Mom Meets Her Maker

Mom #2

by James Yaffe

Not only was Dave's mother a great cook, but she had an amazing knack -- between the chopped liver and the strudel -- for solving his most difficult murder cases. Possibly because no detail, no matter how trivial, ever escaped that rattrap brain of hers. — When the Reverend Chuck Candy is found dead three days before Christmas, it's more than ill-timed murder. It's a complex case of religious fanaticism, illicit affairs and small-town bigotry. Dave -- an investigator for the public defender -- believes an innocent man is being framed. And he knows only one person in Mesa Grande, Colorado, can untangle the web of unlikely connections and sinister intentions: Mom.

Genres: Mystery

Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Since 1968 member of the Department of English, currently professor of English, and since 1981 Director of General Studies, Colorado College, Colorado Springs.

Reviews

[Lisa Kucharski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would give this a 3.5 stars, and mom is wonderful as usual. The story itself involves a lot of layers: greed, lies, and false appearances. I loved the times when Mom appeared, and wished a bit more that her son also got to try and figure things out (even if he got it wrong-or fell short.). It most certainly is a Christmas mystery, in all its overblown commerial sense and its celebration of people coming together. Liked the Jewish observations of the time of year as well.

Have always enjoyed these mysteries and there are a number of short stories of Yaffe's as well if you want to try a shorter story first before diving into a full book.

[Alton Motobu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting premise: ex-NYC cop becomes investigator for Public Defender's Office in small town in Colorado after becoming a widower. His Jewish mother moves into town and helps him with his cases by analyzing the clues and giving her opinions about whodunit. In this story a Christian minister is murdered and a young Jewish college student is accused of the crime. The town leaders all convict him before the investigation begins. It turns out the minister was involved in some shady dealings, and the town leaders had reasons for a coverup. A little bit too much about the Jewish religion at times; not for every taste. But if you are interested in the workings of Jewish moms, this is for you.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny, witty read Dave gets a case to investigate when his boss gets a case of an elderly couple are harassed by their neighbors. They are playing loud Christmas music and have loud Christmas music outside from early evening to early morning. Their son is then involved and arrested while trying to help his parents. With the help of his mom Dave follows the clues to find out what is really going on.

[ReadaBook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read. Enjoyed the humor and mix of religion with intolerance for certain things....although this was written in 1990, the circumstance was relevant today.

[Moe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok

[Farah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Because this book was originally published in 1990 - 1992, i decided to pick this book to read as i didn’t know this book existed back then. I initially wanted to read book 3 only as i was intrigued by the title. But 2 chapters in and i love the writing style, so i decided to read the whole 4 book series instead.

Out of the 4 books, my favourite was the #1 (a professor being framed for killing another professor for a tenure) and #2 (a jewish boy being framed for killing his Reverend neighbour). The #3 (a theatre actress being framed for killing the director) and #4 (a homeless man being framed for killing a masseuse in her own home) were not as exciting as the first two books of this series.

However, all four books had great twist from the superb deduction skills. Always get excited when i reach the end so i get to know what really went down with the murder, according to the great mind of mommy dearest.

[Barbara Radisavljevic · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first experience with this author, but I hope it won't be my last. I was only going to start it last night until I fell asleep, and I just kept turning the pages until it was over -- about 3 AM.

A Jewish college student visiting his parents on winter break is accused of murdering a Christian pastor in a town that is mostly Christian. The public defender (Ann) and her investigator (Dave) are sure that Roger is innocent, but the bigoted newspaper editor and most of the town already consider Roger guilty because of a previous conflict over Pastor Chuck Candy's gaudy and noisy Christmas display next door to Roger's family that was keeping them from sleeping. The only newspaper in town has turned this into a "liberal anti-Christian attack on Christianity" instead of the noise pollution issue it really is.

I won't ruin the story for you by saying more about the plot. But the real protagonist and the one who is mainly responsible for finding the culprit is Dave's Jewish mom, who feeds him delicious meals while helping him solve his cases. I will be looking for more books in this series.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this mystery! The characters were more than believable, the story well written and I fell in love with his mom! The murders were not the gruesome horrible ones (at least not the detail of them) drawn out so horribly that you didn’t want to read any more! I also enjoyed how at the end the author concluded all the miss-clues and ended the whole story quite nicely! Good enjoyable read!

[Vickie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent little cozy with a pretty neat premise. Son is an investigator for the public defender in a town in Colorado. He comes home each day and fills his mother in on the current case. She think about it and helps him with the solving of it. He does the legwork and danger part and some thinking. She does more thinking and stays out of harm's way. Teamwork...

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this mystery. Mom's thinking patterns, point of view & philosophy are quintessentially Jewish. I can identify! Her food is also quintessentially Jewish. Makes me hungry. Also it's quite a witty read.

[Drew- Pickleball Librarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another cool mystery novel about a detective with a Jewish mom who thinks like Sherlock Holmes. Of course, the main character tries to solve the mystery first.

[Jack Heath]

Synopsis: when Reverend Candy is found dead at Christmas, we get into fanaticism, affairs and bigotry. Detective Dave again consults Mom.