carol novis

First in the “Tension on a Pension” cozy mystery series
“Long in the Sleuth” combines humor, romance and suspense with a unique angle – a quirky team of seniors trying to adjust to life in a retirement home, while people are dropping dead all around them.
Who killed Sam Levin with a poisoned knish?
Could it be Ellie, who baked it? The yentas at the Menorah Retirement Home think that it just might be.
Ellie Shapiro is a reluctant resident of the Minnie and Isaac Memorial Menorah Retirement home. Then Sam, a popular fellow resident, drops dead after eating a knish that Ellie’s baked. Other murders follow. With her fellow sleuths and Sam’s hapless teen-age grandson Noah, plus a dog, Ellie sets out to find the killer.
But will the disapproval of Ellie’s hunky crush, Hal, stop the motley detection team before the killer gets her?
Over the course of the book, Ellie gains confidence, a friend, a new career and maybe even the guy, as the action takes her from the Menorah kitchens to an out of control fight at a mahjong game and a revelatory visit to gambling casino, culminating in a confrontation with a crazed murderer.
Ellie’s recipes included.
If you loved Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple, the Golden Girls and Harry Kemelman’s Rabbi Small, you won’t want to miss “Long in the Sleuth”.

“The cast of Jewish senior sleuths made me laugh out loud.”
Anne Kleinberg, best-selling author of “Menopause in Manhattan”

"A brilliant setting for a wickedly funny book."
Linda Matchan, journalist, “The Boston Globe”

“This book kept me absorbed and entertained all the way through. The denouement really was a surprise.”
Judy Weidman, librarian