Inherit the Shoes

Lawyer Sandy Moss gets mixed up in a celebrity murder case in LA.

New Jersey prosecutor Sandy Moss is tired of petty criminals, and a new job at a glitzy Los Angeles law firm seems the perfect career move. Putting 3,000 miles between her and her ex-boyfriend is just an added bonus.

But on Sandy's first morning as a family attorney, she inadvertently kills her new career stone dead when she offends her boss during a meeting with the firm's top celebrity client, charismatic TV star Patrick McNabb. But that's not as dead as Patrick's soon-to-be ex-wife, Patsy, is that evening, when she's discovered shot by an arrow, her husband standing over her.

Did Patrick really kill his wife in a dispute over a pair of shoes? All signs point to yes. But Patrick is determined to clear his name, using all the legal skills he's learned from playing a lawyer on TV, and to Sandy's deep dismay, she's the only person he'll allow to help . . .

Author: E.J. Copperman
First Release: 2021
ISBN: 978-1780297200
Publisher: Severn House Publishers
Judgment at Santa Monica

Hollywood stars, sunshine, stabbings . . . New Jersey prosecutor turned LA family lawyer Sandy Moss is back with a bang.

The last person family lawyer Sandy Moss expects to walk into her courtroom, right in the middle of a trial, is TV star Patrick McNabb: prime suspect in her first (and she hopes, last) murder case.

Sandy knows what Patrick’s like. Friendly, overconfident, dazzlingly handsome . . . and a well-meaning menace. But his request seems harmless enough. His dear friend Cynthia is getting divorced, and he thinks Sandy’s perfect for the job. She accepts – because he’s Patrick and there is no denying him.

But of course it’s not that simple. Soon Sandy’s tangled up in yet another murder – and Patrick, who’s currently playing a private detective on TV, believes he’s essential to solving the whole thing . . .

Author: E.J. Copperman
First Release: 2021
ISBN: 978-1780298122
Publisher: Severn House Publishers
Witness for the Persecution

Movie premiers, murder charges and celebrity shenanigans? It's all in a day's work for New Jersey prosecutor turned LA family lawyer Sandy Moss.

Former New Jersey prosecutor Sandy Moss moved to a prestigious Los Angeles law firm to make a new start as a family lawyer. So it seems a little unfair that Seaton, Taylor have created a criminal law division specifically for her. Just because she's successfully defended two murder trials, it doesn't mean she likes them!

But when abrasive Hollywood movie director Robert Reeves is accused of murdering a stuntman on set, Sandy finds she can't say no when he demands her help. Robert might be an unpleasant, egotistical liar, but something tells Sandy that he's innocent - even if no one else can see it.

At least this time, she reassures herself, her charismatic, adorable, and oh so annoying TV star boyfriend Patrick McNabb isn't involved in the case. He isn't . . . right?

Author: E.J. Copperman
First Release: 2022
ISBN: 978-1448308118
Publisher: Severn House Publishers
And Justice For Mall

Hollywood, house hunting . . . and hand grenades?! Life turns explosive for New Jersey prosecutor turned LA family lawyer Sandy Moss when she takes on an unexpected new client: pre-teen millionaire Riley Schoenberg.

When Riley Schoenberg strides into family lawyer Sandy Moss's office without knocking and coolly sits down, Sandy's more irritated than amused. She has a client meeting to prepare for, and being interrupted by an eleven-year-old girl is not on her to-do list.

But then Sandy hears Riley's pitch, and it's a killer one: Riley's father's been convicted of murdering her mother . . . and the oddly intimidating pre-teen will do anything to get him out of jail.

Sandy, in turn, will do anything to get Riley out of her office. Which includes, it seems, agreeing to look into her dad's case for free. A decision she regrets when it turns out Riley's inheritance has made her a multi-millionaire.

Still, Sandy's determined to get Riley the answers she needs. There's just one tiny problem: Riley might be convinced her father's innocent, but Jack Schoenberg is insisting he did it.

Author: E.J. Copperman
First Release: 2022
Ebook: B0B4P5PJ4B
Publisher: Severn House Publishers

Mysterious Detective Mystery

Written Off

The line between reality and fiction starts to blur as crime-author-turned-sleuth Duffy Madison chases a serial killer targeting mystery writers.

Rachel Goldman writes mysteries in which Duffy Madison, consultant to the county prosecutor's office, helps find missing persons. Rachel is busy finishing up her next book, when a man calls out of the blue asking for help in a missing persons case. The caller's name? Duffy Madison.

Is this real or has she lost her mind? She doesn't have much time to find out because a serial killer is on the loose, kidnapping and murdering mystery authors. And Rachel may just be the next target.

Author: E.J. Copperman
First Release: 2016
ISBN: 978-1683311997
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Edited Out

Author Rachel Goldman and her now-living fictional character join forces on a missing persons investigation.

Mystery author Rachel Goldman is getting used to the idea that her fictional creation Duffy Madison has somehow taken flesh-and-blood form and is investigating missing person cases not far from where Rachel lives. Wait. No. She’s not getting used to it at all, and the presence of this real-life Duffy is making her current manuscript—what’s the word?—lousy.

So she doesn’t want to see Duffy—the living one—at all. To make matters worse, when he shows up at her door and insists on talking to her, it’s about the one thing she doesn’t want to do: Find a missing person. But the man Duffy seeks this time around might be able to solve Rachel’s problem. He might just be the man Duffy was before he became Duffy five years ago. The only problem is she could be letting Duffy lead her into danger yet again...

Author: E.J. Copperman
First Release: 2017
ISBN: 978-1683318460
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books