C.J. Cooper Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

C.J. Cooper is a renowned English writer of mystery and suspense stories. She is particularly famous for writing her first book called The Book Club. Cooper was born as Claire Cooper in a small village located in South Wales. She was brought up in her hometown. Cooper moved to London when she started her college studies and began taking an interest in a wide range of topics. She completed her graduation by obtaining a bachelor’s degree in Egyptology and Ancient History. Immediately after her graduation, Cooper moved to Nepal to work as a development worker and spent a total of 7 months in that field. Upon returning to Britain, Cooper started working in the civil service department. She served as a civil servant for more than seventeen years.

Throughout all those years, she was involved in a variety of topics, including flooding, housing support, etc. When author Cooper realized that she could do much better at writing stories based on psychotic killers than Ministerial speeches, she decided to hand up her bowler hat. Nowadays, Cooper spends most of her day time trying to develop stories that come to her mind. During the evening time, Cooper prefers to stay in the company of her family members and spend some quality time with them. As of today, Cooper resides in London along with her loving husband and a couple of pet cats.

The debut book written by author C.J. Cooper is entitled ‘The Book Club’. It was released by the Constable publication in 2019. The central characters mentioned in this book by Cooper include Lucy, Alice, Maggie, Tom, Rebecca, and a few others. Initially, it is depicted that Lucy is forced to leave her job when her affair with her employer becomes public. She moves to a remote village to get rid of her guilt and shame. After spending some time in the village, Lucy forms a good friendship with other people of her age. They include Tom, Maggie, and Rebecca. Later, Alice comes to live in the village. She rents a cottage near the residence of Lucy and begins to bond well with the group. Alice is also the one who suggests a title for the book club. Lucy feels being put on edge by the newcomer, Alice.

Lucy begins to suspect that she has come to take revenge on her and make her life difficult. But, she is not able to guess Alice’s motive behind doing whatever she does to destroy her. It is revealed later that a part of Alice’s plan was to punish Tom, Rebecca, and Maggie for being close to Lucy and making her their friend. In order to describe this angle, author Cooper has given a detailed description of the lives of the other characters as well. Maggie is shown as having undergone an abortion in the past. Tom is depicted as an escort, while Rebecca is mentioned as having an affair with the husband of Maggie. Alice plans her revenge is a specific way. She picks only those books from the book club that reflect the lives of the members and make them bicker among themselves. Lucy starts suspecting Alice when she crosses her limits in causing problems for her and her friends. She begins talking to each one of them about Alice’s activities and urges them to keep a close watch on her.

Lucy did not like Alice from the day she first arrived in the village. There was something in Alice’s personality that bothered her. Lucy used to see her as a person who cannot be trusted. And when her suspicion turned into reality, she realized that Alice had come with an evil plan to disturb the quiet and peace of the beautiful village. Soon after, Lucy springs into action to confront Alice and prevent her from causing any more troubles. Rebecca, Tom, and Maggie also provide her assistance in dealing with Alice and her revengeful plan. In the end, they manage to succeed in stopping Alice completely and bringing back the peace of the village. Once again, Lucy and her friends start living their normal lives without having to worry about anything or anyone.

Another mind-blowing book penned by author Cooper is known as ‘Close Your Eyes’. It was originally written in French and published by the Preludes publication in 2016 and has not yet been translated into English. This book features the primary characters in the roles Sara, Stephen Devane, and several others. Initially, Sara is introduced as a girl having a plane phobia. She is determined to fight off this phobia and move on to obtain the job of her dreams. When all other attempts go in vain, Sara decides to undergo hypnosis. She meets Dr. Stephen Devane is this regard and becomes a fan of his personality. In each session of hypnosis, young Sara experiences hallucinations and each one of them is much more terrifying than the previous one.

Sara wonders where are the hallucinations coming from, but she is not able to find an answer. The terrible discovery makes Sara a lot more worried than she already was. With Stephen Devane by her side, Sara embarks on a difficult quest filled with obstacles at every step in search of her unbridled identity. She knows the risks that lie in her path and has made up her mind to face them. Author Cooper has done a fantastic job of mixing tension and dread and coming up with this choral thriller. She has explored the complexities of a patient and doctor’s perverse relationship.

The end showcases a totally unexpected revelation that makes the readers enthralled and surprised. It was received very well by readers across the globe. Most of them liked the book and the characters depicted in it by Cooper. The book was also well appreciated by various noteworthy critics in different parts of the world. They gave excellent reviews and comments to its plot, setting, and characters on various literary platforms. All such factors led to the worldwide success of the book and also helped to make Cooper’s career more successful. It motivated her to keep writing interesting stories one after the other. Cooper is hopeful of establishing herself in the ranks of prominent authors of the mystery genre in the coming years.