Oy Vey, Maria!

 

Oy Vey, Maria!

by Mark Reutlinger

 

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GENRE: Cozy Mystery

 

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BLURB:

 

Rose Kaplan and her sidekick Ida are at it again. It’s the holiday of Purim, and almost everyone at the Julius and Rebecca Cohen Home for Jewish Seniors is in costume for the Purim play. All except one, who will instead have to be fitted for a shroud. Once again, “Mrs. K” and Ida are called upon to solve the puzzle of a mysterious death at the Home. Described by Chanticleer Book Reviews as “at times more Lucy and Ethel than Holmes and Watson, with a soupcon of Miss Jane Marple,” these geriatric amateur sleuths will keep you laughing, guessing, and maybe even learning a bissel Yiddish!

 

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EXCERPT

I picked up one of the nickels from the tray and put it in the slot and pulled the handle again. 

 

Nothing happened, of course, and just as I was about to do the same with the next nickel, I turned around and saw Mrs. K and Sara staring at me. I felt as if I’d been caught with my hand in the cookie jar. And at my age!

 

Suddenly Sara burst out laughing. “Auntie Ida, I didn’t know you were a gambler. Maybe I shouldn’t have brought you here. I hate to interrupt you when you’re winning,” she said looking at the tray with the nickels in it, “but we have to go.”

 

I started to explain that I wasn’t gambling and had just sat down for a rest, but neither Sara nor Mrs. K looked like they believed me. 

 

“You know,” Mrs. K said to Sara, “I think this gambling habit is contagious. Already Ida has caught it. We should leave before we’re all standing in front of those machines losing our money.”

 

Mrs. K took me by the arm and helped me up.

 

“But don’t forget your winnings, Ida,” she said, scooping out the remaining nickels from the tray. “Gambling may be a bad habit, but a nickel is still a nickel.”

 

And so did my gambling career both begin and end in a five-minute period. 

 

From now on, I decided, a game of dreidel with my grandchildren at Chanukah will be my only vice.

My Review:

Oy Vey, Maria! is a cozy mystery set in an retirement home for Jewish people. Almost immediately I realized that our main characters were like Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. Mrs, Kaplan had helped the police solve murders more than once, and her exploits were recorded by Ida, her good friend from whose point of view the story is told. It pleased me for our main characters to be older ladies. In our culture, older people often don't get the respect they deserve. 

It would be hard not to like Mrs. K. and Ida. They're funny, smart, and determined, and they know almost everything that goes on in the home. They also throw around some Jewish words that Ida translates for the reader. 

They are recruited to help prove the innocence of the man accused of murder, the man the police think is guilty. There is a lot of evidence against him, but Mrs. K. and Ida won't rest until they learn the real truth. It was interesting to see how they went about gathering evidence. They aren't policemen so they do some things the police probably couldn't do. It made the story interesting.

I enjoyed the book very much. It's well written with no obvious errors to mar the story. If you're a fan of cozy mysteries I think you'd like this one.

 

 

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

Mark Reutlinger, professor of law emeritus at Seattle University, is the author of the “Mrs. Kaplan” cozy mystery series (of which Oy Vey, Maria! is the third installment) and the caper mystery Murder with Strings Attached, as well as the political thrillers Made in China and Sister-in-Law: Violation, Seduction, and the President of the United States. Mark and his wife, Analee, live in University Place, Washington.

 

Buy Links for Oy Vey, Maria!

https://www.amazon.com/Maria-Mrs-Kaplan-Mystery-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B09DB55TLW/

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/oy-vey-maria-a-mrs-kaplan-mystery-mark-reutlinger/1139888240  

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58925214-oy-vey-maria   

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/oy-vey-maria-a-mrs-kaplan-mystery

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Oy_Vey_Maria_A_Mrs_Kaplan_Mystery/WPaNzgEACAAJ?hl=en

https://books.apple.com/us/book/oy-vey-maria-a-mrs-kaplan-mystery/id1583067386

https://www.bookbub.com/books/oy-vey-maria-a-mrs-kaplan-mystery-by-mark-reutlinger

https://www.powells.com/searchresults?keyword=Reutlinger+oy+vey+maria

 

Website: www.MarkReutlinger.com

Twitter: @markreutlinger

 

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE

 

Mark Reutlinger will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway