Funny As a Dead Relative

Kimmey Kruse #2

by Susan Rogers Cooper

As the story opens, comic Kimmey Kruse is summoned from a Pittsburgh gig by Me-Maw, her grandmother, because Paw-Paw, her grandfather, has broken his leg. Since Me-Maw banished him from her house years before ("You can't keep a house clean with a man in it, yeah.") and Kimmey's mother has gone off to the Antarctic with her professor husband, it is up to the comic to baby-sit the feisty old man. The picnic/family reunion that Me-Maw takes her granddaughter to turns out to have several memorable elements. There's the food, of considerable interest to ninety-pound Kimmey; there's her gorgeous cousin Willard, whom she's never known because Willard's mother, Letitia, and the female relatives have been feuding for ages; and then there's the death of Letitia, in her car, from a barrage of wasp stings. Two dead wasps in a jar in the dead woman's car convince Kimmey that Letitia was murdered; of course, no one believes her. Until the sexy and infuriating Chicago cop Kimmey met during her first murder case shows up uninvited to exasperate Kimmey and inflame her with desire. Eventually, she is proved right, but what's the good of that if the proof is being pursued by a killer at midnight along the top of a slippery sea wall?

Genres: Mystery

208 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Susan Rogers Cooper is an American mystery novelist. A self-proclaimed "half fifth generation Texan; half Yankee", she sets her novels in Texas (the E.J. Pugh and Kimmey Kruse novels) and in Oklahoma (the Sheriff Milt Kovak novels). She is currently living in Central Texas, coming up with fresh new ways to get her characters into trouble.

Reviews

[Hali Jacobs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kimmey Kruse is a comedian who finds out she has to travel to take care of her Paw Paw who has a cast on his leg because there are no other relatives who will. There are two murders and she decides from the beginning that her relative was murdered by someone placing wasps in her car as her aunt is very allergic. She is eventually proved right. This side of the family is cajun and which one of her relatives is guilty?

[Julie H. Ernstein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny as a Dead Relative has all the quirkiness of Joan Hess' Maggody series, but enjoys the linguistic and culinary charm of cross-Sabine River Cajun culture. Speaking from personal experience, the observations about the quality (or lack thereof) of the roads as one exits east Texas and enters Louisiana are spot-on. The mystery itself--that is, who dispatched Aunt Leticia and the ever-horny cousin Dorisca Judice--isn't all that tight, but the sheer lunacy of stand-up comic Kimmey Kruse's family is well worth the price of admission.

If Cajun country is uncharted territory for you, then you could do a whole lot worse than making its acquaintance via this book. Author Susan Rogers Cooper will gently pave the way for you and clearly feels your pain (if not linguistic confusion). Witness the following conversation between protagonist Kimmey Kruse and her Austin-based friend, Phoebe, who fields her calls while Kimmey is on tour: "'It seems,' Phoebe said, great disdain tainting her voice, 'that your, excuse the expression paw-paw has injured himself. He's in the hospital.'" (p. 3). And there's a Maw-Maw who goes along with that, an assortment of aunts, cousins (some even attempt to be "kissin' cousins)," as well as assorted outlaw relatives and well-intentioned buttinskis. At least Kimmey can hopefully fit them into one of her routines. What's our excuse?

[Jerry B · Rating 3 out of 5]

This, along with "Funny As A Dead Comic", comprise an early, two-book Cooper series about comedienne Kimmy Kruse. We can't say we've ever read stories about an amateur sleuth who was a stand-up comedienne in her "day" job (probably nights, actually!), and it could be Cooper just couldn't come up with enough supporting material to keep that character going. Her much longer running Sheriff Milt Kovak series and E.J Pugh romance writer/amateur sleuth series are probably more worthy of your attention. Moreover, these two Kruse novels are very difficult/expensive to locate. Cooper is an author we're fond of, but in retrospect, we wish we hadn't gona a long way out of our way to acquire (and dispense) with the two Kruse stories...

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aspiring stand-up comic Kimmey Kruse is guilted back to Port Arthur to take care of her grandfather, who's broken a leg. But that also puts her in the orbit of her grandmother (who kicked grandpa out years ago) and her other relatives, who have secrets that Kimmey doesn't know. When an estranged cousin dies at a family reunion, Kimmey is sure it's murder--which brings her love-hate significant other down from his police job in Chicago to try to keep Kimmey out of trouble. Some chance!

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a quick read and very entertaining. It has some language and situations but skimmed over them. Good mystery

[Mascanlon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny new entree by Susan Rogers Cooper.

[Toesnorth's mom]

Kruse mystery

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Neat mystery set in Texas Cajun country. Kimmey Kruse, stand up comic, goes to help her grandfather recover from broken leg.
Death by wasp at a family reunion.
Great characters.
Good.