A Farewell to Legs: An Aaron Tucker Mystery

This is the second novel featuring screenwriter and stay-at-home dad Aaron Tucker, and it's wonderfully witty and smart. Tucker is charged with investigating two crimes, one being the unfortunate death of a former classmate's husband, who's discovered in his mistress's bedroom with a knife through his chest; the other crime being who left two stink bombs in his daughter's school. Oh, and there's the matter of a former client who's stalking his wife. The joy in reading this book is watching uber-procrastinator Aaron do actual investigating work when he'd rather be watching television. Aaron's classmates/friends aid him in his invesigation, as do the local police. The characters are very realistically drawn; they could be your neighbors or co-workers, assuming that you have very droll co-workers. In film parlance, a sleeper is something that achieves unexpected recognition or success, and that's what Jeffrey Cohen's series is: a witty mystery series that absolutely deserves a bigger audience.

Aaron Tucker is a freelance writer and house husband who helps take care of two kids while working. He also gets involved with solving fascinating mysteries. In this book, Aaron is asked to solve the murder of a major political figure by that individual's wife who happens to be an old schoolmate of Aaron's; he is also asked to find out who is flinging stink bombs at the school that his kids go to; his wife is apparently being threatened by a client who lost a case while being represented by her; and then there all the normal everyday events in this family's life. That is quite a lot to pile into one mystery novel but Jeffrey Cohen manages to put all of that together along with the quirky character that Aaron Tucker is. Aaron has the tendency to fling witticisms and zingers with abandon at everyone. Most of the fun in this book is to try and keep up with those zingers and the inevitable puns and funny situations that develop. Of course, since this is a murder mystery, one of the things that the reader tries to do is to solve the mystery. In that realm, all the various threads that go around the book tend to keep you hopping and guessing about one red herring or another. The fun of Mr. Cohen's writing style is that you are sometimes too busy laughing to recognize the importance of a clue! If you have had the pleasure of reading the first book in this series "For Whom the Mini-Van Rolls", this book is quite similar. The same main characters are players in this one and most of the minor characters reappear including the police chief and his chief of detectives. At the end of the book all the threads are closed off neatly and all the mysteries are solved. While two of them are logical and easily believed, two others are predicated on some very dubious connections including the discovery of the DNA of a man that was dead for 7 years before these events - that DNA being found at the scene of the crime. It does not matter though, the laughs, the interactions, and the ridiculous situations that Aaron Tucker gets himself into and out of are good enough to make me want to get the next one in this series.

A Farewell to Legs is a delightful book, both fun and funny. The plot has just enough twists and turns to keep you guessing, with a surprising and satisfying conclusion. Of course, there's lots of humor along the way. What I like best about this series is the strong relationship between Aaron and his wife Abby. Throw in two interesting kids and an accident-prone dog, and what comes out is a family that the reader wants to spend time with and get to know even better. Highly recommended.

What does a lizard, a stink bomb and a blonde `blast from the past' have in common? They're all part of a typical day in the life of freelance writer Aaron Tucker. Tucker and his best buddy Mahoney head back to school for their 25th reunion, when Tucker comes face to face with his high school `crush' Stephanie Jacobs (who still happens to be in possession of her unbelievable body). Stephanie, it seems, has done very well for herself marrying Louis "Legs" Gibson, the head of a big political foundation called People for American Values. During the reunion Stephanie finds she's just become a widow and enlists Aaron's aid to help her track down her husband's murderer, luring him in with the promise of big bucks to do the story for a major magazine. Ever the news hound (aka `needing the money'), Tucker reluctantly accepts the job and with his sidekick, Mahoney, becomes embroiled in murder, mayhem and stink bombs most foul. While the police believe that the murder of the adulterous "Legs" was a crime of passion, Stephanie points out "you can't have a crime of passion, if you don't have the passion." Mysterious, threatening phone calls and a rock hurled through his front window have Tucker realizing he's getting closer to exposing...the stink bomber? No! The real murderer! And just where did that lizard go?! A Farewell to Legs is total entertainment. A fast-paced and forward-moving story with witty dialog and three-dimensional characters, Jeffrey Cohen's Aaron Tucker is a happily married, lovable, family man and concerned citizen trying to deal with the issues that face all parents and wage earners while trying to beat a deadline and face their mid-life crisis head on. Cohen's characters and dialog are so real, you'll feel like you're spending the day with old friends--after getting past your first encounter with the sleazy "Legs" Gibson, that is. The ending wraps up nice and neat with a twist you won't see coming and I was still laughing, long after Tucker solved the crime. --Small Press Review

Like his protagonist, Aaron Tucker, Jeffrey Cohen has a "photographic ear" and eye for people and their quirks. This book is funny from front to back, without missing a beat.Aaron Tucker is a happily married freelance reporter with something of a reputation for solving murders. The object of Aaron's teenage unrequited lust -- still a dish after 25 years -- asks him to investigate the murder of her husband. Known to Aaron and his buddies as Crazy Legs, the victim was a philandering and much-despised Washington lobbyist.Snapdragon, a magazine that's "tired of being thought of as Rolling Stone's slow-witted cousin" offers to pay Aaron ten grand for a story on the murder. It's too good to pass up, even though he doesn't have a clue. He's watching the funeral on TV like everyone else.Meantime, his daughter wants a pet lizard, someone is stalking his gorgeous wife, he's getting ominous phone calls, and the principal at Buzbee School wants him to find out who threw stink bombs into the girls' locker room, the boys' bathroom, and the gym.Here's Cohen's description of the gym teacher: "Hester, the prototype for all gym teachers, was roughly 400 years old, and could still put me through a cinder block wall if the spirit moved her. She stood about six-foot-three, had triceps Arnold Schwarzenegger would find intimidating, and spoke in a voice high enough to qualify as a dog whistle."The gym teacher I remember was short, wiry, and limber enough to be folded into a duffel bag, but Hester sounds familiar. That's the thing about the characters who make this story so funny -- either you know someone just like them, or you think you do.I thought I had the murder mystery figured out. When Cohen sprung his surprise, I said, "Aw, gee," put the book down, and started laughing again. Then I got my can of deluxe mixed nuts out of the cupboard and finished reading the last few pages. Highly recommended!-- Pat Browning, author of Full Circle, a Penny Mackenzie mystery.