Romanced to Death

I've read Cooper before but not this series. I realize that I've picked it up "in the middle" but there's enough back story to follow what happened before. This was everything I look for in a light mystery--humor, good dialogue, a complex mystery, good death scenes, and excellent characterizations. I have a teenage daughter and felt the honesty in the scenes dealing with the E.J.'s 3 teenage children. There were times I literally laughed out loud. And, more importantly, there wasn't a time when the murders and the "whodunit" aspect felt secondary to the story (something that occasionally happens in other humorous mysteries). Definitely a recommendation and I'm looking for the others.

It's been seven years since Susan Rogers Cooper (and the rest of us) visited E.J Pugh; wife, mother of three, romance novelist, and sleuth. Was "Romanced To Death", the new E.J. Pugh mystery worth the wait? You better believe it! The book follows E.J. to the American Romance Writers Association convention in Austin, TX, where she almost immediately is embroiled in murder, mayhem, and catty backstabbing. Interspersed throughout E.J.'s escapades is a deeper, darker story involving her 13 year old adopted daughter, whose family was brutally murdered nine years before. Cooper uses flashbacks to her first E.J. Pugh mystery "One, Two, What Did Daddy Do?" to set this part of the story up, which allows new readers to appreciate this book as a stand alone, if they've never read any of the previous books in the series. For fans and faithful readers, Cooper's characters are still fresh, her plotting is first rate, and the resolution is very satisfying!