Welcome to the review tour for A Pain in the Tuchis by Mark Reutlinger, the second book in the Mrs. Kaplan Mysteries series. I'm sharing an excerpt with you as well as some of my thoughts about this cozy mystery. Be sure to follow the tour for even more. Best of luck entering the giveaway!
Combining the classic charms of Agatha Christie with the delightful humor of M. C. Beaton’s Agatha Raisin novels, Mark Reutlinger’s Mrs. Kaplan mystery series returns as a notorious crank meets an untimely fate.
Yom Kippur is a day of reflection and soul searching. But at the Julius and Rebecca Cohen Home for Jewish Seniors, Vera Gold misses this opportunity to atone for her many sins when she up and dies. Indeed, Vera was such a pain in the tuchis to all those around her that when her sister claims Vera was deliberately poisoned, the tough question isn’t who would want to kill her—but who wouldn’t?
Read an excerpt:
“It’s true your sister could be…as you say, difficult,” Mrs. K said, being diplomatic, “but we all have our own mishegoss, our own bit of craziness, and it’s best not to judge others too harshly, especially when they’re dealing with serious health issues as Vera was.” She didn’t mention, of course, that Vera had been a pain in the tuchis from the time she arrived.
“Yes, Rose, and it’s those health issues I want to talk to you about.”
Mrs. K looked quite surprised, as was I, and said, “Her health issues? Isn’t it Dr. Menschyk with whom you should be talking about them? All I know is a person gets a sickness, and sometimes the sickness leads to their passing. Beyond that, it’s all a mystery to me.”
“That’s just it,” Fannie said. “I don’t believe Vera’s illness, as serious as it was, led to her passing, as you put it.”
Again Mrs. K and I were surprised.
“Pardon me,” Mrs. K said, “but are you saying your sister died of what they would call ‘natural causes’ despite her illness? Not that it matters at this point, I suppose…”
“No, no, that’s not what I mean,” Fannie said. She lowered her voice and leaned closer to us. “Maybe I should just come right out with it. I think it’s possible Vera did not die of natural causes at all, or of any disease.
“I think someone killed her.”
Buy Links
(affiliate link included)
**My thoughts**
I like to read cozy mysteries periodically to break up my reading. This one is a bit different than my usual fare. This one involves two elderly widows living in a Jewish home for their retirement, who manage to stumble into trying to solve a murder of a fellow resident. Mrs. K. is the one who has the brains while Ida is better at telling the story.
Ida reminds me of the Jewish grandmothers I knew of when I was growing up, who would all be 90 to 100 or passed on. It's comical to read her, though I will say it took me a while to get into the book. The beginning felt a little slow and it took me a while to get used to all of the Yiddish. Some of the words and phrases were a bit familiar, but I did appreciate the explanations. Usually they flowed seamlessly in the narrative, but sometimes the explanations detracted just slightly from the storytelling.
The women are talented at finding out information that the police can't get as easily. I was a little surprised with how easily the police shared information with them, but that tends to happen in a lot of cozies. Plus they had apparently worked with the police before. But fear not, though this is the second book in the series, it does work as a standalone.
It's still entertaining and kept me occupied over a couple of evenings. Thank you to Goddess Fish and the author for providing me with a requested review copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Website: www.MarkReutlinger.com
Twitter: @mark_reutlinger
Mark Reutlinger will be awarding a $15 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteCute cover.
ReplyDeleteA Pain in the Tuchis by Mark Reutlinger sounds like a fun and enjoyable book to read.
ReplyDeleteNancy
allibrary (at) aol (dot) com
This looks and sounds like fun.
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting "A Pain in the Tuchis" and for the nice review. Most of the characters in my "Mrs. Kaplan" series are based on people I've met (or I'm related to!), so I'm glad you also recognized some from your own experience.
ReplyDelete