Mrs. Kaplan and the Matzoh Ball of Death...Review

About the book:
Move over, Miss Marple—Mark Reutlinger’s charming cozy debut introduces readers to the unforgettable amateur sleuth Rose Kaplan and her loyal sidekick, Ida.

Everyone knows that Rose Kaplan makes the best matzoh ball soup around—she’s a regular matzoh ball maven—so it’s no surprise at the Julius and Rebecca Cohen Home for Jewish Seniors when, once again, Mrs. K wins the honor of preparing the beloved dish for the Home’s seder on the first night of Passover.

But when Bertha Finkelstein is discovered facedown in her bowl of soup, her death puts a bit of a pall on the rest of the seder. And things go really meshugge when it comes out that Bertha choked on a diamond earring earlier stolen from resident Daisy Goldfarb. Suddenly Mrs. K is the prime suspect in the police investigation of both theft and murder. Oy vey—it’s a recipe for disaster, unless Rose and her dear friend Ida can summon up the chutzpah to face down the police and solve the mystery themselves.

While I don't think the intended audience is only Jewish, the Jewish terms and Yiddish words were numerous, but most I was familiar with. The setting is refreshing and the heroines not young and perky. The folksy first person narration by Mrs. Kaplan's best friend Ida had potential, but the story was just too slow for me and got bogged down in details, funny as they were.

I'm not so sure about the Miss Marple comparison and Ida fancies herself a Watson to Rose's Sherlock, but the book certainly had its moments and Rose and Ida are feisty, funny sleuths. Fans of cozy mysteries should enjoy it.

Thanks to TLC Book Tours for the opportunity to review this book. You can see other reviews and tour stops here. You can purchase your own copy here.

Read 11/14

* * *
3/5

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