Full Circle

E.J. Pugh #9

by Susan Rogers Cooper

The new E.J. Pugh murder mystery - Someone is stalking romance novelist E.J. Pugh’s fourteen-year-old adopted daughter, Bessie. The whole Pugh clan rallies round her to keep her safe – but Bessie has more problems than an average teenager. When she was a child, her entire family were murdered . . . so who is this person claiming to be her dead brother Aldon? And who seems to be willing to take out her entire new family to get to her? The Pugh family is taken back, full circle, to where the horror all began.

Genres: Mystery

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2011

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

[Jerry B · Rating 2 out of 5]

We're a long-time reader of Cooper, with "Circle" completing our booklist of hers to date. We tend to slightly prefer her 10-book Sheriff Milt Kovak series, to this, her 9-book set featuring E.J. Pugh, romance writer turned amateur sleuth. The central tale herein is that daughter Elizabeth (aka Bessie) is being hounded by a relatively dangerous but inept stalker, the matter turning deadly serious after a murder and a kidnapping. Cooper chooses to meanwhile recount for us virtually the entire first book in the set, namely "One, Two, What Did Daddy Do?", which explains how (adopted) Bessie came to the Pugh household to begin with, turning EJ into a mystery solver in the process. Cooper handles this in a series of flashbacks so prevalent that almost every single page of the book switches from either current time back to the setting of the first book, or to the first-person perspective of one of the other family members. Pugh's cop friend, and now neighbor, Luna, plays a major role in both time frames.

While the final outcome was suspenseful and satisfying, and totally justifies and explains the novel's title, we tired of the earlier story (having read that whole book) and were surprised how much of those details we recalled from over a decade ago. We tend to not like flashbacks either, so the switching around on almost every page or two eventually wore us out. In our opinion, this might have been better as a novella half this (210-page) size, with perhaps at most a detailed prologue recalling the earlier case. We note that Cooper, now a Texan, has resorted to publishing out of Great Britain; we hope the next book out is more worthy for fear her career is in some jeopardy.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

You guys all know I love Susan Rogers Cooper. And, I probably like E.J. even better than Milt, but, hey, enough!

To totally get this book, and the preceding one (ROMANCED TO DEATH), you have to be familiar with the contents of maybe my all time favorite Cooper, ONE TWO WHAT DID DADDY DO? which involves a family slaying next door. E.J. can't believe their friend really did such a thing, even though all the evidence indicates that he did.

It is now ten years later, and all that is in the past, except that someone has come after E.J.'s adopted daughter claiming to be the brother who was killed with the rest of the family.

So, this book is told with numerous excerpts from the two previous books on this situation. I've read the other two books. All those excerpts keep this book capable of being read as a stand-alone, and keep up the suspense, but, I really don't want to see it again.

It's still not at all bad, though. Anyone who hasn't read the other two will appreciate the information.

[Jackie Harrison-jewell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have to admit, I generally don't like it when I have a fav character and then the author stops writing that one to write a new series. But Susan Rogers Cooper is the exception that proves the rule. Love her Milt Kovak series but EJ Pugh is right up there. Only one thing about Full Circle less than thrills me. I don't mind serving up some leftovers from a favorite meal, but for real fans you only have to hint at the story, not recycle whole pages.

[Kirsten · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I love Susan Roger Cooper, and I enjoyed this book, it felt more like a novella that she padded with previous material.
I'm a pretty saavy reader and don't get confused by books often, but the constant switching in time period and narrator almsot made my head spin at times. Sometimes I would just read on, giving up on remembering which timeline a particular portion referred to.

I've been much happier with her Milk Kovak series, which still feels fresh.

[Doreen]

Really enjoyed.