Written Off

April 18, 2016
A fictional character comes to life in this entertaining series launch from Copperman (Ghost in the Wind). Novelist Rachel Goldman is starting revisions on her fifth mystery featuring Duffy Madison, consultant to a New Jersey prosecutor’s office, when she receives a call from a man claiming to be Duffy Madison, consultant to a different New Jersey prosecutor’s office. He insists he’s never read Rachel’s books, but Duffy talks, thinks, and acts just like the character and claims to have no memories predating the publication of Rachel’s first book. His call raises more urgent concerns than his sanity, however. A mystery novelist of Rachel’s acquaintance has been reported missing, and the police believe her disappearance is linked to the murders of three other writers. Rachel’s funny, self-deprecating voice effectively carries the implausible premise, and insights into a writer’s daily life add verisimilitude. Likable supporting characters and the continuing mystery of Duffy’s existence should hook readers who can overlook significant plot gaps and a far-fetched resolution.

April 1, 2016
A mystery writer is flummoxed by a hero who just doesn't know his place.Rachel Goldman hates to revise. But when her agent, Adam Resnick, dangles a possible movie deal in front of her, she forces herself in front of the computer screen to whip her latest Duffy Madison manuscript into shape--until she gets a call from someone claiming that he's Duffy Madison, and he needs her help finding fellow writer Julia Bledsoe, known to her fans as Sunny Maugham. Although she's convinced the caller is a whack job, Rachel somehow ends up in his car, driving first to Sunny's beach house in Ocean Grove and later to Sunny's tasteful Saddle River home. Sunny is only the latest in a string of vanished mystery writers, and pretty soon Rachel gets emails suggesting that she may be next. Duffy calls in Ben Preston, investigator with the Bergen County prosecutor's office, the guy who hires real-life Duffy to help him solve cases. (In Rachel's books, Duffy works with Lt. Isabel Antonio of Morris County). Ben is helpful up to a point; then things get sticky. He asks Rachel out on a date. FBI Special Agent Eunice Rafferty takes the case out of Bergen County's hands. Producer Glenn Waterman of Beverly Hills Productions asks Rachel to take a meeting. All the while Duffy, who continues to claim he's a creation of her pen, tries to protect Rachel from danger while leaning on her for help. Despite its quirky premise, this new series debut from Copperman (The Question of the Unfamiliar Husband, 2015, etc.) doesn't make its fictional/real-life hero compelling enough to warrant the double dose he offers the reader.

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Starred review from June 1, 2016

Rachel Goldman writes midlist mysteries featuring Duffy Madison, a consultant with a county prosector's office. Therefore, she is a trifle perturbed when someone named Duffy Madison shows up at her book signing. Turns out he is a consultant with the Bergen County prosecutor's office, and he wants Rachel to help him find Sunny Maugham, a missing writer who had helped kick-start Rachel's career. However, it soon becomes clear that Rachel could be the next victim of the "author assassin." VERDICT Copperman, the pseudonym of crime writer Jeffrey Cohen and author of the "Haunted Guesthouse" mysteries, sets up an intriguing premise for his new series: Just who is Duffy Madison? The second book promises to investigate that very issue. Lots of fun.

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