On the Lamb is the fourth installment in the A Kebab Kitchen Mystery series set in the New Jersey seaside town of Ocean Crest and featuring Lucy Berberian, manager of her families Mediterranean restaurant, Kebab Kitchen. Spring is approaching and it's time for the annual Bikers on the Beach motorcycle gathering to raise funds for injured veterans.
Lucy's find found her own apartment and is moving out of Katie and Bill's house. She's going to miss living with her best friend and policeman husband, but her new apartment has a spectacular ocean view and she can bring Gadoo, the stray cat she's adopted from Kebab Kitchen. The only downside is the landlady, Eloisa Lubinski lives downstairs with her feisty dog Cupid and there are no locks on the doors separating upstairs from down. Adding to the drama is Eloisa's nephew Gilbert, a nasty Ocean Crest property owner and landlord, who is claiming his aunt suffers from dementia and needs to give him her beachside home and relocate to a nursing home.
Michael Citteroni, owner of the bike shop next door to the Kebab Kitchen, and son of a reputed mobster has invited Lucy and her friends to join him and his biker buddies at a bonfire on the beach. Everyone is having fun until Gilbert shows up at the bonfire and begins threatening Melanie Haven, owner of the local candy shop, that she's behind on her rent. Several of the bikers get involved in the argument and Gilbert hightails it down the beach. It's not long before a loud scream pierces the air and Gilbert's body is found dead - all fingers point to Melanie.
Not believing her friend could be guilty of such a heinous crime, Lucy teams up with Katie to track down a killer. She soon realizes that in addition to being a nasty landlord, Gilbert has also been running a side business as a loan shark and one of his customers was none other than Lucy's boyfriend, Azad. Between the tenants, money borrowers, the bikers and a soon to be ex wife, Lucy has her hands full of suspects that will keep her running up and down the boardwalk.
A fast paced plot with a cast of recurring characters. I'm looking forward to getting to know Eloisa, as I hope her zany antics will feature in future adventures with Lucy and Katie. I will say that I was disappointed with the final few pages - I was really rooting for the bad boy.
Lucy's find found her own apartment and is moving out of Katie and Bill's house. She's going to miss living with her best friend and policeman husband, but her new apartment has a spectacular ocean view and she can bring Gadoo, the stray cat she's adopted from Kebab Kitchen. The only downside is the landlady, Eloisa Lubinski lives downstairs with her feisty dog Cupid and there are no locks on the doors separating upstairs from down. Adding to the drama is Eloisa's nephew Gilbert, a nasty Ocean Crest property owner and landlord, who is claiming his aunt suffers from dementia and needs to give him her beachside home and relocate to a nursing home.
Michael Citteroni, owner of the bike shop next door to the Kebab Kitchen, and son of a reputed mobster has invited Lucy and her friends to join him and his biker buddies at a bonfire on the beach. Everyone is having fun until Gilbert shows up at the bonfire and begins threatening Melanie Haven, owner of the local candy shop, that she's behind on her rent. Several of the bikers get involved in the argument and Gilbert hightails it down the beach. It's not long before a loud scream pierces the air and Gilbert's body is found dead - all fingers point to Melanie.
Not believing her friend could be guilty of such a heinous crime, Lucy teams up with Katie to track down a killer. She soon realizes that in addition to being a nasty landlord, Gilbert has also been running a side business as a loan shark and one of his customers was none other than Lucy's boyfriend, Azad. Between the tenants, money borrowers, the bikers and a soon to be ex wife, Lucy has her hands full of suspects that will keep her running up and down the boardwalk.
A fast paced plot with a cast of recurring characters. I'm looking forward to getting to know Eloisa, as I hope her zany antics will feature in future adventures with Lucy and Katie. I will say that I was disappointed with the final few pages - I was really rooting for the bad boy.
