This time around, I found the paranormal aspect of Fran and Ken’s origins less jarring. Probably because I was already aware of this development, but also because Fran demonstrates her own angst about the situation more effectively, this time around. There is an overarching plot thread whereby we’re aware that Fran and Ken’s parents have had to go to ground as they’re in significant danger. But Fran has been in contact with her mother, without telling Ken.

I also enjoyed the overall story. Copperman’s very good at providing twisty plots and this one is a doozy. I was completely blindsided when I discovered whodunit – and while Fran and Ken are both large and supernaturally strong, Copperman also provided circumstances to neutralise these advantages. I liked Ken and Fran’s relationship in this story. While there is the occasional sibling rivalry, there is also a strong sense of affection between brother and sister than never lapses into sentimentality – which I very much appreciated.

That didn’t stop the dialogue throughout – even during some of the tenser situations – being nicely snarky and at times very funny. I laughed aloud more than once, despite the fact that the book is dealing with some hefty issues. As for the ongoing relationship with Mank – Fran’s sense of hurt at his reaction to discovering what makes her different felt realistic. I liked the fact that she didn’t merely shrug off his startled reaction and it did make their ongoing professional encounters genuinely funny. All in all, this is a cracking read that had me turning pages later into the night than I should have to find out what happened next. Highly recommended for fans of murder mysteries who prefer their whodunits not to be dripping with gore, or too bleakly gritty. While I obtained an arc of Same Difference from the publishers via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
8/10

Same Difference: A Fran and Ken Stein Mystery
By E.J. Copperman
Severn House
July 2024

Review by Cynthia Chow

Fran and her brother Ken Stein are New York private detectives specializing in connecting adoptees with their parents, but this time they are being hired to find the missing daughter of former magazine editor Brian Hennessey. Even though it’s only been five days since the 19-year-old has been missing, four months ago Eliza gave her father the news that she was trans and apparently it did not go well. While Brian has been doing his best to be supportive, using the correct pronouns and not her deadname, he now worries that her disappearance is due to their continued strained relationship. Having felt Othered themselves, Fran and Ken agree to take on the case and begin their investigation at the registrar’s office of New Amsterdam University. While the administration understandably does not respect the authority of a private investigator, another student “helpfully” calls Fran over offering to help. The P.I. is dubious about Laura’s motives and vague helpfulness, something Fran is right to question when the lead results in NYPD Detective Richard ”Mank” Mankiewicz landing on her doorstep. It seems that Eliza wasn’t the only student to go missing, and now one of her few friends has just been found dead.

Being over six-feet tall makes Fran easy to identify, which is why her inquiries at New Amsterdam have Mank curious about why she was there in the first place. Fran herself is interested in knowing why this is the first she’s heard from Mank since giving her maybe-boyfriend the news that she and her brother are not your average sibling investigators. The offspring of two brilliant scientists, Fran and Ken Stein (very punny) were literally created in a lab and require frequent USB-port charging to stay awake. Extremely tall and very strong, the siblings have been hiding from those interested in their missing parents and their extraordinary experiments. Mank handled the news by ghosting Fran, which is why she relates all too well to Eliza’s somewhat similar situation and is so willing to take up the case. That’s going to be a bit challenging considering that Eliza herself is a bundle of resentment and prickly emotions, ready to take offense at the rejection she expects. Keeping Eliza around proves to be as difficult as tracking her down in the first place, and when she goes missing yet again Fran worries that this time it might be permanent.

For anyone who has ever felt as though they were different from what they were expected to be, this is the book for them. While Ken seems to more easily move through life by flirting his way through brief relationships and using his strength when needed, Fran finds acceptance more difficult to find and is why Mank’s apparent rejection of her hurts so much. The teasing and insults by Mank’s misogynistic and very rude NYPD partner certainly don’t help, but being able to lift the man over her head does prove to be rather satisfying. The science-fiction side of the story takes a backseat to the more practical private investigation, with Fran and Ken tracking down student romances and possible college crimes. Fran also continues to hold the secret that she has been in communication with her missing mother, something she has yet to disclose to her more reactive and emotional brother. Fran’s sharp sense of humor, along with the genuinely heartwarming movements, are trademarks of the author’s works who writes a plethora of series under numerous names. Jeffrey Cohen/E.J. Copperman continues to craft some of the most original novels that tackle timely topics with loads of witty humor, all the while providing thoughtful and rational insights.

Being a big fan of the author’s Haunted Guesthouse series, I was excited to read this book and was certainly not disappointed! . It’s very unique, in a good way, but hard to categorize. Part sci fi, part cozy mystery but also with a strong thread of deliciously dry humour. it’s wonderfully offbeat, with a chaotic, complicated plot and very likeable characters. Lots of fun!

