Hummus And Homicide
Kebab Kitchen Mystery, Book #1
Tina Kashian
5 Stars
Synopsis:
When Lucy Berberian quits her Philadelphia law firm and heads home to Ocean Crest, she knows what she’s getting–the scent of funnel cake, the sight of the wooden roller coaster, and the tastes of her family’s Mediterranean restaurant. But murder wasn’t on the menu . . .
Things are slow in the off-season in this Jersey Shore town, but Lucy doesn’t mind. She doesn’t even mind waitressing at the Kebab Kitchen. Her parents have put in a new hummus bar, with every flavor from lemon to roasted red pepper. It’s fun to see their calico cat again, and to catch up with her old BFF, who’s married to a cop now.
She could do without Heather Banks, though. The Gucci-toting ex-cheerleader is still as nasty as she was back in high school . . . and unfortunately, she’s just taken over as the local health inspector. Just minutes after eating at the Kebab Kitchen–where she’s tallied up a whole list of bogus violations–she falls down dead in the street. Word on the grapevine is it’s homicide, and Lucy’s the number one suspect . . . (Goodreads)
Review:
The characters are well developed and well rounded. Lucy loves her family and she knows that family and tradition are important. It took her leaving and then coming back before she learned this lesson but she did figure it out. Lucy is smart, loyal and a hard worker and she agrees to help her family out in their restaurant. And when a body is found outside that restaurant and suspicion falls on her family, she is willing to snoop around and try to find the culprit. I liked how well Lucy and her best friend Katie got along, you can tell they would do anything for each other. And I enjoyed getting to meet and get to know Lucy’s family, it was great how close knit they are.
The writing style flowed smoothly and the book is a fast easy read. The writing style allowed my to see the action through the characters eyes and that made me more engaged in the story. The author is very talented is her descriptive writing and she did an excellent job with all of the different foods. I became hungry reading this book!!!
The mystery was well plotted and carried on well throughout the book. There were enough suspects to consider and clues to sift through. Thrown in some red herrings and it was not an easy one to solve. I did not figure it out until the reveal at the end.
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well crafted cozy. It has great characters, delicious food, a great setting and family love and loyalty. What more could you want?
I voluntarily read an advanced reader copy provided to me by the publisher, Kensington Books, through Netgalley, and I appreciate it..
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