by: E.J. Copperman
Series: Haunted Paint Store Mystery
Genre: Paranormal Cozy Mystery
Release Date: August 4, 2026
Publisher: Severn House Crime and Thriller
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.
A little nervous. I’m not used to being asked the questions. I seem to be the one who asks them most of the time.
I promise this will not be painful at all. Please introduce yourself to readers.
I am a very ordinary person, I want you to understand. I used to work as a paralegal, but when my father passed away, I decided to take over his paint store, partly as a tribute to him but also because I had spent a lot of time there when I was young, and that’s hard to let go of. If I’d known that I’d be seeing him every day despite his being dead, I might not have been so sentimental.
You know, that may not be so bad. Can you please tell us about some people we’ll meet in your story?
The most important person in my life is my husband, Roy. He works for a corporation I’d never heard of before and does things with computers that I completely don’t understand. But he’s funny. You’ll also hear about Det. Sgt. Hannibal Watson of the Sea Breeze Police Department, with whom I have an odd relationship where we don’t actually like each other but I do count on him for some police stuff.
And there’s my dad, who is still around despite being dead. I can’t explain it, either. He was a cop who quit to run a paint store and then died and left it to his daughter, who is me. Dad’s a lot of fun except when he’s driving me crazy. And I’m not sure if he’s real or just a projection from my own mind.
Which brings me to Abigail Proctor, Ph.D., my therapist. She’s trying to help me figure myself out. Good luck to you, Abby!
Tell me about a defining moment in your life.
Well, when I opened the store that first morning and found my deceased father in the store’s office, that certainly defined a lot. Abby the Analyst and I are trying to figure out what.
Tell me about your hometown that you’ve moved back to. What is it like?
Sea Breeze is a Jersey Shore town near Atlantic City. We live on the money we make during the summer, when tourists come by expecting to find Snooki. They don’t. The months just before and just after the season are when people do some redecorating and maintenance on their homes, and that’s where I come in with paint, wallpaper, and some hardware supplies. It's a living. Sort of.
Why do you feel the need to put on your sleuthing hat and investigate murders?
I don’t, and that’s the truth. I have no desire to meet people who commit crimes and put myself in danger. But I’m very loyal, and when something bad happens that offends me personally, like someone setting fire to the town’s public library, I can’t just sit on the sidelines.
What can readers expect from Where There’s Smoke...?
A story about being true to what you believe in. Nah. It’s about wanting to find the truth when it’s actually none of your business because it hits a little too close to home.
Lol. Laura, thank you so much for your time.
Thank you so much for inviting me! You were so kind, I didn’t have to be nervous at all!
See, I told you.
Purchase Where There’s Smoke… from:
(Affiliate Links Used)
The Haunted Paint Store Mystery Series:
Places to find E.J. Copperman:
You can follow the Where There’s Smoke… Blog Tour here.
No comments:
Post a Comment
STOP!
Comments that include links to other sites, or names including links WILL BE CONSIDERED SPAM AND DELETED.