I quickly bonded with Laura. Copperman has the knack of depicting difficult and painful life events through the lens of a protagonist, who tends to deflect their pain through humour. It’s something a lot of us do. But it means that while still giving the subject sufficient emotional heft and respecting its seriousness – I also found myself grinning at Laura’s take on her predicament. I sympathised with her over the loss of her father – losing a parent can be devastating and she is clearly still grieving. To the extent that she’s reasonably convinced that she’s seeing her father’s ghost because she doesn’t want to let him go. I was also impressed at Copperman’s depiction of Laura’s therapist – they often get a bad rap in fiction and Laura’s sessions with her are often amusing, but also sensitive to Laura’s feelings of loss. I’m aware that you’re probably thinking this is a rather sad book buoyed by the occasional shafts of humour – when it’s nothing of the sort. Laura and her loyal, loving husband, Roy, are uprooting themselves and relocating to the hometown where Laura’s father settled to open a paint and wallpaper shop. They have a tightknit relationship I really appreciate. But then, one of the Laura’s most obnoxious customers is murdered in her store and from then on, she is increasingly drawn into the investigation – especially as she and her young assistant both come under suspicion. There are a pleasing number of suspects – Ernie isn’t a popular man – with plenty of plot twists and a nice ramping of tension near the end. The denouement and ultimate murderer makes complete sense – which isn’t always the case in cosy mysteries – leaving me finishing the book with a sigh of satisfaction. I thoroughly enjoyed this one – Copperman is back to his best form. And now I’m eagerly anticipating the next book – I want to see how Laura and Roy will settle into their new home. Highly recommended for fans of cosy whodunits set in small-town America. While I obtained a copy of All Spooked Up from the publishers via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own. 9/10

All Spooked up is the first in the Haunted Paint Store Mysteries by E. J. Copperman. Laura inherited her father's paint store when he passed away. She soon discovers that he is haunting the place, which comes in very useful in solving the murder of a customer who she finds dead one morning in her paint shaking machine. This is a very enjoyable, easy reading cosy mystery. There is a mix of lovable and not so loveable characters and a good splash of humour. Highly recommended. Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and author for letting me read a copy of this book in return for my honest review