Not in My Backyard

E.J. Pugh #6

by Susan Rogers Cooper

The neighborhood harassment campaign against an ex-con who has moved to town gets out of hand when a dead body turns up on the newcomer's front lawn, and local romance writer E. J. Pugh is on the case. Original.

Genres: Mystery

242 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published November 1, 1999

About the author

Susan Rogers Cooper is an American mystery novelist. A self-proclaimed "half fifth generation Texan; half Yankee", she sets her novels in Texas (the E.J. Pugh and Kimmey Kruse novels) and in Oklahoma (the Sheriff Milt Kovak novels). She is currently living in Central Texas, coming up with fresh new ways to get her characters into trouble.

Reviews

[Gail · Rating 3 out of 5]

The likeable Texan-nosy-romance-writer-Suburban E.J. Pugh is not thrilled to have a convicted sex offender move into her neighborhood, but her liberal sense of justice and fairness are also violated as the neighbors picket and harrass the man and his wife and small child. When her daughter befriends the little boy, E.J. becomes ashamed of her neighbors' behavior.

When the man is murdered and everyone assumes it was "the wife" she begins to ask question. E.J. is also fueled by anxiety as she confronts a serious health issue. In the end the murderer is exposed and life settles down to its usual chaos.

Moving back and forth between the victim's journal and E.J.'s narrative gives an interesting perspective and a good lens on the moral conflict E.J. faces. As always, these books makes 'ripped from the headlines' events ordinary and horrifying at the same time. Her wry sense of humor is fun and funny making this a very readable book.

[JoAnne McMaster (Any Good Book) · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not believable. I tried to get through this, I really did. But the premise was a pedophile moving into the Pughs' neighborhood. In itself, maybe. But the man also has a nine-year-old son. And there doesn't seem to be a problem with the child living with him. I don't care that he molested girls, he would also have been told to stay away from his son. AND he wouldn't be allowed within several feet of other children, yet he knowingly goes to the Pughs' home to pick up his son, and they have three children of their own. I guess in small Texas towns pedophiles can go anywhere they want and be around anyone's children, but not where I live and I certainly don't believe that it would be allowed in real life, either. I just couldn't finish this book.