Hummus and Homicide

Kebab Kitchen Mystery #1

by Tina Kashian

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 . . .

Recipes included!

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Cozy, Fiction, Food, Contemporary, Audiobook

Audible Audio

First published February 27, 2018

About the author

Tina Kashian spent her childhood summers at the New Jersey shore, building sandcastles, boogie boarding, and riding the boardwalk Ferris wheel. She also grew up in the restaurant business where her Armenian parents owned a restaurant for thirty years. She worked almost every job—rolling silverware and wiping down tables as a tween, to hosting and waitressing as a teenager.

After college, Tina worked as a NJ Deputy Attorney General, a patent attorney, and a mechanical engineer. Her love of reading fiction for pleasure helped her get through years of academia. Her law cases inspired an inquiring mind of crime, and since then, Tina has been hooked on mysteries. The Kebab Kitchen Cozy Mystery series launches with Hummus and Homicide (3/18), followed by Stabbed in the Baklava and One Feta in the Grave by Kensington Books. Tina still lives in New Jersey with her supportive husband and two young daughters. Please visit www.tinakashian.com and join her Newsletter to enter free contests to win books, get delicious recipes, and to learn when her books will be released.

Tina is also an Amazon best-selling historical romance author and writes under the pseudonym Tina Gabrielle. Visit tinagabrielle.com to learn about her romances.

Reviews

[beachbum bookworm]

Newest Assignment details:

Where: Ocean City-Jersey Shore

Who: Lucy


I can’t tell you how thrilled I was about this trip! When I arrived Lucy who also just returned home from living in Philly had to tell me to calm down, but really. I was in heaven...I caught a glimpse of the boardwalk on my way to Kebob Kitchen...funnel cakes, games, corndogs, psychics, cotton candy, bumper cars...what is not to love? To top it all off I was standing in a Mediterranean restaurant that had a hummus bar for goodness sakes...please don’t ever make me leave here! Lucy confided that even though all her family and friends think she is just on a vacation...she quit her job at the law firm after she was unfairly passed over for partner. She didn’t know what her future held, but for right now she was going to help @ Kitchen Kebob. We went out with Lucy’s close friend Kate to catch up and ran into one of their high school nemesis Heather. Heather still seemed to be stuck in high school years by the way she behaved. She was the local health inspector now and would be coming in to evaluate Kitchen Kebob. This ended up being sooner rather than later...as in the next day. She cited the restaurant for numerous bogus infractions and seemed to drive great satisfaction from others misery. After all the violations she orders food…. bizarre right?? She orders the hummus bar and seems to really enjoy herself despite her worries of restaurant infractions or her bad attitude. That evening when taking out the garbage her body is found….POISONED!! So, it is natural that people assume it was her last meal. Lucy’s family beg her to investigate and find out the truth before their family business is lost…

IMy thoughts:

I listened to this book for my “hooked on books” feature of my blog. Check it out!! The link will be provided at the end of the review.

The narrator of this book was good...no complaints. To me it’s hard to find narrators that I think are fabulous...they are either ok/good or REALLY REALLY bad!!

Now on to the book….LOVED, LOVED, LOVED, LOVED it! This is easily one of my favorite cozy series!! As mentioned in the synopsis...loved the setting. I also really enjoyed all the characters...I loved all the family loyalty. Lucy is smart, witty, and levelheaded...which I really appreciated. The mystery was engaging with plenty of suspects and red herrings. I did not see the reveal coming.

TO ALL COZY LOVERS...CHECK OUT THIS SERIES...maybe while feasting on Angela’s Famous Traditional Hummus. Enjoy!

To subscribe and see pictures of the blanket that accompanied this audio book (hooked on books feature) check out my blog @ http://beachbumbookworm.com/.

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hummus and Homicide by Tina Kashian is the first book in the new cozy Kebab Kitchen Mystery series. This series introduces Lucy Berberian who has left her job as a lawyer to return to her hometown of Ocean Crest, New Jersey to regroup and find out where she wants her career to go.

