Which Big Giver Stole the Chopped Liver?: A Ruby, the Rabbi's Wife Mystery - Hardcover

In Agatha-nominee Kahn's fifth wacky "kosher kozy" (after 2002's Hold the Cream Cheese, Kill the Lox) to feature Ruby, the rabbi's widow with chutzpah, Essie Sue Margolis, the terror of Temple Rita, decides it's time for a reunion fund-raiser to renovate the temple after learning that their small town of Eternal, Tex., has grown by 50 people. (Never mind that none of the 50 is Jewish.) At the opening celebratory event, an unknown man is found dead, keeled over in a platter of ice where once rested Essie Sue's chopped liver mold in the shape of the state of Texas. Aided by overly attentive police lieutenant Paul Lundy, Ruby investigates the crime while also dealing with the present man in her life, a sleeping disorder and a new pet, a feisty kitten. While the solution becomes obvious early on and the antics of Temple Rita's Rabbi Kevin strain credibility, Ruby's sense of humor and apt observations on life more than compensate. Readers will laugh their way from the opening fake sushi roll to the final recipe for chopped liver with tofu.
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As her late husband the rabbi would surely have wanted, Ruby Rothman continues to smooth ruffled feathers among the congregants of Temple Rita--and solve the odd mysteries that seem to follow the flock. This time, a platter of chopped liver (molded into the shape of the state of Texas!) has disappeared from the buffet table at the Temple Rita reunion, and a dead body has taken its place. Intrepid Ruby must sort things out, aided (or driven to distraction) by her usual cast mates: the temple's well-meaning if wimpy rabbi; Lieutenant Paul Lundy, who has more than mystery on his mind when he looks at Ruby; and bossy, tactless Essie Sue Margolis, up to her eyeballs in trouble this time as her husband's fingerprints are all over the murder weapon. This series continues to get its punch from Ruby's down-to-earth attitude and from the interactions of the secondary characters, who, for all their quirky outrageousness, play a crucial part in Ruby's life. Stephanie Zvirin
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