Same Difference is the second book in E.J. Copperman’s Fran & Ken Stein Mystery series. Unlike some second books, this one doesn’t suffer too much from the dreaded sophomore slump. For the most part, the story, characters, and plot are fresh and interesting and the humor is subtle and well-timed.

This series is unusual because it combines a couple of elements that aren’t paired with each other very often in a contemporary setting. Obviously, it’s a mystery. It involves siblings who are private detectives that specialize in helping adoptees find their biological parents. But, it’s also a bit of science fiction (or maybe a little more than a bit). Fran and Ken were “created” by their parents when they realized that natural conception wasn’t possible. As a result, the siblings have to re-charge periodically via a USB port positioned under their arm. In addition, they are both quite tall. Okay, really tall and they possess super-human strength. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, considering their chosen line of work, and it does provide some interesting situations.

All in all I liked Same Difference, although it seems like there are too many references to Fran’s height, Ken’s effect on women, and just how strong they both are. So, I waffled between ratings just about every other page. In the end, I would give this book 3.5 stars but bump it up to 4. NetGalley provided an advance copy.

I requested a review copy of E. J. Copperman's Same Difference when I learned a key character is transgendered. There's been some very interesting recent mystery fiction with such characters, and it's heartening to see the community being normalized—at least in the sense of being perceived as an existing presence in our current world. The book was less trans-focused than I'd hoped. The trans character has gone missing, so we don't meet her until the story is well underway.

What I wasn't expecting when I requested a review copy of this title was the detective team looking for the woman who has disappeared: Fran and Ken Stein. There's a whole lot of back story in this regard, which Copperman offers adeptly, but the novel feels rather like a high-sugar layer cake with one too many layers. Fran and Ken were created in a lab by their scientist parents who were unable to conceive and who are now on the run because of interest in the technology they've developed. On the one hand, Fran and Ken are pretty normal—but they possess unusual physical strength and have to recharge themselves by electrical socket on a regular basis. And Fran is currently distanced from her boyfriend as a result of her choice to explain to him the whole I'm-a-person-who-plugs-into-the-wall-for-recharging thing.

So we have a (cozy) mystery novel that could also be classified as both humor and science fiction and which isn't a good match for my particular reading tastes. I did finish the book and enjoyed it, but I don't know whether I'll be reading other volumes in the series.

If you like mysteries with unusual characters and a fair bit of humor to accompany the mystery, you should find this title—and other titles in the series—a treat. I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.

Two ratings. One for returning readers of the series, and one for those who are new.

Returning readers: 2 stars
New readers: 3 stars

Same Difference is a very apt title because this book reads entirely like the first (Ukulele of Death). Same story, essentially. Returning readers may be disappointed by the lack of newness in this sequel.

Once again, Fran and Ken Stein (yes, Frankenstein) are working on an “unusual client.” Once again, this is not a bread-and-butter client - that is, this client isn’t seeking their usual adoptive-parent-search service. Immediately, readers feel like they are reading the same book as the first.

Prepare to read more about how Fran is too large. Misogyny ensues, as usual.

More drama with the NYC cops. Again.

With so much repetitiveness from the first novel, I really couldn’t appreciate this story as much as I did the first.

I also struggled through the first in the series at times. The story moved along a bit too slowly, like it does here, and the main characters weren’t of as much interest as the missing parents were.

Regardless of which book you start with, you may enjoy this entry in the series if you can:

-suspend your disbelief and accept that the characters were made, not born, and need to be plugged in to get energy

-endure repetitive, slow-moving mysteries

-overlook other exciting books in your TBR for a quick read

So, while this isn’t a terrible book by any means, it was very lackluster for me, the return reader, and I was already a bit over the slow-burn mystery from the first book.

Thank you to E.J. Copperman, Severn House, and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

Same Difference is the second book in the Fran & Ken Stein Mystery series by E.J. Copperman. Brian Hennessey is finding it hard to deal with his now-daughter Eliza’s coming out as transgender, but he’s really trying. That’s why he doesn’t believe she left to get away from him; he’s sure she’s missing involuntarily, and he wants K&F Stein Investigations to find her.

As Brian has few details about Eliza’s friends, Fran Stein’s first stop is New Amsterdam University in Manhattan, where classmate Laura Rapinoe points her to a friend, Damian van Dorn. Fran’s interest in Damian‘s activities leads to an uncomfortable encounter with Detective Rechard Mankiewicz, who informs her that Damian, too, is missing.

Her budding relationship with Mank hit a major roadblock after Fran revealed her unusual origins, and he reacted poorly. After being ghosted by him, Fran isn’t yet open to his attempted apologies, but when she needs a favour, does it present him a chance to make good?