When Lucy arrives home she immediately jumps in to helping at her parents restaurant, the Kebab Kitchen. While it was nice to come home and see her friends and family unfortunately one person Lucy could do without seeing walks back into her life. Heather Banks was a typical mean girl in high school and things certainly haven’t changed a bit.

After her initial run in with Heather Lucy hopes to be done with her but Heather walks back into the Kebab Kitchen and announces she’s taken over as health inspector. Of course with Heather behind the inspection the restaurant fails leaving Lucy and her parents wondering what to do but the next thing they know Heather winds up dead right outside the restaurant.

As typical of a cozy Lucy begins her own investigating by questioning everyone who knew Heather and compiling her list of suspects. She was one of those main characters that was completely realistic in not pretending she knew how to be a detective but asking the right person here and there to eventually lead her to solving the crime and clearing her name.

As likable as everyone was in this new series my one thing that I lowered my rating a bit to 3.5 stars was that I felt the characters missed that extra spark. Dare I say everyone seemed a bit too normal?? The author did a good job making this one a bit more diverse but I didn’t get that humorous quirkiness that stands out to me in cozies. Otherwise though I did like the story and characters with the mystery being a nice one to try to solve.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

For more reviews please visit https://carriesbookreviews.com/

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hummus and Homicide was a great new start to a new yummy series. The multicultural characters and new restaurant The kebab kitchen made it different,in a good way. Descriptions of Mediterranean cuisine were delicious especially the hummus bar. The plot was exciting and moved along quick. I can't wait to continue reading this series.

[LORI CASWELL · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dollycas’s Thoughts

Hummus with a side of Homicide. That is what Lucy Berberian has to deal with shortly after returning home to Ocean Crest. When she quit her job as a patent attorney in Philadelphia she hoped to come home, lick her wounds, and decide what her next career move would be. But now she is the prime suspect in the murder of Heather Banks, one of the high school in-crowd from when she and Lucy were in high school. She was now the local health inspector who had just written up a ton of violations for Lucy’s parent’s restaurant, The Kebab Kitchen. She also had loud words with Lucy soon after she arrived in town, in front of several witnesses. Those reasons, plus the victim happened to eat a whole lot of hummus at the family eatery right before she died means Lucy and her parents could lose everything.

The Berberian family had Lucy’s life all planned for her, work at the restaurant, marry the dishwasher soon to be chef, and take over the family business when her parents were ready to retire. She had other plans, she went to college and law school and took a job with a Philadelphia firm hoping to make partner. When her law career didn’t go as planned they welcomed her home with open arms. This theme is real, believable, and traditional of many families in the restaurant and other family businesses. These characters have depth and their dialogues are delightful. I was drawn into the story immediately by them as soon as they were introduced.

From the title I knew the method of death would be poison and it would be in the hummus, but beyond that, the entire investigation was a surprise. The suspect pool was pretty limited by who was in the restaurant or had access to the restaurant, most being family. I enjoyed following along with Lucy and her BFF Katie as they tried to find the actual killer. Twist after twist made this a tough mystery to solve. It was very well plotted by the author to lead this reader off the right track. I was totally blown away when the killer was revealed.

The story had a steady pace that picked up as we got closer to the big reveal.

Ms. Kashian has introduced us to some very captivating characters. I am excited to get to know them better in future stories. I love the romantic triangle that is just starting to evolve for Lucy. I also enjoyed her friendship with Katie, whose husband happens to be a police officer. Together they make a nice team and you know they have each other’s back no matter what.

This is an excellent start for this series. Stabbed in the Baklava will be released August 28, 2018. I can hardly wait.

[Yvonne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lucy Berberian is back home to Ocean Crest, New Jersey after she quits her job at a law firm in Philadelphia. She doesn’t let her family in on her current lack of job status, but offers to help the family run restaurant, Kebab Kitchen.

