There Was a Little Girl

I don't like mystery, never really have. I was always brought up in the world of Science Fiction/Science fact. And I loved this book. It really is not what I expectd a mystery to be, but it has made me rethink my reading habits. This is a drama- a story with fully developed characters and a story that I was cheering, sighing, yelling out loud for. I responded to this book the way men stereotypically respnd to football. It really was engaging, and has led me to pick up another one of her books which is just as good. The writing is intelligent and engaging and I completely feel for each of these characters, even the overshadowed husband. The dynamics between characters are great. I definately reccomend this work.

In this book, our friend Eleanor Janine Pugh (E.J.) is back. She saves the life of a young girl who tries to commit suicide by drowning and is off into another adventure. The rescue of this girl intoduces Brenna to E.J. and involves her in the girls life. Her history is very sad and her life is aobut to become very complicated by the return of her mother, who left her years before in the custody of her grandmother, a woman who doesn't know much about raising a girl in this day and age. When the mother is killed, the girl becomes a suspect in the murder and E.J. helps to solve the murder and help Brenna work out a plan for her future. The people in this book are so real and the mystery very gripping. I enjoyed it very much. May this series continue on for a long time.

I was eagerly awaiting this book. When I received it in the mail, I went home and started reading and didn't stop until I finished it. This is one of the best series I have read in a while. The characters seem so real, you almost consider them family! Definitely highly recommended.

According to Chinese philosophy, when you save a person's life, you are responsible for that individual forever. Romance novelist E.J. Pugh did not fully grasp that Asiatic credo until she spots teenager Brenna McGraw jumping off of a bridge. E.J. follows her into the water with a dive of her own.. After rescuing the sixteen year old, E. J. feels responsible for Brenna, who has suffered a tragic life. When Brenna's mother Lori is released from prison after serving nine years, she plans to take her daughter with her to Houston. Brenna rejects that option because she refuses to live under the same roof as her step-father, who is responsible for the death of her baby brother. A week before they are to go to Houston, Brenna and her grandmother find Lori dead, a gun shot wound to her head. Her grandmother accuses Lori of murder, leaving it up to E.J. to prove otherwise before Brenna is arrested for matricide. THERE WAS A LITTLE GIRL is a first class puzzler because it is very difficult to decide who the perpetrator is in spite of the fact that once Susan Rogers Cooper reveals the identity of the killer, in hindsight, it is obvious. That ability and her brilliant characterizations which immediately hook the audience make Ms. Cooper one of the better mystery writers on the market today. Harriet Klausner