Fax me a Bagel [Paperback]

Sharon Kahn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 10, 2001

When a patron drops dead in The Hot Bagel, Ruby's friend the baker faces interrogation-and it's up to Ruby to fill the holes in the story.

Effectively combines humor with crime. (Booklist)

Entertaining. (Publishers Weekly)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

You gotta love Ruby Rothman, the Eternal, Texas, rebbitzen (rabbi's wife) with a craving for bagels. Actually, she's the rabbi's widow when this engaging mystery begins, but it isn't until days after a member of the congregation pushes in front of Ruby in line at the Hot Bagel and bites off more than she can chew--a little cyanide--that Ruby begins to wonder if there's a connection between the poisoned bagel and her husband's death a year ago in a hit-and-run accident. But right now she's got more immediate things to think about--like clearing the cloud of suspicion that's settled like flour on her friend Milt, the bagel baker, and avoiding the clutches of Essie Sue, the temple yenta, who's determined to make a shiddach (match) between Ruby and the new rabbi of Temple Rita (don't ask). The action moves from East Texas to the Lower East Side of Manhattan, connected by a family feud and a cunning killer who's out to give Ruby more than a minor case of heartburn. Fax Me a Bagel has some structural problems--too many plot points are worked out in a series of e-mails between Ruby and her friend Nan instead of being explicated in action and narrative; and Kahn has a tendency to tell instead of show. But Ruby is an appealing heroine, and this debut mystery has "series" written all over it. --Jane Adams --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

In Eternal, Tex., Ruby Rothman, a 46-year-old rabbi's widow, calls upon her knowledge of the Jewish community and her skills as a savvy computer consultant in this entertaining debut. When the sister of the temple board's vice-chairman is fatally felled by a poisoned bagel, the police arrest the baker, Ruby's friend Milt. While filling in for him at the bakery and trying to figure out why anyone would want to kill the mousy woman, Ruby finds a note in her late husband's files warning him to stay away from Milt and his bakery. After she is almost hit by a car on her way home one night, she decides that her husband, who died in a hit-and-run, was murdered and that she's the next target. But why? She learns about two brothers who started in the cutthroat bagel business in New York in the 1930s and pieces together the family feud that brought Milt to Texas. Memories of older relatives and additional notes from her late husband's files suggest that his family may have been involved in the feud, and then the threats on her life get more serious. Although the direction of the plot is given away in the first chapter, the action unfolds at a smart pace as readers are given the inside scoop on rabbi selection and installation and the history of the bagel union in New York. With her low-key sense of humor and her perky inquisitiveness, Ruby is a welcome addition to the ranks of amateur female sleuths.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Berkley (July 10, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425180468
• ISBN-13: 978-0425180464
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #255,088 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fun read for Shabbat!, January 30, 2000

By 

shana ozacmak - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fax Me a Bagel: A Novel Introducing Ruby, the Rabbi's Wife (Ruby, the Rabbi's Wife Mysteries) (Hardcover)

As a former resident of Austin, TX and its Jewish community, I found this book true to life in the details of living in a small Jewish community far from the East coast. Eternal, TX may be fiction, but it's also true! True, some of the characterization seems a bit extreme, but this is a fun read. Ruby's perspective is funny, yet realistic as a new widow struggling along. The narrative zips along and before you know it, you're finished, hoping that Kahn is writing quickly to keep you up-to-date on Essie Sue, the new Rabbi, and, of course, Ruby herself.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a fast read; entertaining & funny, August 29, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Fax Me a Bagel: A Novel Introducing Ruby, the Rabbi's Wife (Ruby, the Rabbi's Wife Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Not since I discovered Anne George ("Murder on a Bad Hair Day") have I enjoyed a mystery so! Ruby entertained me with her descriptions of the characters surrounding her. She knows her bagels (and now so do I!). I enjoyed the past history of the Aboud feud and her trips to NYC. Having lived there, it was easy to picture the rent controlled apt. the uncle lives in and the bagel bakery downtown.

This is a light-hearted, fast-paced murder mystery and I hope it's not long before Sharon Kahn has another "Ruby" mystery. I look forward to another visit to Eternal, TX!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lots of laughs & extra cream cheese, please, November 2, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Fax Me a Bagel: A Novel Introducing Ruby, the Rabbi's Wife (Ruby, the Rabbi's Wife Mysteries) (Hardcover)

With a title like Fax Me a Bagel, you know you're in for a treat. So meet Ruby - computer consultant and widow of a well-respected Rabbi. Ruby seems to have a fairly uneventful and normal life in the small town of Eternal, Texas, where she spends an awful lot of time at The Hot Bagel.

Not only is Ruby a regular patron of this bagel cafe, she is considering investing in the business. A strong friendship with owner Milt Aboud and a lifelong love affair with bagels lead Ruby to believe that this could be a great career move.

But life in Eternal becomes a little more interesting after Marla Solomon has a deadly encounter with one of Milt's bagels laced with poison. Being a friend of Milt's, a potential investor in The Hot Bagel, and ... well ... nosey, Ruby sets out to find out who killed Marla and why. What she finds is a bagel-based feud beyond her wildest imagination.

Along the way, we are introduced to a colorful cast of characters, and a fun (albeit danger-filled) ride through Jewish communities in Texas and New York. Soon, Ruby learns that her late husband's hit-and-run death may have been no accident, and that she might be next on a killer's to-do list. But just when things get too tense, Kahn livens things up with hilarious scenes and hard-to-forget characters.

It's a funny and fast-paced novel, with a mystery that will leave you guessing up until the book's last pages. It's no wonder that Fax Me a Bagel is a hit with fans and critics alike. Let's hope that we get to see much more of Ruby and The Hot Bagel in the future.