Unfortunately, she meets up with an old high school enemy, Heather Banks. Heather is the new health inspector and her inspection of the restaurant doesn’t go very well. She presents the Kebab Kitchen with a host of costly violations. Violations Lucy is sure is just Heather’s way to get under her skin. Heather stops at the restaurant for a meal and winds up dead moments later. It’s not long before the restaurant suffers as people assume Heather’s death is related to eating at the Kebab Kitchen.

Lucy is not going to let her parents’ restaurant suffer like this. She is more than a little determined to find out what really happened to Heather. The police think she and her family’s restaurant killed the inspector, but Lucy knows better and will prove it once and for all.

What a charming debut for the Kebab Kitchen Mystery series. I immediately adored Lucy and her family. They are close-knit, despite the time Lucy spend in Philadelphia. The author does a great job of drawing the reader into the story. I felt as if I was in Ocean Crest walking along the boardwalk.

There’s a touch of romance mixed into the mystery, but the main focus of the story is on the mystery. It’s fast-paced with a huge suspect list. It was hard for me to narrow it down to one culprit. I love a story that keeps me guessing as this one did.

I’m looking forward to the next entry into this series. I can’t wait for my next visit to the Kebab Kitchen. I suddenly have a craving for hummus!



FTC Disclosure: I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own.

[Hilary (A Wytch's Book Review) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lucy has been passed over at the law firm once too often, so she has quit and has headed home for a month or so to decide what to do next, she is staying with her best friend (and her husband who is a local police officer) and she will be helping out at the family restaurant.  Her first day back and she and Katie have headed for a beer and a catch up when Heather Banks arrives and she promptly manages to get right in Lucy's face (mainly by saying that her parents are not legal immigrants), the problem then arises that she has taken over from her father and is now the Health Inspector and that afternoon Heather comes to inspect the Kebab Kitchen and promptly writes it up for various violations.  If that isn't enough she then comes back the next day for lunch (so she isn't that bothered about the violations it seems!)

That would seem to be the end of it until Lucy stumbles across Heather's very dead body and the detective in charge of the case has a gripe against the Berberian family (thanks to Lucy's older sister Emma, who dumped his rather dramatically in high school), now it looks as though Lucy is headed to be a dish washer in Prison unless she and Katie can find out who really hated Heather enough to kill.

A nice gentle start to what will be another good cozy series, Lucy's mother is a hoot and although we don't see much of the other members of staff at the restaurant they (and other members of the town) are nicely written and are all believable characters.  I am looking forward to reading more!

[Mary Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Peggy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tina Kashian is a new voice in the cozy mystery genre and Hummus and Homicide is a delightful debut. It hits all the marks that I look for in a cozy mystery. It is full of well written, colorful, fun characters, family, food and an engaging mystery. The story had a steady pace and it seemed like something was always happening. I liked Lucy's character. She becomes an amateur sleuth out of necessity but is not reckless or over confident in her abilities. There were plenty of suspects to choose from and at one point I had suspected the actual killer, but this author did a great job of dropping clues that directed my attention elsewhere.

This is an entertaining cozy mystery debut that at its heart is about family, food and coming home again. I look forward to reading the next book in the series.

This book is scheduled for release February 27, 2018. I voluntarily read an advanced reader copy provided to me by the publisher, Kensington, through Netgalley.

[Patrizia · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stelle e mezza
Un altro buon inizio di una nuova serie. Mi piacciono sia la protagonista che molti dei vari personaggi secondari, ma ho un solo appunto: perché ogni volta che c'è un italo-americano costui deve per forza essere (o essere sospettato di essere) un mafioso?
Il mistero è ben congegnato e la soluzione è giunta inaspettata, forse perché, almeno secondo me, non c'erano abbastanza indizi.
Vado a prenotare il successivo...