Hoping that finding Damian might lead her to Eliza, Fran follows up leads but eventually finds herself on the wrong side of some other NYPD cops, and wonders if she can trust Mank at all.

Meanwhile, Ken is receiving communications from someone calling himself Malcolm X. Mitchell, who claims to know where their parents are: is it genuine, or is it someone trying to trap them into giving away some detail about Brand and Livvie?

When Fran becomes a fugitive from the NYPD, there’s a situation where she has to scale a building, twice, once with a passenger, something a lesser woman might find difficult; a night is spent in an unfinished, unfurnished, unplumbed, unpowered building with only basic food supplies.

Luckily, her resourceful brother comes up with a clever way for her to charge up when she’s running low; phone and internet being traceable, they resort to paper messages left at drop-off points, all very eighties spy movie stuff. New York Public Library comes in very handy, and at an ice cream shop, Fran uses a novel method of distracting a phalanx of police on her tail, annoyed about not finishing her cone more than anything else.

This instalment could be read stand-alone as there is some recap about the characters and not too many spoilers, but why deny yourself the pleasure of reading Ukulele Of Death first? It has a few twists and surprises, gives some added background to the main characters, promises a bit more between Mank and Fran, has a denouement that involves quite a few guns but doesn’t add to the body count, and leaves plenty of scope for more of this engaging cast.

Likely due to her atypical origins Fran’s unique perspective on life means that her narrative is full of original observations and witty asides. This is such a fun read that one can overlook the occasional plot hole, and hope that E J Copperman is hard at work on #3. Very entertaining.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Severn House.

There are several things a reader can expect when they pick up an E.J. Copperman book – tight plot, humor, great characters. Also expected, in each series, written as either Jeff Cohen or Copperman: a high concept premise. This series is no exception to that rule. The protagonists, brother and sister Fran and Ken Stein (you get the word play), were not born, exactly, but created by their scientist parents who gave them a little extra something. For the purposes of the story, Fran and Ken have a teeny super hero thing going on – both are remarkably tall and remarkably strong. The downside: they have to plug into a charger every couple of days to keep going. There’s a USB port under their arms.

This part of the story, to me, was almost extraneous – the story itself was excellent and to me, needed no embellishment. Fran and Ken could just have been tall and extra strong. Being Copperman, however, there’s an extra layer here, one of emotion: Fran and Ken haven’t seen their parents since they were children, and they’re hoping to find them. All signs point to that being the plot of the next book. The sense of loss is lightly touched on but it’s there, and beautifully handled.

All that aside, this is a wonderful mystery, complicated and funny. It reminds the reader of Donald Westlake at his best. The set up: a worried Dad comes to Fran (she and her brother own a private eye firm specializing in reuniting adopted children with their birth parents) telling her his daughter has vanished. She’d recently come out to her Dad as trans and he’s clearly struggling with it, but not to the point of rejecting his now daughter, who he obviously loves. This kind of welcome thread grounds this book very much in the present.

Fran’s investigation takes her to the young woman’s college where she tries to track down any friends she may have had, and Fran luckily stumbles into one online at the registrar’s office. The registrar was completely useless as far as Fran is concerned but the young woman is not, and she gives Fran her first lead.

Much of Fran’s investigation seems like something maybe anyone could think of doing, and she does discover a body in the course of her investigation. The other hiccup in her life is the fact that she was dating a cop, but when she told him about her reality (the need for plugging in, created, not born), he did a runner. The two now find themselves more or less working together as Fran tries to locate the missing girl as well as discover a murderer. This development has all the charm and humor you might expect from Copperman.

While there’s some old fashioned story telling bits which could have come right from Westlake – a small time criminal calling himself Jules, for instance – the contemporary timeliness of a trans character, the use of cell phones and social media, place this novel squarely in the present. It’s a nice mash up of tropes, past and present. And it’s insanely entertaining. The pages turned faster than I planned and I was left feeling bereft, already missing Fran Stein and looking forward to more from E.J. Copperman.

I missed the first book but this was fine as a standalone in which siblings Fran and Ken go looking for 19 year old Eliza, who doesn't seem to want to be found. She recently came out to her father, who is very concerned but there are some issues with him (no spoilers). How does Eliza's disappearance hook into a case on the desk of Mank, Fran's NYPD ex? Hah! Part of this involves the back story of the siblings (I admit this had me a tad confused at first), Regardless, I liked Fran's voice and it's a good read. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. I'm looking forward to more with this pair,

One of the more “out there” cozy mysteries I’ve read, but in a good way. Wish more of them were open to the absurd humor found here

This was such a unique and interesting story, and was really well-executed. I messed this up and didn't realize it was part two in the series, so now I'm off to read the first one!

