Oy Vey, Maria! A Mrs. Kaplan Mystery

In another of the Mrs. Kaplan mysteries, author Mark Reutlinger crafts a fun-to-read light mystery. As in the other books, the story is exciting and well-paced and the characters well developed. It also provides another look at life (and death) in a senior’s home. In the second book, I didn’t like the way the narrator Ida immediately translated Yiddish words for the reader. But now Ida has become an old friend and I welcomed her translations in this book. I enjoyed this book and recommend it to fans of Judaica and light mysteries. Thank you to Netgalley and The Wild Rose Press, Inc. for the advance reader copy.

This is a cute and cozy mystery centered around Purim, but is a fun read any time of the year. Another dead body has shown up at the nursing home, and the police are on the wrong track...but Mrs. Kaplan comes to the rescue! Riddled with Yiddish sayings and Jewish culture, this is a feel-good read.

The story kept me interested and I find Rose and Ida a nice duo. I did find the story relatively simple with few suspects. I felt the motive was a bit weak and unbelievable though.

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Murder at the home has senior sleuth Mrs. Kaplan trying to find the true killer. Well paced cozy reading filled with Jewish culture and sayings. Put on sime coffee and curl up for some light reading. Thanks #netgalley and #TheWildRosePressInc for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are mine.

This is the first book I have read in this series and I am hooked! It feels like I just visited my old childhood neighbor, Mrs. Schneider, now that she’s older. All I could hear was her voice as I was reading…and I laughed out loud several times, making my dogs and husband give me strange looks. 

I’m going to be back for more of Mrs Schneider, I mean Mrs. Kaplan and her crew!

Mrs K and Ida are at it again, only at first there is no murder to solve. It starts off with the investigation of a suspicious person. To be sure, there is a murder later on in the book. There is also a Purim play out on but residents of the home, and of course lots of shenanigans!

I think this series has really found its stride with this latest installment. I liked the murder taking place in a different part of the book for a change, it was a different pacing. Lots of fun all around.

Mrs. K is back in OY VEY, MARIA!, as she and her trusted companion, Ida, problem solve and nosh their way to a solution as yet another dead body is found at the Julius and Rebecca Cohen Home for Jewish Seniors. This dead body is near a smoking gun in the hand of someone who denies firing it. Author Mark Reutlinger has a winner of a series with this, his third installment. The books do not need to be read in order, but they are a lot of fun. Grab some hamantaschen and a cup of tea and enjoy the story. I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Oy Vey!!! This story was a fun ride through the retirement center where Mrs Kaplan lives. The holiday of Purim is coming up and Mrs. Kaplan wants to create a new fun version where the senior adults put on the play that is normally performed by the children. It is a great idea, even the grinch, errr...... Facility Director thinks so.
There is a nice buildup of the story before the murder happens. This gives the readers a better insight into the personal dynamics in the Julius and Rebecca Cohen Home for Jewish Seniors.
We also learn a few Yiddish words along the way. Most of those are explained, but pay attention, they may be used again without explanation. I found learning these fun.

Once the murder happens - during the Purim play while the cast and many of the audience are wearing masks- Mrs. Kaplan and her best friend, Ida get drafted to see if they can help the obvious suspect - the grinch, errr...... Facility Director with whom they have been at odds many times.
Is he guilty? If so, Mrs. Kaplan will tell the police that he is. Or was it someone else? There are a number of people who seriously disliked the victim.

The final revelation is a surprise even to Mrs. Kaplan and Ida.
This is a fun read with enough twists and turns to keep you reading until the end - and still wanting just a bit more.

Entertaining and fun at the beginning, but the development of the plot was too slow almost to lose interest.

Princess Fuzzypants here: Murder is afoot at the Jewish Seniors Home and Mrs. Kaplan and her pal, Ida, are on the case. The head of the Home had been antagonistic towards their investigations but this time he is begging them to help. It seems he is discovered standing over the body with his gun in his hand. The fact that they had been having an affair and had engaged in a vehement argument days before does not help with his plea of innocence. In spite of having some dark thoughts about the man, Mrs. K does agree to do some digging.

The local police detective whom she had helped with previous investigations welcomes her help but his second in command is less than convinced. In fact, she thinks the case is open and shut. She is not prepared to listen unless Mrs. K can provide some clear evidence. Naturally, Mrs. K rises to the challenge and turns up with the proof that the killer was someone not on the radar. There is an additional twist to it that even Mrs. K did not foresee but the police would never have discovered it had it not been for her snooping.

Delightfully funny, as usual, filled with all sorts of humour as well as a good mystery. Mrs. K is one of a kind, just like her hero, Sherlock Holmes. Five purrs and two paws up.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle by The Wild Rose Press Inc. and #NetGalley for my honest opinion. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

I found this one just okay. It was slow moving and bland at times, often predictable. I understood what the author intended. It felt rushed, in parts. It was scattershot but tee tale was purposefully done.

This book has a cultural plus over the similar books because Lucy and Ethel, the two elderly "lady detectives" live at the Julius and Rebecca Cohen Home for Jewish Seniors. We can learn quite a lot about Jewish customs, which I found really interesting. I liked the characters and kept guessing what might have happened. I spent some enjoyable hours with the story and learnt a new version of a well-known phrase. I laughed out laud when describing someone one of the ladies says: "She's not the birghtest candle in the Menorah".
I can recommend this funny "whodunnit" to everyone.

verbal-humor, situational-humor, senior-residence-facility, senior-sleuths, septuagenarian, Jewish, cozy-mystery, law-enforcement, family-dynamics, murder, murder-investigation*****

Rose and Ida live in a Jewish residence for the elderly who no longer choose to care for private residences and are still the same snoopy ladies they were forty years ago. This is the third time that they have gotten involved in a murder investigation and by now the local police detective agrees to their credibility. The victim is the home's manager and while they dislike him, they minimally agree to help investigate on his behalf. Great fun and lots of humor. All of the characters are well drawn and relatable, and the sleuthing is well done and has enough twists and red herrings to keep things going.
There are a lot of words used that I've heard all my life but never seen in print, so I'd really appreciate having this fun book in audio.
I requested and received a free e-book copy from The Wild Rose Press via NetGalley. Thank you!

Imagine the shenanigans that can occur in a Jewish home for seniors. The characters are well developed. The conversations are entertaining and Ida and Rose kept things amusing. The murder mystery and the efforts Rose and Ida made to solve will have you invested in the story. A fun cozy mystery that will entertain you.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wild Rose Press for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

Oy Vey, Maria! is the third cozy mystery by Mark Reutlinger featuring octogenarian sleuth Mrs. Kaplan and her own Dr. Watson, Ida Berkowitz. Released 27th Oct 2021, it's 256 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

The Julius and Rebecca Cohen Home for Jewish Seniors is once again the site of a murder. This time a companion/carer for one of the residents has been shot in the kitchen of the home during a Purim play and refreshments evening. Although the home's own manager is standing over the murder victim with the murder weapon clutched in his hand, he insists that he's innocent of the crime and only picked up the gun in a panic. Mrs. Kaplan and her friend Ida are on the scene and are determined to get to the bottom of the mystery. 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 is cozy. Throughout most of the book I could literally *hear* my grandfather and aunties' voices. For readers who are unfamiliar with Jewish and Yiddish slang, there's quite a lot of both sprinkled throughout. The author is diligent about explaining potentially unfamiliar language in context or quickly translating in the text.

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 matzo soup.

Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.