Switcheroo is the third book in the Fran & Ken Stein Mystery series by E.J. Copperman. With their personal and professional experience, Fran and Ken Stein are well equipped to help adoptees search for their birth parents, as Austrin Cobb has asked. All he really wants, apart from perhaps significant medical information, is to know if they gave him up because he is autistic. But their search is hitting road blocks: the Friendly Family Adoption Service offers no clues at all, and Austin’s adoptive parents signed an NDA, so they can’t reveal what they know. What they do let slip, what Austin can remember, and what Fran can find out from sources in adoption and child services, eventually sends them to the New Jersey town of Kearny, a murdered woman who might have offered Austin up for adoption, and her husband, on the lam since the murder. Fran is a bit reluctant to ask Detective Rich Mankiewicz for help after their relationship misunderstanding, and when she does turn up at the precinct, to her dismay, the unlovely Detective Emil Bendix asks her out. Mank offers some useful advice, but is a bit chagrined that Fran seems to be using him for access to police resources more than anything else. Fran keeps getting phone calls warning her to stop looking into adoptions, basically K&F Stein Investigations raison d’etre. Also distracting them from the search is the bothersome, and possibly dangerous, Malcolm X. Mitchell, who is now insisting that he is their brother, and needs to connect with their parents. Not going to happen, and not just because Fran and Ken don’t know where they are. In this instalment, there’s a declaration of love; Fran is almost fooled by an AI phone call; each sibling is subject to inept kidnapping attempts and assaults by thugs who clearly underestimate their targets, leading to some very amusing fight scenes; trips to Atlantic City; a murderer is caught; and a very nasty money-making scheme is uncovered. Likely due to her atypical origins Fran’s unique perspective on life means that her narrative is full of original observations and witty asides. While this one can be read as stand-alone, to deny yourself the first two books in this series would be cruel. Once again, hugely entertaining, and more of this engaging cast will be most welcome. This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Severn House.

Fran’s latest client, Austin Cobb, is trying to track down his birth parents. While he has dim memories of his father teaching him to read using road signs – he was put up for adoption. And the unspoken question has to be – was he put up for adoption because of his autism? But when Fran learns of an unsolved murder that somehow is entangled in this increasingly complicated adoption case, all sorts of odd things begin to happen. For starters, Fran’s mother contacts her and frantically warns her against having anything to do with someone who turns up in the office, talking and acting like some Hollywood villain. Fran shares her concern with Ken, who I’ll be honest – I didn’t ever like very much. Much of the time, I got the sense that Fran didn’t like him much, either. They spend a lot of time snarking at each other – and while I understand all about sibling rivalry, it too often tipped into passive-aggressive nastiness for my taste. Fran is more relatable. This time around, we get to see more of her pain at having been brought up by her aunt, rather than her parents. I found some of the situations quite poignant, as the plot gets ever more labyrinthine. There is also Fran’s relationship with Mank, the detective she was formerly dating. I like her confidence in her own attraction, especially as a lot of the men she encounters don’t react or behave well to her being taller and stronger than they are. I thought Copperman successfully nailed that unpleasant dynamic, highlighting it without being preachy or heavy-handed. I was a bit startled when I heard the news that this is to be Fran and Ken’s last book – though on reflection, I’m not all that surprised. Somehow, the laugh-aloud humour I got used to enjoying throughout the Jersey Girl series is missing here. There were plenty of amusing moments, but just as many times when I felt the humour was either a tad forced or missed its mark. That said, I was caught up in the mystery and was keen to discover who did what to whom. I’ll be interested to see what this talented and quirky writer comes up with, next. While I obtained an arc of Switcheroo from the publishers via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own. 8/10