My Cousin Skinny

by E. J. Copperman, Andrea Emmes (Read by)

Overview

An uncomfortable weekend awaits LA family lawyer Sandy Moss when she makes her way to her hometown in New Jersey for the wedding of her cousin Stephanie, sweetly nicknamed Skinny. Uncomfortable, because Sandy is not really looking forward to seeing her family, but at least her boyfriend, Hollywood movie star Patrick McNabb, is by her side.

However, if Sandy thought a weekend with her criticizing mother and aggravating sister was bad, she definitely wasn't prepared for the rehearsal event at the wedding venue! When Skinny enters the room, all eyes are on her and her beautiful party dress . . . covered in blood, with a knife in her hand.

Skinny says she didn't do it. But with dozens of wedding guests witnessing her dramatic entrance, the question of who killed the corpse in the kitchen seems an easy one to answer—and an equally easy court case to lose.

Reluctantly agreeing to represent her cousin, Sandy sets to work. But how can she save Skinny when she's not at all sure she's innocent . . . and when Skinny seems oddly determined to put herself in jail?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798874882068
Publisher:	Tantor
Publication date:	09/24/2024
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 5.70(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

E. J. Copperman is the nom de plume for Jeff Cohen, writer of intentionally funny murder mysteries. As E. J., he is the author of the Haunted Guesthouse series, the Agent to the Paws series and the Jersey Girl Legal mysteries, as well as the Fran and Ken Stein mysteries. As Jeff, he is the author of the Double Feature and Aaron Tucker series; and he collaborates with himself on the Samuel Hoenig Asperger's mysteries.

A New Jersey native, E. J. worked as a newspaper reporter, teacher, magazine editor, and screenwriter, before his first book was published to critical acclaim in 2002. In his spare time, Jeff is an extremely amateur guitar player, a fan of Major League Baseball, a couch potato, and a crossword addict.

Audible bestselling, award-winning narrator Andrea Emmes was born in Hollywood, Florida, and grew up in both Tennessee and Rhode Island. She began her career in musical theater and went on to work in TV, film, and video games. A total "book nerd," she now enjoys narrating audiobooks at her home studio in San Jose, California.

Her wide range of character voices and dynamic, emotionally invested performances have reviewers and listeners alike commenting on how she effortlessly pulls listeners in, and has versatility and charisma.

Editorial Reviews

09/18/2023

Copperman’s witty fifth courtroom cozy narrated by attorney Sandy Moss (after 2022’s And Justice for Mall) sees the heroine hopping from L.A. to her hometown of Woodbridge, N.J. She’s headed east to attend the nuptials of her cousin Stephanie (aka “Skinny”) with her best friend, Angie, and actor fiancé, Patrick McNabb. Shortly after the trio arrives at the Woodbridge Elks Hall for the wedding rehearsal, a scream from the kitchen pierces the air. Stephanie emerges, clutching a knife and covered in blood. The police arrive and declare her fiancé’s best friend, Brandon Starkey, dead, and charge Stephanie with his murder. Sandy is bulldozed by her family into serving as Stephanie’s lawyer, which means she’ll have to face off against Richard Chapman, her smug ex-boyfriend who’s become the local prosecuting attorney. Despite a surplus of witnesses and a curious lack of cooperation from her cousin, Sandy is determined to find out what really happened to Brandon. Sandy’s wry narration (“She was moving to Oregon because... the people were very polite. We in Jersey don’t necessarily see that as a plus”) and a bevy of well-hidden clues make this sing. It’s pure cozy bliss. Agent: Josh Getzler, HG Literary. (Nov.)Correction: The author’s name was misspelled in an earlier version of this review.

Publishers Weekly

The case takes surprising turns, all described with humorous asides and encounters with characters who might be from The Sopranos

Booklist

The legal frame is well constructed, and the plot has plenty of curves

Booklist on And Justice for Mall

Sandy is a Jersey girl, a competent, tenacious, yet vulnerable heroine in a cast of vividly described characters and in a story with multiple plot twists that's enlivened with humor and set against the glittering backdrop of Hollywood

Booklist on Inherit the Shoes

10/01/2023

Copperman's follow-up to And Justice for Mall requires skillful legal maneuvers from a shrewd attorney dealing with an outrageous cast of characters. Los Angeles lawyer Sandy Moss flies home to New Jersey for a family wedding, dreading every minute that she'll have to spend with her extended family. She barely knows the bride-to-be, her cousin Stephanie, also known as Skinny. At the rehearsal dinner, Sandy wonders why Skinny is spending so long in the kitchen. Then Skinny emerges, screaming and covered in blood, with a knife in her hand. There's a corpse in the kitchen, but Skinny insists she didn't kill the person, and she wants Sandy to defend her. Sandy's whole life and work is in LA, but she can't refuse a request from family, so she juggles her LA cases with her cousin's hearings and trial in New Jersey, where the county prosecutor seems to have a vendetta against her. On top of all this, there's her flaky cousin. Skinny seems prepared to take outrageous plea deals, and it may take a miracle to get her off. VERDICT Readers who enjoy the humor in this legal mystery series will also appreciate the misdirection and twists that keep them guessing.—Lesa Holstine

Library Journal

2023-10-07
A family wedding becomes a crisis for a family lawyer.

Sandy Moss isn’t quite sure why she’s willing to leave her adopted home in Los Angeles to attend her cousin Stephanie’s New Jersey nuptials. Although Sandy’s an up-and-comer in the family law division of Seaton, Taylor, Evans, and Wentworth and in a serious relationship with TV star Patrick McNabb, a visit home is sure to be filled with invidious comparisons between Sandy and her older sister, Delia, a physician who’s actually married to boot. But although she’s prepared to brook her share of maternal disapproval, she’s not prepared for what she encounters at the rehearsal dinner: her cousin emerging from the kitchen, carrying a knife and covered in blood. Soon Stephanie, whom Sandy can’t help calling by her childhood nickname “Skinny,” is in the hoosegow, insisting that her cousin is the only person who can get her out of what seems like an impossible predicament. After explaining approximately a million times that she lives and works 3,000 miles away, of course Sandy capitulates, even after learning that opposing counsel is Richard Chapman, her slimy ex-boyfriend. What happens next is a slapstick version of Rashomon. Every witness gives a different account of the crime. Richard offers a ridiculous plea deal that Skinny inexplicably wants to accept. And Patrick gets a gig playing Lady Macbeth in an offbeat, off-Broadway production of “The Scottish Play.”

Copperman’s pace is nonstop and his timing impeccable. Let the mayhem continue.

Kirkus Reviews