The Fractal Murders

"A surprising premise and an extraordinary theme equal an accomplished debut....Cohen's writing style is direct and amazingly lucid, even when handling the concepts and applications of fractal geometry or outlining the tenets of Martin Heidegger. Readers looking for something refreshingly different should be well satisfied." -Publishers Weekly

"This clever mystery pits a private eye against a murderer who is systematically slaying top American mathematicians....Pepper Keane, a Colorado private eye...has a past that fleshes out his motivation, a wry wit, and an enemy who does everything to keep him permanently clueless. A consistently absorbing first novel." -Booklist

"Cohen has a gift for making fractals...not only accessible but exciting. And his hunt for the killer...crackles with mounting tension." -Kirkus

"A lively, fast paced, and surprising story woven around my trading time theorem. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to have fun with this."
-Benoit B. Mandelbrot, Sterling Professor of Mathematical Sciences, Yale University, and founder of fractal geometry

"This one definitely adds up. THE FRACTAL MURDERS is witty, smart, and inventive, and Mark Cohen is a terrific new voice on the mystery scene."
-Stephen White, author of The Best Revenge

"I don't know when I've enjoyed a mystery as much as I enjoyed The Fractal Murders. It manages to be both savvy and funny, all the while racing toward a bang-up conclusion. A thumbs-up to Mark Cohen for an outstanding debut into the mystery world." -New York Times bestselling author Margaret Coel

"An intensely entertaining book that is simply delicious to read." -Midwest Book Review

"Pepper Keane is one heck of a dogged investigator." -The Rocky Mountain News

"Pepper's sleuthing is inspirational and amusing." -Bookloons

Bluetick Revenge

Mark Cohen isn't one of those writers who leaves some of the threads still hanging out – at least, not the most important ones! His protagonist, Pepper Keane, is evidently very like himself – and since Mr. Cohen has also been involved in the law, we can look forward to many more fictional adventures, no doubt based on some of his actual experiences. Mark Cohen is a gifted, revitalizing new voice on the literary scene. -Who-Dunnit.com
Full review: http://www.who-dunnit.com/reviews/228/

"Pepper Keane is a great character. He's intelligent, funny, educated, far from perfect, and looks at life with a self-deprecating wit that's refreshing."
-The RomanceReadersConnection.com
Full review: http://www.theromancereadersconnection.com/reviews/cohenmark1705.html

"Money may buy you a fine bluetick hound, but only a terrific murder mystery like this one can make him wag his tail." -Kinky Friedman, author of Texas Hold 'Em

Independent Colorado PI Pepper Keane (The Fractal Murders), ex-lawyer and ex-military man, steals a valuable bluetick hound from its drug-dealing/biker owner because the guy's common-law wife, Karlynn, has left him but loves the dog. Karlynn promises to testify against the biker but escapes Pepper's protective custody and heads for parts unknown. In unlucky pursuit, Pepper takes time to follow up on the years-ago shooting death of his cousin by white supremacists. Laid-back, sensitive, and sympathetic, Pepper handles all the angles. First-rate prose, excellent narrative: highly recommended. Cohen lives in Nederland, CO. (from the Mystery column by Rex E. Klett)

One of the worst sins a mystery, or any other type of novel can commit is not to explain the “why.” There are nemesis’s, but what makes them is sometimes never explained. Cohen, with a few nimble words gives you a peak into the “why” of what people do. You may not agree with their choices, but at least, as a reader you do understand their allegiances and actions.

Cohen, at heart is a story-teller. Not just of mysteries, but the human condition. The words he plays with flow smoothly down the page, creating evocative images of Colorado in winter, of people trying to do the right thing, of people getting through another day. When he speaks of Colorado, he is lyrical.

We can only hope that Cohen continues not only to let this series grow, but to try his hand at another genre. When he plays with words, he makes them sing. -EdgeBoston.com Full review:

Mystery addicts will recall that last year Mark Cohen's debut novel, "The Fractal Murders" received good reviews in many forums, including this one. It was hoped that that was the first in a series about the philosophy-reading ex-JAG lawyer turned mountain man.

Book Two has now appeared, and "Bluetick Revenge" is every bit as enjoyable as the first book.

