Spotlight and Guest Post for Where There’s Smoke by E. J. Copperman

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
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Severn House
Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 4, 2026
Setting – New Jersey
Print length ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
Hardcover
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1448320445
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1448320448
Digital
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0H1RND6TL

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.

Guest Post

You’re So Humorous

E.J. Copperman

Two of my least favorite words are “humorous” and “cozy.”

Don’t get me wrong: I don’t have any animosity toward the subgenre “humorous cozies.” I just wish they’d call it something else.

Let’s take it step-by-step: First, the word “humorous.” That’s a word nobody uses in normal conversation, and it has a bland, watered-down quality that doesn’t exactly promise you a rollicking good time. It’s the comedy equivalent of “pleasant.”

“Humorous” is something you say to give the listener the idea that something won’t be incredibly depressing. It’s a baby aspirin when you have a migraine. It’s a bologna sandwich when you ordered chateaubriand. If, as the saying goes, playing to a tie is like kissing your sister, then “humorous” is like kissing a picture of your sister. Either way, not recommended.

Now we get to the word “cozy.” This has taken on a life of its own in the mystery end of publishing, and for the life of me I can’t figure out why. If two or three or your neighbors were murdered and you considered that “cozy,” you have some problems other than what hot dish to bring to the grieving family.

The only proper use of the word “cozy” should have some connection to being under a blanket in a very comfortable bed. Describing a murder mystery that way is like saying that World War II was “a rather large disagreement.”

And yet, what kind of books do I write? If you ask the publishing industry, they’re “humorous cozies.”

Be careful what you wish for.

I write these stories because graphic violence hits me in the stomach and I don’t wish to imagine it when I’m working. Because I would be too embarrassed to write detailed sex scenes. And, once again, because I’m not keen on the idea of writing something that will bring people’s mood down. There are enough authors who do that, and far better than I ever could.

The language thing I mostly adhere to, but I don’t really understand it. I know there are readers who will be offended with any four-letter word other than “book,” but I don’t really know how you can be a grown adult in today’s society and think that if a bookstore owner finds a dead body in the nonfiction section, she’s going to say, “Oh my goodness.” That’s just me, I guess.

In his monologue about the seven (at that time) words you couldn’t say on television, George Carlin said that there were no bad words. Bad thoughts and bad actions, certainly. But words are just words.

Except in a humorous cozy.

Again, it’s not the form that I have issues with, it’s those two words. Especially put together. I understand and endorse the need for mystery novels that don’t wallow in buckets of blood. I do get it that some people prefer to leave sexual descriptions out of the storyline, particularly when they appear to be completely gratuitous and included strictly to attract readers the book might not have reached otherwise. Like I said, I couldn’t write a decent such scene. The writers who are good at it should do so of course, but the designations of sub-genres helps the reader to know what they should expect to find. So the idea of a “humorous cozy” makes perfect sense to me. What we need, clearly, is an alternative name for these books.

For “humorous,” there’s an easy solution. The word “funny” is much more welcoming, more descriptive and overall better than what’s being used now. I don’t think there’s any other word I’d use to describe a story designed to elicit laughs or at least smiles. I’m always thinking about that when I’m writing. So “funny” it should be.

And yes, I do want to make you laugh. That’s really what got me into this business. I’m too chicken to ever try stand-up comedy and too bad an actor to try to perform, but I can write. For 20 years I tried my hand at writing screenplays with various degrees of no success. Then the next script idea wouldn’t cooperate, and it became my first novel. There have been 35 since. Hopefully they’ve made some people laugh.

As for “cozy,” that’s a little bit more complicated. It doesn’t really describe what the reader might expect to find between those covers. “Cozy” eliminates the concepts of jeopardy, suspense, high stakes, and tension, things that actually do belong in a murder mystery. So, what restores those things in another word, while at the same time signaling that the things current cozy readers don’t want will not be included in this book?

I’ve considered a number of possibilities while writing this post, and I’m not sure I’ve hit the bullseye just yet: “Puzzler,” “Stumper,” “Adventure,” “Universal” (to indicate anyone could read it without being offended), “Challenger.”

See what I mean? Nothing really rings the bell here. Maybe you have another idea, and if so, let’s hear it!

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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TOUR PARTICIPANTS

August 3 – Books1987 – SPOTLIGHT

August 3 – Novels Alive – REVIEW

August 4 – Jody’s Bookish Haven – SPOTLIGHT

August 4 – Sarandipity’s – CHARACTER GUEST POST

August 5 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW

August 5 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – AUTHOR GUEST POST

August 5 – Books, Ramblings, and Tea – SPOTLIGHT

August 6 – Socrates Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

August 6 – Read Your Writes Book Reviews – CHARACTER INTERVIEW

August 7 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW