Rating: 
Summary: non-stop humor
Review: A friend handed me Jeffrey Cohen's "For Whom the Minivan Rolls" and "A Farewell to Legs," telling me they were the sleeper mystery series of the year. I agree! These books are even more of an enjoyable read than Janet Evanovich's series because the humor never lets up! Cohen is a masterful writer. Bob Pailet, Denver
Rating:
Summary: non-stop humor
Review: A friend handed me Jeffrey Cohen's "For Whom the Minivan Rolls" and "A Farewell to Legs," telling me they were the sleeper mystery series of the year. I agree! These books are even more of an enjoyable read than Janet Evanovich's series because the humor never lets up! Cohen is a masterful writer. Bob Pailet, Denver
Rating:
Summary: Aaron Tucker begins in "For Whom The Minivan Rolls"
Review: Aaron Tucker didn't set out to be a private investigator. He had his hands full as a freelance writer, stay at home Dad, and spouse of the most beautiful woman in the world with amazing legs, Attorney Abigail Stein. His specialty, when not dealing with everything else, is writing newspaper and magazine features on electronics. But Gary Beckwirth wants him and a man like Gary Beckwirth always gets what he wants no matter what the little people say and think.
Gary Beckwirth's wife, Madlyn, is missing and he wants Aaron to investigate. After all, years ago for a short six months, Aaron was an investigative reporter. The fact that, as Aaron points out repeatedly, he failed miserably does not stop Gary Beckwirth's insistence that he and he alone investigate the strange middle of the night disappearance of Madlyn. He won't take no for an answer and suddenly, Aaron's editor at the local paper is willing to pay far above normal rates for an investigative piece on the disappearance for the paper. Aaron certainly can use the money and since he sees the consequences of continued outright refusal, takes the case. Afterall, this isn't what he normally does, he only has a week, and chances are he isn't going to find out anything.
That was the plan. While his sidewalk is vandalized with a vulgar obscenity directed at his young son and while he deals with the joys and travails of being a stay at home Dad, Aaron digs into an increasingly bizarre case. In so doing, he begins to get unwanted attention from the various wealthy and politically connected suspects as well as unknown parties. Stalking and threatening his family is unacceptable and Aaron, with an increasingly uncooperative client, won't stop until he finds out the real truth.
This is a good, strong mystery with a very funny backbone from start to finish. The travails and joys of being a stay at home Dad are detailed loud and clear and ring true with the experiences of someone who has been doing it for a very long time. That fact, along with numerous and often laugh out loud pop culture references make this fast read flat out funny.
That isn't to say that the only thing it has going for it is the humor. Far from it as the core of the book is a complex mystery that would make a certain talk show host proud as it winds and weaves through the interrelated passion triangles. The mystery is full of twisting complexity that didn't come clear until the final few pages. All in all this work is a very good, very well written novel from start to the finish in what promises to be a really good series.
Book Facts:
For Whom the Minivan Rolls: An Aaron Tucker Mystery
By Jeffrey Cohen
www.aarontucker.com
Bancroft Press
www.bancroftpress.com
2002
Hardback
ISBN # 1-890862-18-5
261 pages
$19.95
Kevin R. Tipple © 2005
Rating:
Summary: Aaron, the Amateur Detective, is a Wise and Witty Father
Review: Every child with a disability should have a father like Aaron. Not only is this book a clever mystery story, but it's a sensitive and informative portrait of a loving family dealing with the ups and downs of raising children, including a child with Aspberger's syndrome. As the wise-cracking Aaron pursues the mystery in this book with persistence and the support of his intelligent and logical wife, he is always there for his children. He rises to the challenge of being a stay-at-home dad with good humor and genuine affection for his precocious daughter and his demanding son. Aaron may be an amateur detective, but he's a great father. In a world of dysfunctional families, divorce, and neglected children, Aaron Tucker and his wonderful family are a breath of fresh air.
Rating:
Summary: Thanks for making the burbs real!
Review: I am a freelance writer in Maryland, mother of four, and avid reader.
I have been searching for a pleasurable reading life after Janet Evanovich and have finally found it in this Aaron Tucker series!
Yeah for me!
I love Cohen's writing style and how cool is it that he created such a great love interest IN THE main characters MONOGAMOUS relationship! I haven't felt this fond of a married couple since Macmillan and wife.
The Burbs he writes about are realistic - not some Hollywood idea of what the burbs are.
Write more, because when I start passing this novel around to friends and family to read they're going to become quite impatient for more (like me).
Rating:
Summary: Witty, warm and suspenseful
Review: I had a great time reading this book. As a fan of mysteries, it's a rare treat to find a funny one. Aaron Tucker is an unlikely hero -- a caring father trying to get by as a writer who uses both his wit and his wits to solve the crime. He comes across as so real, you may feel like you know him.
Rating:
Summary: A Minivan of Delight
Review: I have fallen hook, line and sinker for Jeffrey Cohen's hilarious new Aaron Tucker series. The inherent wackiness of suburban living is ripe for the parodying. Hypocrisy and pomposity are fair game, and Cohen doesn't disappoint. The thing I like best is that Jeff Cohen, (for all that Tucker is a happily married family man who lives in a ramshackle house in a New Jersey 'burb') doesn't bombard us with sticky sentimentality. Tucker's understandably wary view of life colors everything he thinks, feels and does. I love his brand of humor. Feeling his way, he guides us through a suburban odyssey filled with murder, mayhem and laughs. Aaron Tucker stay-at-home dad, magazine writer and freelancer extraordinnaire is one of those fictional characters that you never tire of hanging out with. Who wouldn't want him for a friend? That is the strength of Cohen's book. Tucker is, in a word, delightful.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable characters.
Review: I haven't even finished the book, but I already am enjoying Jeff Cohen's "leading man"! And when I read about his autistic son, I feel like I'm reading about my own home life! My son has Asperger's/PDD and everything the character describes about his son is right on the money! In fact, it made me feel better about my own kid's meltdowns, disappearing after school to the computer, picky eating, etc. He's living my life! And the fact that I'm as dry-humored as Aaron makes me settle right into this book as if it were written about my own family. Keep 'em coming, Jeff!
Rating:
Summary: 'Minivan' Is A Great Read
Review: Jeff Cohen's first book in the Aaron Tucker series is funny, poignant and suspenseful -- sometimes all at once. Anyone familiar with the Central New Jersey setting will enjoy the local references, both veiled and outright. It's a rare accomplishment for a mystery author to propel a story with laugh-out-loud humor the way Jeff does. I'm already looking forward to the next installment, 'A Farewell to Legs.'
Rating:
Summary: Not to be missed if you're a mystery fan.
Review: Jeffrey Cohen has a winner with Minivan. The debut book in a series can either make it or break it for a series character. After reading Minivan and meeting Aaron Tucker, wife Abigail Stein, and their two children, one can't help but wonder what future adventures lie ahead. Cohen's characters are thoroughly thought out, the plot proceeding with a...well, a delightful, smooth roll. And the mystery itself keeps the pages turning. Cheers to what is sure to be a popular series.
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