Mrs. Kaplan and the Matzoh Ball of Death is the first book of a charming cozy series by Mark Reutlinger. Originally released in 2014, this reformat and re-release from April 2020 is 244 pages and available in paperback and ebook formats.
This is a charming start to a cozy series with an appealingly intelligent, grey haired, female, Jewish Holmes and Watson duo trying to solve the mystery of the diamond-earring-in-the-matzoh-soup which resulted in the death of their fellow resident Bertha Finkelstein. There is warm and compassionate humor throughout, the language is squeaky clean, and there's very (very) little nudity involved.
I'm not sure at all about the author's background, but he managed a pitch perfect tone and vernacular for the most part with the characters. It would have been -very- easy for an author to fall on the wrong side of caricature and/or respectfulness. The humor is warm and the tone throughout is cozy. Throughout most of the book I could literally *hear* my grandfather and aunties' voices.
The scene descriptions verge on slapstick sometimes but even those bring a nostalgia more reminiscent of an episode of "I Love Lucy" or "The Golden Girls". I really loved most everything about the book. It was a comfort read - but it did leave me with a serious craving for my grandmother's chicken soup.
Four stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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