Mrs. Kaplan and The Matzoh Ball of Death by Mark Reutlinger

Cozy Mystery

From Goodreads:

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.

This is a nice start to a new cozy mystery series.  The setting is a little different.  Mrs. Rose Kaplen and her sidekick live in the Julius and Rebecca Cohen Home for Jewish Seniors.  Using the mystery of why Bertha Finkelstein choked to death on a stolen diamond earring a cast of interesting characters are introduced.  In fact the mystery is really just a cover for developing the premise for the series.

Rose loves mystery stories especially Sherlock Holmes.  When she is the prime suspect in the theft and murder her only choice is to use those stories to solve both the theft and murder. Since Rose is Holmes that made Ida Watson.  There is added color in the use of many Yiddish words in the dialog.  

This is a nice start to a new series.  What happens in the next book will be the decided factor is the success or failure of the series.

Alibi published Mrs. Kaplan and the Matzoh Ball of Death by Mark Reutlinger in 2014.

I received a free ARC of Mrs. Kaplan and the Matzoh Ball of Death in return for a honest review.