The Question of the Absentee Father

July 3, 2017
A letter written by Samuel Hoenig’s father, Reuben, who left the family when Samuel was four, to Samuel’s mother, Vivian, propels the action of Copperman and Cohen’s charming fourth Asperger’s mystery (after 2016’s The Question of the Felonious Friend). Vivian wants her now-grown autistic son, the proprietor of Questions Answered, to locate Reuben, but the only clue to his whereabouts is the letter’s smudged postmark, which points to Southern California. With his business associate, Ms. Washburn, in tow, Samuel leaves his comfortable, orderly life in Piscataway, N.J., where he knows exactly how long it takes to get from his home to the office and how many times he needs to circumnavigate the room to achieve good aerobic results, for L.A. There he has to drive a car, handle a gun, outwit some crooks, and try to rescue both his father and Ms. Washburn, about whom he has unfamiliar—and unbusinesslike—feelings. The reader has the satisfaction of getting a mystery, a romp, and a respectful treatment of a neuroatypical protagonist. Agent: Josh Getzler, Hannigan Salky Getzler Agency.