Once you swallow the initial premise that a successful lawyer would chuck in a high-paying career to live hand-to-mouth in a small town in Colorado, you can easily accept that he'd jump at the chance to make a few bucks dognapping a pure-bred Bluetick coonhound from a motorcycle gang leader.

The successful completion of this task leads to Pepper Keane being asked by his former law partner to baby-sit the bikie's wife, who's about to turn state's evidence for the FBI.

Sounds easy enough so far, right?

Well, yes and no. Seems that Thad Bugg, former owner of the dog and the wife, is kind of unhappy about their disappearances, and has offered considerable financial inducement to the lower orders if somebody (1) finds the missing property and (2) kills the guy who made off with it. Oh, did I mention that the wife on the run packed an overnight bag full of cold cash?

Things get fairly heavy and Pepper enlists a bit of help--his best buddy, Scott, and his antisocial uncle Ray. Stuck for something to do to bring matters to a head, Pepper resorts to his favourite tactic: kidnap one of the bad guys and threaten him with unpleasant things if he doesn't talk. (This is after parachuting into the enemy camp and setting fire to everything in sight.)

All the time he's trying to sort out the mess his dognapping activities got him into, Pepper is having to consider the ultimatum his girlfriend Jayne has given him: she wants to get married and adopt a baby from China, where she's presently working in a sabbatical year.

If you enjoy tough-guy-with-a brain mysteries, and have re-read all your Robert B Parkers too often, give Pepper Keane a go. I eagerly await Book Three. Reviewed by Karen Treanor, New Mystery Reader

Mark Cohen is a Colorado guy who writes a mystery novel Colorado guys can understand: His hero, Pepper Keane, drives an F150 pickup with a few dogs in back (safely in a camper shell, of course), works out six times a week, lives in the mountains, doesn't have a real job. Well, OK, it's really a Colorado fantasy, but you get the picture.

Bluetick Revenge opens with a dog-napping: A former Marine JAG, now a sometime sleuth, Keane steals a prizewinning bluetick coonhound from the leader of the Sons of Satan, a motorcycle gang not known for their patience and generosity. He takes the dog at the request of a lawyer pal because the gang leader's former girlfriend, the lawyer's client, wants the pup before she'll agree to testify to the feds and then go into the Witness Protection Program.

Keane winds up guarding Karlynn Slade to keep her safe while the feds lay their plans, but she takes off, not entirely pleased with the Iowa lifestyle the government has planned for her. Keane heads first to Idaho and then to Alaska in search of Karlynn.

He's a tough guy, but a smart man's tough guy who reads philosophy and knows his Wittgenstein. He's in over his head concerning his private life when his very satisfactory relationship with a mathematics professor (currently teaching in Beijing) is threatened by her plans to adopt a daughter in China. But even here, his philosophizing and humor brighten the situation.

And there's a lot of humor here, including wintertime trips to Las Vegas and Alaska, where a sense of humor really comes in handy. In Barrow, Alaska, the houses are on stilts so they won't sink into the tundra during the thaw, plus the stilts "prevent the polar bears from climbing in through your bedroom window and eating you." Although the writing and the pacing of the book are sometimes a bit flat-footed, readers will enjoy Cohen for the Colorado setting and his sly take on life. (From the Rocky Mountain News)

"This is a fast moving story with colorful characters and situations. Pepper makes a decision or two that might make you scream out at the book for him not to do that! He's got a fondness for diet Coke and quick decisions that keep you turning the pages to find out if he can pull it off. If Pepper has his way Thadeus Bugg might live to regret owning that champion Bluetick tracking hound after all." -MyShelf.com Full review:

Roundtable

Night Stand

 

Click here to read an Interview with Mark

Mark Cohen's debut novel, The Fractal Murders, was originally self-published and was chosen as a Book Sense 76 Top Mystery in 2002 and was a finalist for the Colorado Book Award. Mysterious Press published a revised hardcover edition (0-89296-799-4) in 5/04. The book has received terrific reviews from Publishers Weekly, Booklist, Kirdus Reviews, Dallas Morning News, and the Santa Fe New Mexican.