Customer Reviews

Guilty Employers (A Cotton Mather Mystery)

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Guilty Employers is a truly enjoyable book. The plot keeps you guessing (and second guessing) up until the very end. Cotton Mathers is surrounded by a bunch of street-smart social misfits, and you feel as if you're rooting for the underdogs the entire time. Peters interjects quite a bit of humor into these characters, and I found myself laughing out loud. It was very difficult to put this book down, and can't wait until his next book arrives. I would highly recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys murder mysteries or authors such as Grisham or Ludlum.

A bright new talent is emerging from a list of new authors.Jude Peters' "Guilty Employers" kept us riveted from beginning to end. A "Who Dunnit" laced with humor, well developed interesting characters and intrigue. We hope this is just the first of many Cotton Mather mysteries to come.

This is one of the most intriguing mystery novels I've read in years! The beginning reminds me of a John Grisham novel, but the suspence of the twists and turns in the plot and the humor are more typical of a Spenser novel. I found myself laughing out loud in many places. Because of the occupation of the principal character, there are lots of fun allusions, again reminiscent of Robert Parker. I'm ready for the next Cotton Mather novel--soon I hope.

I found this book to be an extremely enjoyable detective novel. The book has a terrific plot with plenty of suspense. Parts of the book were so funny that I found myself laughing out loud (even though I don't read out loud). In addition to a great plot, Mr. Peters provides the reader with numerous well-developed and interesting characters. The protagonist, Cotton Mather, brings a dry with and a superb combination of street smarts and intellect to the American detective scene. The local color in the book is first-rate. I lived in Memphis for a number of years. Mr. Peters brings nearly every corner of the city to life and displays a keen knowledge of the diversity of Memphis lifestyles and culture. Of course, the Elvis theme provides plenty of color on its own! I've read plenty of American detective novels. I enjoyed Guilty Employers as well as any others I've read. I'd recommend the book to anyone who enjoys a good mystery as well as to anyone who lives in and around Memphis or has ever spent much time there. Long live the King! (wherever he is!)

I read a great many books, and some mysteries, but it is not often that I am sorry to see a book end because I have enjoyed the characters so much that I want to see more of them and to hear more of their exploits. Jude Peters has given us a fully realized professor/sleuth but has left much more to find out. Cotton Mather is at home in his university setting, but even more a resident of Memphis, a city with which Peters seems as familiar as Robert B. Parker is with Boston. Peters also knows his way around universities and the less savory aspects of society, as his detective/professor investigates the death of an Elvis impersonator, stepping on all sorts of toes, encountering people who give meaning to the terms "character" and "local color," all the while demonstrating a fine appreciation for beer, food, and things Southern. I particularly enjoyed the wit and sarcasm of Mather's exchanges with other characters, as well as his observations of university life and human nature. I look forward to encountering him again, as Parker's Spenser is getting along in years, and Jude Peters' Mather seems a fitting character to carry the torch.

I didn't know what to expect when I picked up this book (something about a murdered Elvis impersonator?), but once I did, I couldn't put it down. Cotton Mather is original and very likeable, kind of like Magnum P.I. back in his glory days. Cotton is very human, with all the faults that come with being human, but he's still someone you root for and want to learn more about. Since I lived in Memphis for several years, I also enjoyed the novel's local color--it was like going back for a visit, especially the mania of Elvis Week. It's the local color, in fact, that really made the book different because Peters focuses on parts of Memphis I haven't seen in other authors' books. All in all, I found the book to be a great read- a compelling central character who has lots of witty lines, a great plot, and scads of Memphis tidbits and atmosphere. I think it's the first in a series, and I can't wait to read more!