โ Scribed by Jeffrey Cohen
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
In Cohen's third Aaron Tucker whodunit (after 2003's A Farewell to Legs), the aspiring New Jersey screenwriter and occasional freelance journalist again puts on his sleuthing hat after a young man with Asperger's syndrome is arrested for a senseless murder. Despite damning evidence, including the accused's confession and possession of the murder weapon, Tucker, who has an autistic son, finds the nature of the crime incompatible with his understanding of the suspect's symptoms. Persisting even after a local mobster warns him off, the amateur detective uses his son to pursue the truth. While the plot may have too many coincidences for some tastes, Cohen succeeds in injecting humor and humanity into this clever puzzler. Parents of Asperger's children are a natural audience, but this work should appeal to a broad cross-section of the mystery market. (Nov.)
Copyright Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Aaron Tucker may not be the best provider in the world--few freelance writers are--but he does have plenty of time to play detective (A Farewell to Legs, 2003) and, more importantly, to be there for his son, Ethan, who suffers from Asperger syndrome (AS). This time Aaron is asked by a trusted friend, Lori, founder of an AS support group, to determine whether a kid named Justin Fowler really killed a man in cold blood, as he had confessed. Why not believe him? Turns out Justin also suffers from AS, and unprovoked violence is not one of the disease's symptoms. Aaron finds an unlikely Watson in Ethan, who builds a rapport with the accused teenager and uncovers the path to the truth. Cohen throws all sorts of red herrings into this quirky story, but at its heart, the novel is about the father-son relationship, about how Ethan's instincts and intelligence delight Aaron as his son begins to become a man right before his eyes. Expect a growing audience for this clever and endearing series. Mary Frances Wilkens
Copyright American Library Association. All rights reserved
Mysteries
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In this third Aaron Tucker mystery, Aaron finds himself once again dragged kicking and screaming into investigating a murder, this time of a man shot while walking his dog. The young man accused of the crime has Asperger's Syndrome--just like Aaron's son. Along the way, Aaron is assaulted by mobste
In this third Aaron Tucker mystery, Aaron finds himself once again dragged kicking and screaming into investigating a murder, this time of a man shot while walking his dog. The young man accused of the crime has Asperger's Syndrome--just like Aaron's son. Along the way, Aaron is assaulted by mobste
In this third Aaron Tucker mystery, Aaron finds himself once again dragged kicking and screaming into investigating a murder, this time of a man shot while walking his dog. The young man accused of the crime has Asperger's Syndrome--just like Aaron's son. Along the way, Aaron is assaulted by mobste
In this, the third Aaron Tucker mystery, Aaron, fresh from a trip to Hollywood to "take meetings" on his screenplay, finds himself dragged kicking and screaming once again into investigating a murder, this time of a man in a nearby town shot while walking his dog at night. The young man accused of t
EDITORIAL REVIEW: In this, the third Aaron Tucker mystery, Aaron, fresh from a trip to Hollywood to "take meetings" on his screenplay, finds himself dragged kicking and screaming once again into investigating a murder, this time of a man in a nearby town shot while walking his dog at night. The