UNLEAVENED DEAD by Ilene Schneider

Publisher: Oak Tree Books

Date published: November 2012

ISBN: 978‐1‐61009‐198‐5

Mystery

E-book

Reviewed by Helen

http://www.amazon.com/Unleavened-Dead-ebook/dp/B00ANB7JBY/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1360271963&sr=8-1

Obtained via publisher

 

It’s almost Pesach. First an older couple from Rabbi Aviva Cohen’s synagogue is found dead due to a faulty household appliance. Only a few days later a man is killed in a hit/run accident right outside where her niece’s partner works and her niece’s partner is one of the suspects. From there things get even more complicated with a horde of suspects, Pesach preparations, a wedding, an ex-husband, and more. Aviva can’t help investigating. Of course she’s curious, but people keep telling her things and information just seems to sprout up around her. Unfortunately this may have endangered her life…

I loved every page of this book. Ilene Schneider has a light hand with the humor, lots of puns and jokes, but also depth and layers and passion to her characters, even minor ones. All her congregants are people we know and recognize, or wish we knew, or wished we didn’t know! Her problems and concerns are typical of those of many Baby Boomers, her family situation and those of the people she meets are the kind of complicated relationships readers are familiar with, and through it all Aviva is exactly the kind of main character every reader wants to know.

This book is the reason I’ll be finishing my latest work project on the weekend. I started reading it on my lunch break and didn’t put the book down until late at night. Yes, it’s that good. Possibly even better. I’ll definitely be going back to read Ms. Schneider’s other book with these characters, and most likely harassing the author to finish the next book as well.

This is an objective review and not an endorsement of this book.