[Mark Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lucy Berberian is back in her hometown of Ocean Crest, New Jersey, while she tries to figure out what to do next in her life. While she is reconnecting with family and friends, she is also working at her parent’s restaurant, Kebab Kitchen. Her high school nemesis, Heather Banks, is now the health inspector, and goes out of her way to make trouble for Lucy. However, after eating at the restaurant’s hummus bar, Heather dies in the parking lot. With business declining and Lucy the prime suspect, Lucy begins to search for answers. What happened to Heather?

This series is off to a good start. Lucy has a great collection of family and friends, although I did feel that her parents could be better fleshed out. We see hints of more here, something I hope is developed further as the series progresses. The mystery is solid with several believable suspects and plenty of secrets. The ending surprised me and kept me turning pages.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.

Read my full review at Carstairs Considers.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lucy quits her big city law firm and goes back to her hometown to help her parents run their Mediterranean restaurant. She is enjoying catching up with old friend until she runs into Heather Banks a former cheerleader who was nasty in high school and still is. Heather is the new health inspector and she make up fake violations of the restaurant. When Heather is found dead after eating at the restaurant Lucy has to find out who did it before her family is put out of business.

[Lucy Burdette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun cozy that reminded me of summers spent at the Jersey shore. I only wish I could really eat at the Kebab Kitchen!

[Kathleen Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fresh new voice in cozy! Lucy is home in Ocean Crest after quitting her job at a Philly law firm when she didn't make partner after 8 long years of hard work. She finds herself doing more than helping out at her parents restaurant- she's snooping around with her friend Katie to find out who killed the rotten health inspector, who was a mean girl in high school and a mean girl as a grown up. There's two possible love interests (great set up for the future), a lively family (love Mom), recipes (yum) and a mystery that actually had me guessing. The twist was a surprise to me, which is a real positive. The writing is spritely and the characters well drawn. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. I'm looking forward to more from Kashian- and I'm curious if Lucy will make use of that legal background (acknowledging, as she does, that being an expert on patent law does not qualify one for criminal issues.). Try this one!

[Dawn Frazier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!! Will be a new favorite series of mine.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

**I voluntarily read this ARC**

This was a fun start to a new series. I loved how there was a strong focus on family. The setting was a little "standard cozy setting," but it felt like a nice place (minus the murder of course). The mystery was well written and kept me guessing until the end.

[Tari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lucy Berberian had quit her job as a patent attorney in Philadelphia when she didn't make partner. She came home to Ocean Crest, NJ and her parents' Mediterranean restaurant, Kebab Kitchen and started filling in as a waitress while living with her best friend Katie and Katie's husband, Bill, who happened to be on the police force. Of course, no trip home is ever complete without a run-in with a high school nemesis. Lucy and Heather Banks had an argument, then Heather showed up as the new health inspector who promptly found numerous things in violation. Imagine Lucy's surprise when later, going out to the trash can, she found Heather's dead body out back of the restaurant. Lucy just knew that the police would suspect her since she not only had been last to see her alive, she'd done the serving of her food and drink.

Katie, being the awesome best friend she was, wasn't going to let Lucy sleuth alone, and the two of them set off to find out some very interesting things, one of which, the police didn't even know. There was a good twist towards the end, so I won't go into anything that happened, except everything worked out for the best and people were happy. Now I'm really anxious to see what comes next--good thing I've pre-ordered the next two books!

I loved this author's first cozy mystery! I'm not sure what she wrote under her other name but this book was very well written, great plot and some fun and interesting, as well as likable, characters. When I can feel right at home with characters after only a few chapters, I know the author has done their job well. If you read the acknowledgements in the back and the author's Amazon bio, you'll see that Lucy's life mirrors the author's life somewhat. Great job, Tina Kashian, I can't wait to visit Ocean Crest in the next book!

