Where There's Smoke... - An Interview, Review, & Giveaway

I'm pleased to welcome E. J. Copperman to Cozy Up With Kathy today. E. J. writes the Haunted Paint Store Mystery series. WHERE THERE'S SMOKE... is the second book in the series and was released this week.

Kathy: WHERE THERE'S SMOKE... has librarians being threatened for supposedly giving children pornography. This theme is unfortunately quite timely as certain people are trying to get any material that they don't believe in out of public spaces. Indeed I just read about legislation in more than one state that could imprison librarians for having material "harmful to minors". Why is it important to shine a light on this topic?

EJC: For exactly those reasons. I find it despicable that people a.) want to ban certain books from libraries and b) blame librarians for keeping “objectionable” material on their shelves. My eldest child is a librarian, and a good one, and the idea that people think librarians should be imprisoned for doing their jobs scares me to death. If you don’t want your children to read certain material, pay closer attention to what they’re reading and leave everybody else alone to choose the reading materials they want.

Kathy: In the Haunted Paint Store Mysteries Laura consults with her father, a former police detective who happens to be dead. Laura is unsure if he's really a ghost or if he's a product of her grieving brain. Do you believe in ghosts? Have you ever had an otherworldly experience?

EJC: I will never tell you if I believe in ghosts because my readership would be annoyed with me no matter what answer I give you. Have I ever had an otherworldly experience? There was this incredible chocolate cake my wife made for one of my birthdays…

Kathy: This series also features a happily married couple in the lead roles. Why did you choose this route? To avoid romantic "will they won't they storylines"? Or show a solid marriage? Or did Laura just tell you that she was married?

EJC: I haven’t been in the dating world for 40 years and from what I’ve seen of it, I’m glad. I wanted to show a stable relationship because I don’t see many of them in my own reading. Maybe that cuts down on the amount of suspense in the story, but I don’t care. And I told Laura she was married, which she considered a relief.

Kathy: All of your series have a great deal of humor in them. Why do you like to infuse your mysteries with laughter?

EJC: Why wouldn’t I? I have no patience for deadly serious art forms. I don’t want to see the “feel bad” movie of the year. I can be sad on my own; I don’t need any help. I happen to have a knack (some people think) for writing comedy, and my greatest reward is a reader telling me what they laughed at in my book. After all, I write comedies with a mystery in them, not the other way around.

Kathy: What first drew you to cozy mysteries?

EJC: I’m not a fan of graphic violence; it tends to upset my stomach. I don’t want to get into that headspace. I don’t write any “on-screen” sex scenes because I believe I would be bad at that. The thing about not using certain words I have an issue with. Having a character trip over a murdered corpse an say, “Golly gee!” takes me right out of the story. I don’t get gratuitous with it, but I think all the words in the language are fair game. Your mileage may vary.

Kathy: Do you write in any other genres?

EJC: I have enough trouble writing in this one.

Kathy: Tell us about your series.

EJC: Laura Meehan inherits her late father’s paint and wallpaper store in her old home town, and finds her dad “living” there when she opens the place. He’s an ex-police detective who bought the store when he left the force. So when something mysterious happens, he want to take a look at it and find the culprit. Laura is more or less along for the ride.

Kathy: Do you have a favorite character? If so, who and why?

EJC: Yes. Harpo Marx. Because he created a real character strictly out of antics without saying a word (although now you can get a CD of him narrating “Peter and the Wolf,” which is a delight.

Kathy: Did you have a specific inspiration for your series?

EJC: My father owned a paint store for 40 years. That was inspiration enough.

Kathy: What made you decide to publish your work?

EJC: Going door-to-door and reading it to people seemed time consuming and would involve a lot of walking.

Kathy: If you could have a dinner party and invite 4 authors, living or dead, in any genre, who would you invite?

EJC: Oh, wow. Irwin Shaw, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Lisa Lutz and Robert B. Parker. Should be an interesting dinner.

Kathy: What are you currently reading?

EJC: I’m rereading A CATSKILL EAGLE in the Spenser series. Because Parker could really keep a story moving forward, and I want to have some of that.

Kathy: Will you share any of your hobbies or interests with us?

EJC: I like watching baseball. Other sports bore me to tears. I play acoustic guitar very badly, and I do far too many crossword puzzles.
 

Kathy: Name 4 items you always have in your fridge or pantry.