Second book in the series. Can be read as a stand alone but book one wll provide interesting information
about the brother and sister and their parents.
Fran and Ken are hired to find a missing 19 year old transwoman Eliza by her father. Meanwhile,
Detective Mankkiwicz also has a missing person case - the subject happens to be Eliza's friend.
Fran's and Mank's relationship is in question since she revealed her origin. When the friend is
found murdered, the question is why and is Eliza in danger. Side story involves the whereabouts of
their scientist parents. The twisty murder plot keeps one engaged in the story.
#SameDifference #SevernHouse #NetGalley

Same Difference by E.J. Copperman covers another case for the Steins, Fran and Ken. The brother and sister solve another case of missing persons, murder and drug dealing while navigating how much to tell people about their beginnings. While trying to find a missing person the duo end up with a dead body and multiple mysteries while being chased around New York. As always, this is a fun read with a lot of NY locations to add to the fun and confusing and confused people running all over.

The author knows how to tell a story with visually descriptive narrative, engaging dialogue, and a backdrop of New York City. It was fun to recognize the locations in the story, even when hiding under a different name. Speaking of hiding, that is what the person responsible for all this chaos in the story is, in plain sight. The writing style is easy to follow along, the tone was comfortable, and the mystery was nicely staged to keep me in the game. I also enjoyed it when Fran stepped out of the page to talk to us, bonus in my eyes. There were a few strategically placed twists that enhanced my reading pleasure, and the pacing was on par with how well this story was being told. I really like this series. Fran and Ken are special, and that uniqueness helps them in their private investigation business. Overall, a terrific read and I can’t wait to see where we go next with this crime fighting duo. I do love Mank.

This is the second book in the Fran and Ken Stein series. They are sister and brother and are private investigators in New York. This time they are looking for a missing person. Eliza who has recently come out to her father as trans is missing and her father is very worried. This is not something that Fran would normally deal with but aspects of the case/story intrigue her. For those who didn't read the first book please do or you will miss out on Fran and Ken's back story. It's fair to say that they are both a little unusual and not simply that they are much taller than most people. Have a USB port for recharging is "interesting"… They have a back story as far as their parents are concerned and that forms a small part of this story.

While Fran has fallen out with her NYPD (boy)friend from the last book they are managing to be civilised initially when they find they are both interested in aspects of this case. The book follows the twists and turns of the case as well as their personal lives. As someone from the other side of the pond I have to say that this is very New York to me, maybe it felt more so than the last one. However I did find it an easy and entertaining reading.

I found the first book entertaining and amusing and could say the same about this one. I really like Fran as a character - her introspective dialogues can be very funny. I guess the story is not particularly deep but it was satisfying enough. The pace is decent and the characters generally work well for me. These are fairly lightweight stories however there's nothing wrong with that and sometimes they fit in really well. I'm sure I will keep reading any future offerings in this series.

Note this book is the second in a series. It can be read stand alone, though, as all important characters and events are described within this book.

Overall, I thought this was a fun book. Investigator Fran Stein has a unique narrative voice and concept, and I enjoyed following the case with her. In particular, I enjoyed how the investigation highlighted how different finding a missing person is contemporary times, as well as hard it can be (in some ways) to purposefully disappear if someone is tracking your movements. The primary case overall centers around finding, and then protecting, a missing 19-year old transwoman, and the book did a pretty good job of tackling some concerns of such an individual.

That said, I found Stein's investigation of her on-the-run parents pretty distracting. Maybe I would feel differently if I read the first book, but I would have enjoyed more focus on just the case at hand in this one.

I think this is a good book for a little light reading, especially if you like a mix of sci-fi (soft), science conspiracies, and mystery. For those who are squeamish, there is a description of a murder, but it's not overly gory.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Same Difference.

I read the first book, Ukulele of Death, in the series and though there were parts I liked, overall, the story didn't appeal to me as much as I had hoped.

But I was willing to give the second book a try because I liked the original premise and Fran and Ken Stein.

Sadly, the sequel didn't overwhelm me and only reminded me of what I didn't like about the first book:

The narrative drags and the mystery is neither interesting or compelling.

The unusual origins of Fran and Ken is repeated ad nauseam; how large and in charge they are, how most men are uncomfortable with how much taller Fran is, how their brute strength basically lets them barrel through anyone and anything.

To add to the repetition; we get reminders about Ken continually mooning over the secretary who works for them, how Mank freaked out when Fran told him the truth about her, how cops are sexist, misogynistic a**holes.

Not surprisingly, Fran and Ken's parents are the most interesting characters and they're in hiding.

Not sure if I'll check out the third book, unless the parents finally make an appearance.