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bursting with flavor and brimming with murderous intent, this deftly written cozy mystery left me smacking my lips for another helping! The characters were a delight, the plot simmered with spicy red herrings, and the descriptions of the Mediterranean cuisine were to die for. Fortunately, the next installment in this wonderful new series is not far off. I can't wait!

[oshizu · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. It was a little hard to decide whether to round up or down. Enjoyed all the descriptions of Armenian food within this cozy set at an Armenian restaurant in New Jersey.

[Betty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lucy Barbarian stumbled over something as she left the Kebab restaurant carrying a large bag to the trash. She looks at what she tripped over and gasped in horror. It was Heather Banks, her high school nemesis. She called 911 and this begins a nightmare where she was the lead suspect in Heather's murder. The lead detective was an ex-flame of sister and was looking no further for the killer. Her family's restaurant is hurting from Heather's death as she had just eaten at the hummus bar. Its ingredients were made by her Mother. Lucy, an out of work patent attorney decided to help the restaurant reputation and clear her name by looking for the real killer. The twists and turns in her investigation will take her on a journey that involved a well-known suspense author, greed, and jealousy of other restaurant owners, a casino, an old boyfriend, a mob boss, and a motorcycle enthusiast thoroughly enjoyed this book and looking forward to reading the next book. I learned about Armenian cooking Recipes for hummus are included.

Disclosure: Many thanks to Kensington Books for a review copy.The opinions expressed are my own.

[Debra Jeakins · Rating 5 out of 5]

HUMMUS AND HOMICIDE(KEBAB KITCHEN MYSTERY # 1) BY TINA KASHIAN is a really good start to what I hope is a very long run of mysteries. A very fast read but a really good action packed mystery with a cast of characters who could be living in anytown USA.

Lucy Berberian just quit her law job because she got passed up for partner in a law firm in PA. Now when you are out of a job and a little homesick what does Lucy do? She goes home to Ocean Crest & her family run restaurant to "spend a little" time before looking for another job. Of course, Lucy is handed an order pad and an apron and put to work. One of her first customers is her nemesis from high school Heather Banks, local health inspector who just slapped multiple violations(all unfounded) on the restaurant. Heather eats the food pays the bill leaves and drops dead, and guess who is the top suspect? Lucy is hell bent on finding out who really killed Heather before it not only gets her in jail on a murder charge but forces the family business out of business!

I received this book free from goodreads in exchange for an honest review.

[Elena Mikalsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great mystery set in NJ with lots of local character mixed in. I had to snack all the way through, watch out! There is a bit of romance mixed in, but I was mainly drawn in by the mystery plot. Quick lovely read and a great author to discover!

[Louise Walsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book. I enjoyed reading it.

[Carrie Schmidt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tina Kashian debuts on the cozy mystery scene with a delightfully multi-cultural cast and setting. Hummus and Homicide joins the ranks of other recent ethnically-diverse cozies such as Leena Clover’s Meera Patel series and Vivien Chien’s Noodle Shop Mysteries – and I love it!

Lucy Berberian is a first generation American (meaning her parents immigrated to the States before she was born) with a rich cultural background. Both parents have Armenian roots, while her mother also claims Lebanese and Greek heritage. Family is key – and food is central. Yummy food like kebabs and hummus and stuffed grape leaves and warm-from-the-oven pita bread. My mouth is literally watering right now, y’all.

The murder mystery is very well-constructed, and just when I thought I had it figured out Lucy and her investigative skills proved me wrong. Lucy’s love life has a couple of intriguing possibilities for future books in the series – her first love Azad (who wants her back) or the hot new guy Michael (who totally rocks the bad boy vibe). I’m pulling for Azad but we’ll see where the story takes them. Her relationship with her best friend Katie is fun, too, and they make a great sleuthing team. The way Katie conveniently took off work whenever she wanted to seemed a tad unrealistic but it still added to the overall charm of their friendship – and to Katie’s character itself.

