Student Body

by Susan Rogers Cooper

Overview

Could Graham Pugh really be involved in a murder? E.J. Pugh finds herself back at her old university stomping ground, determined to prove her son is no killer . . .

Graham Pugh should be having a ball as a first-year student at the University of Texas in Austin. Unfortunately for him, his roommate, Bishop ‘Call Me Bish’ Alexander, is an arrogant asshole he can’t stand, to the point of dreaming of killing him in his sleep. Even more unfortunately for Graham, when he wakes up early one morning for a lecture, he finds that Bishop actually is dead on the floor.

With Graham the prime suspect, E.J., Willis and the girls race up to Austin immediately. Unsurprisingly, it just so happens that Bishop annoyed a lot of people on campus, not just Graham. But who killed him? E.J. is soon facing a desperate battle to prove her son’s innocence.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780727887115
Publisher:	Severn House
Publication date:	08/01/2017
Series:	An E.J. Pugh Mystery , #13
Edition description:	First World Publication
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.75(h) x (d)

About the Author

Susan Rogers Cooper is half-Texan, half-Yankee, and now lives with her family in a small town in central Texas. She is the author of the ‘E.J. Pugh’ series and the ‘Milt Kovak’ series, amongst other books.

Editorial Reviews

06/19/2017
Cooper’s exuberant 13th E.J. Pugh mystery (after 2015’s Dead to the World) takes the romance writer and amateur sleuth from her home territory of Black Cat Ridge, Tex., to Austin, where her son, Graham, a student at the University of Texas, is in trouble. After months of putting up with his irritating, bullying roommate Bishop Alexander, Graham awakes one morning to find Bishop dead on their dorm room floor. His first thought is to phone his mother. As he subsequently says, “I don’t need Mom right now, I need E.J. Pugh, the woman who finds out who did what. That’s who I need!” Handling the official murder investigation is Austin police detective Nate Champion, who’s distracted by his recent divorce and who sees E.J. only as the hysterical and bothersome mother of his prime suspect. Stymied and ignored, E.J. calls on homicide detective Elena Luna, her next-door neighbor, to sift through the vast array of suspects. Those looking for a fast-paced escape will be rewarded. Agent: Vicky Bijur, Vicky Bijur Literary Agency. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

"Humorous, fresh and full of eccentric characters, Cooper's latest entry in this popular series is another winner"

Booklist

"Humorous, fresh and full of eccentric characters, Cooper's latest entry in this popular series is another winner"

Booklist

2017-06-06
A romance writer and part-time sleuth has to work a case much too close to home.In a panicked phone call, her son, Graham, tells E.J. Pugh (Dead to the World, 2015, etc.) that his University of Texas roommate has been stabbed to death. Even worse, Graham's afraid he might be the stabber. Graham often dreamed of killing Bishop Alexander, who may have been the most obnoxious roommate ever, and when Graham wakes up to find the guy in a pool of blood, he can't believe he slept through a murder. E.J., her husband, Willis, and their three same-age (don't ask) teen daughters head for Austin. The police, in the form of Detective Champion, think Graham is their killer, especially after hearing a few stories about the roommates' verbal fights. But E.J. soon discovers that Graham is just the latest in a long line of people who hated Bishop, even though Gretchen Morley, the ex-girlfriend who keyed his car and sent him Ex-Lax brownies after he dumped her, cries crocodile tears and claims she loved him. E.J. calls on her neighbor and friend homicide detective Elena Luna, who knows Champion and agrees to come to Austin after Willis and the girls leave for home. Not content with the work of Graham's lawyer, E.J. urges Champion to use Luminol to prove Graham had no bloodstains on or near him. She's none too happy to learn that a bloodstain found on Graham's mattress was the result of a drunken night with a woman who becomes Graham's new squeeze and fierce defender. If it were not for the dead body, the whole mess would seem like a comedy of errors featuring a corpse who's apparently unmourned even by his wealthy mother. Lively and mysterious: above average for this brashly comic series.

Kirkus Reviews