Third volume -- the first I've read -- in the Aaron Tucker mystery series.
Aaron is a freelance writer in suburban New Jersey, juggling the challenges of writing and family. Family is a bit trickier than usual because Aaron's 12-year-old son Ethan has Asperger's Syndrome, a developmental disorder related to autism. It seems clear that educating the reader about the realities and challenges of AS is one of Cohen's aims in this series, and for the most part, he does a good job of integrating that material into the storytelling without doing too much lecturing.
In this volume, Aaron is called on by the head of the local AS support group to investigate a murder case in which another young man with AS is the principal suspect. Aaron and his friend are skeptical that Justin Fowler could have committed the crime; his Asperger's is severe enough that he doesn't really have the organizational skills to plan a murder, or strong enough emotional reactions to most people to have any motive.
Cohen's tone is light and breezy, and the jokes aren't always as funny as he thinks they are; you can hear the "ba-DUM-bum" after too many of the punchlines. The storyline in this installment strains credibility when Aaron decides to take Ethan along on his investigation, and shatters credibility entirely when Ethan turns out to be a crack investigator with a knack for asking precisely the right questions.
Still, the characters are appealing and the mystery is an interesting one. It's not a strong enough effort that I'll pick up other volumes in the series, but it was a moderately amusing diversion.
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