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From
Booklist
Ruby, the (late) rabbi's wife (Fax Me a
Bagel, Never Nosh a Matzo Ball, Don't Cry for Me,
Hot Pastrami), has her hands full when the manipulative Essie
Sue involves her in planning a Bar Mitzvah for her twin cousins,
the "Lovable Leevees." The boys are, in fact, holy terrors
who have never been to Hebrew school. When the retired lox cutter
who was to help with catering the affair is killed with his own
slicing knife, Ruby helps trace the crime back to his past in
Denmark during the Nazi occupation. This involves travel to
Seattle and Alaska with her e-mail pal Nan as well as help from
would-be suitors reporter Ed and police lieutenant Paul Lundy.
Readers who enjoy the antics of small-town life will be amused.
From the Publisher
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"Ruby knows she's in for trouble when her
longtime nemesis, Essie Sue, talks her into housing Essie
Sue's twin cousins, Lester and Larry. The boys are in town for
pre-Bar Mitzvah schooling from Rabbi Kevin Kapstein. They will
be no trouble, says Essie Sue. Famous last words." "Ruby, a
rabbi's widow, has never felt much sympathy for Rabbi Kevin,
but that's about to change. They now have something in common:
their determination to survive Lester and Larry. Whoever
coined the phrase "the terrible twos" didn't know Lester and
Larry, "the terrible twelve's."" "Kevin will teach; Ruby will
house; and Essie Sue, ever the hostess, will orchestrate the
grandest Bar Mitzvah feast in Temple Rita's history. And the
star attraction - besides Essie Sue, of course - is sure to be
Herman Guenther, master lox cutter, who recently moved to town
from New Jersey." "But when Herman meets an untimely demise
from his own slicing knife, Essie Sue's plans seem all but
ruined. Not to mention Herman's. Something's strange about
this murder, as Ruby is quick to discover." Tracing the
victim's roots back to Nazi-era Denmark, Ruby soon puts the
lox on the platter in a chase that takes her from Eternal to
Alaska to New York. She asks some poignant questions along the
way and hears some shocking answers.
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Reviews
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In Eternal, Texas, Essie Sue Margolis persuades Ruby, the
widow of the former rabbi, and the current rabbi Kevin
Kapstein to host a Bar Mitzvah at Temple Rita for her two
“lovable” third cousins, Larry and Lester Levee.
Very quickly, Ruby and company find the two “terrible
twelve” year olds to be monsters of the first order.
However, with Essie masterminding the ceremony, the Bar
Mitzvah should prove to be the social event of the season for
the small congregation. To add luster, lox cutter grandmaster
Herman Guenther will perform his miracle dicing and slicing.
Herman fails to show up at a meeting with Essie and Ruby so
the two ladies journey to his home only to find the
grandmaster murdered. While Essie bemoans the impact on the
twin’s Bar Mitzvah, Ruby investigates by back trailing
where Herman has been to include Alaska and New Jersey. Ruby
finds herself up to her gefilte fish in a lox conspiracy that
dates back to the Nazi occupation of Denmark. HOLD THE CREAM
CHEESE, KILL THE LOX is an amusing cozy that provides the
audience insight into pre-Bar Mitzvah training. The story line
is humorous because of the actions of Essie groaning over the
murder’s impact on the Bar Mitzvah and the havoc caused
by the non-mench twins. Though why Ruby and Essie gallivant to
Alaska and New Jersey to solve the homicide seems weak, the
motivation for murder is fun to follow. Sharon Kahn serves up
a taste of Jewish American life with a few kibbutz to nosh on
inside a cozy that is clearly not chopped liver. Harriet
Klausner
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