Bottom Line: Hummus and Homicide is charming and well-written, setting things up nicely for the rest of the series and keeping readers invested in Lucy and her life. The murder plot is nicely paced and full of twists and turns and red herrings, and the characters are layered and endearing. I would love to hang out at the Kebab Kitchen with its warm atmosphere and tantalizing food. Looking forward to book #2!

(I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book)

first seen at Reading Is My SuperPower

[Fred · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hummus and Homicide is a fun read. I loved reading about all the ethnic foods and how they tied into the story. All of the characters were fully developed and added a lot of interest to the mystery. The ending was quite a surprise. I'm looking forward to reading more books in this great new series!

[Erika · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hummus and Homicide starts out like a typical culinary cozy, but with a nice twist on the standard bakery or coffee shop setting (which I love, don’t get me wrong). Lucy’s family runs an Armenian eatery, the Kebob Kitchen, in a small Jersey shore town. When she comes home temporarily after losing her job in the city, Lucy finds that the family business is up for sale. After the new health inspector ladles on a heap of trumped-up violations, she’s found dead and suspicion is cast on Lucy’s family. As any good daughter would, Lucy decides to find the real killer.

Lucy and her family felt like very real people, and I enjoyed following along in Lucy’s footsteps as she searched for a killer. It was a good start to a new series with just enough personal drama to add to the mystery, but not distract from it.

I also really enjoyed the food descriptions in this one. I love hummus, and would love to find a place with a hummus bar like the Kebob Kitchen!

Read more at The Book's the Thing

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. This is the first in a new series. The story was unique to me because it is set in an Armenian restaurant in New Jersey, the Kebab Kitchen. Lucy, our heroine, decides to leave her law firm after being passed up for another promotion. She returns to her hometown where her parents own the Kebab Kitchen. Initially, Lucy is unsure about what her future holds. When the local health inspector dies outside the restaurant after eating there, and Lucy being her server, all eyes are on Lucy as the prime suspect. Lucy, along with her best friend Kate, take it upon themselves to investigate. There are an assortment of interesting characters, including an old flame and a new love interest. I can’t wait to see where the series leads, this was a great cozy mystery!

[Cozybooklady · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hummus and Homicide is the first in a new series by Tina Kashian.

I enjoyed this story very much. It had all the makings of a great cozy mystery, wonderful characters, a mystery that was interesting and kept me guessing and it was well written.
Lucy Berberian is returning to her family restaurant after leaving her position as a patent attorney.
Her parents are thrilled that she has returned, since it's their dream that she take over the restaurant.
Their dream and Lucy's aren't quite the same, but when an untimely death happens on their property, everything Lucy has come to know could be quickly taken away.

The author told a story of honor, love, loyalty and friendship. The mystery was exciting and I was wrong about who the murderer was!!
I enjoy reading a story that reflects part of the author's life. It makes the story more believable.

The food descriptions were mouthwatering and I am now looking forward to trying some hummus!
I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series.
Hummus and Homicide releases on February 27th so be sure to grab your copy.
I voluntarily read an ARC of this book provided by the publisher and NetGalley.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazing. I don't know if it is because I too grew up in a coastal New Jersey town, but I felt like I was right there in Ocean Crest the whole time. It was a well thought out mystery, with just enough back story and history between the characters to make me want more! Can't wait for the next one.

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Usually the first book in a series can be a little boring due to setting the stage and introducing the characters. NOT THIS ONE! A great story line and characters that became fast friends kept me reading along.
I was kept guessing till the end. A very good read and I'll be looking for the one in the series.

[Rhea · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 this was great! Had some issues - I was iffy about it to begin, I really don't like one of the love interests, and it took me almost the whole book to even start to like our MC, but the mystery was super interesting imo (don't want to spoil but that was a unique end for sure), I really enjoyed the family and community, and the beach town setting and the food descriptions. And I think the representation was fantastic, a really good debut overall! Also, the audiobook narrator is really talented