EJC: Pretzel nuggets, ground beef (you can do so many things with it), caffeine-free Diet Coke because I like beverages that don’t have anything in them, and dark chocolate-covered almonds. My wife has stuff like green beans and lettuce.

Kathy: Do you have plans for future books either in your current series or a new series?

EJC: Next year will see the third Haunted Paint Store novel, HOW TO KILL A GHOST, and after that, we’ll see.

Kathy: What's your favorite thing about being an author?

EJC: Readers. 

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Review 

WHERE THERE'S SMOKE... by E. J. Copperman
The Second Haunted Paint Shop Mystery 

 

Books have always been important to Laura Meehan and libraries a safe haven. That's why, after moving back to her hometown and taking over her father's paint store, she volunteers at the local library one night a week. The day after Laura learns that someone is threatening the librarians, accusing them of giving pornography to children, someone sets a fire in the children and young adult section of the library. Fortunately the library was closed at the time so no one was hurt. Unfortunately, Evelyn, the head librarian, was seen walking away from the library early that morning and no one has seen her since. While she might not consider Evelyn a good friend, Laura admires her and intends to find her, especially when the arson investigator seems to think that Evelyn set the fire herself!. With the help of her tech savvy husband and the ghost of her father, a former police detective, Laura will set out, not only to find Evelyn, but prove her innocence.

 

Although this is the second book in the Haunted Paint Store Mystery series, it is my first entry and I had no problem jumping in as it works perfectly as a stand alone mystery. That being said I would have enjoyed seeing how things began, and how her semi adversarial relationship with Detective Watson started. There's tons of snark, but behind everything is a finely drawn mystery with a happily married couple at its center. I like how Laura isn't sure if her dad is really a ghost or a figment of her imagination, and I appreciate her seeing a therapist.

 

I am pleased that WHERE THERE'S SMOKE...tackled the issue of book banning and the scary fact that librarians are being threatened by self righteous bigots for doing their job. If you don't like a book, don't read it. Libraries and their books are for everyone and everyone should be safe there. And don't tell me what I can and can't read.

 

With suspicious behavior, some twists and turns, and more than a few chuckles WHERE THERE'S SMOKE... is an inventive and finely crafted mystery.

 

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 Where There's Smoke . . . (A Haunted Paint Store Mystery) by E.J. Copperman

About Where There's Smoke . . .

Where There's Smoke . . . (A Haunted Paint Store Mystery)
Paranormal Cozy Mystery 
Setting - New Jersey 
Publisher: ‎ Severn House 
Publication Date: ‎ August 4, 2026 
Print Length: ‎ 256 pages

Paint store owner Laura Meehan must prove her amateur sleuthing skills (again!) when her small town’s public library starts burning in this installment of the Haunted Paint Store cozy mystery series.

Don’t mess with a paint store owner’s safe haven! Laura Meehan has her hands full with her paint store, but also with another case (that she will definitely leave to the police to solve)! The Sea Breeze Public Library is burning and it’s clear from the beginning that it must be arson. Who would want to burn a library down and why? Was it a group of moms protesting what they see as inappropriate book content? Maybe it was someone who didn’t like a title they lent? Or is there something more alarming going on? As a library volunteer, Laura simply has to find out, and together with her IT-savvy husband Roy and her ex-detective father’s ghost (real or imagined still yet to be determined), she stumbles upon a lot of obstacles on her quest to find the truth—and maybe even an arsonist who might strike again! A light-hearted cozy mystery with a paranormal twist and Copperman’s signature wit, humor, and zaniness. Perfect for fans of Copperman’s Haunted Guesthouse Mysteries and Cleo Coyle’s Haunted Bookshop Mysteries, as well as funny and cozy mysteries by Janet Evanovich, Elle Cosimano, and Amanda Flower.

About E.J. Copperman

E.J. Copperman is a figment of someone’s imagination. Sometimes E.J. writes as Jeff Cohen. Where There’s Smoke is his 36th published mystery. But he says he doesn’t write mysteries; he writes comedies that have a mystery in them. It’s up to you to decide if that’s true.

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Giveaway 

Where There's Smoke . . . (A Haunted Paint Store Mystery) by E.J. Copperman   https://kingsumo.com/g/1ypdqy1/where-theres-smoke-a-haunted-paint-store-mystery-by-ej-copperman