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I decided to google “Yom Killer reviews,” and am glad I did. I somehow had missed a great review of the book on Sept. 4 by the renowned Lelia Taylor of CNC/Buried under Books fame. Thank you, Lelia, for your “overall enjoyment of this lighthearted, intelligent mystery.”
You can read the review here. (Scroll down as it’s the 2nd one on the page.) http://tinyurl.com/yb4mkp3q

Review of YOM KILLER, by Rabbi Rachel Esserman, Executive Editor and Book Reviewer, The Reporter Group; appears in the August 25, 2017, issue of the Jewish Federation of Greater Binghamton’s The Reporter, located in Vestal, NY. (http://www.thereportergroup.org/publications.aspx?dID=1&iID=602)

“I’ll admit I feel an affinity for the main character in Yom Killer. After all, how could I not like Rabbi Aviva Cohen, a middle-aged, wise-cracking, liberal rabbi? In previous books in the series, Aviva not only had to deal with balancing the needs of different members of her congregation, but with an ex-husband who is now living in the same town. There were also phone calls and advice from her older sister and her mother, who fortunately don’t live in New Jersey, but who still frequently interfere in her life. In the current novel, Aviva faces a family crisis during the worst possible time for a rabbi: the High Holidays. When she learns her mother is in the hospital, Avivia rushes – with her ex-husband in tow – to Boston. Questions abound: If her mother only had a simple fall, why did the hospital place her in a medical coma? Why does the staff at the hospital and the assisted living facility act as if they are hiding something? Does the fact that a new company owns the assisted living facility and the hospital have anything to do with her mother’s injury? Aviva is willing to risk her own life to find the answer. 
“Aviva is an appealing character, partly because she’s honest about her own faults – and she does have several endearing ones, including not thinking before she acts. It’s also hard not to like someone who packs far more books than she can possibly read for the trip to Boston. The novel has the right balance of seriousness and humor, and the mystery was satisfyingly complex …. Yom Killer is fun, easy reading….a perfect book for the beach or relaxing after work.”

My thanks to Helen Chapman for the 5 star review of YOM KILLER she posted on Amazon: 
You should buy the book. Promise, no spoilers.

The third of the series about Rabbi Cohen. Funny, poignant, as it touches on too many things none of us really want to think about, and, on top of it all, a darned good mystery. 

No, it’s not necessary to read “Chanukah Guilt” or “Unleavened Dead” before Yom Killer, but it couldn’t hurt.

YOM KILLER won the David Award for best novel at Deadly Ink!

My thanks to Jim Callan for posting my 4th blog in as many weeks. I discuss my 2 favorite places to write.  Spoiler: They both have fattening snacks and drinks, plus lots of outlets for plugging in my laptop. 

Take a look at: http://www.jamesrcallan.com/blog

I hadn’t set up to do a blog tour, but my 3rd guest blog in 2 weeks is now “live.” Thank you to Anne Louise Bannon for hosting me as I discuss “What Mysteries Can Do.” You can check it out at http://wp.me/p3yk33-qX

My thanks to Lelia Taylor for hosting my blog about how I had difficulty finding my voice while writing Yom Killer. And what is “voice” anyway? Find out at:  https://cncbooksblog.wordpress.com/2017/06/02/i-thought-i-recognized-that-voice/

Read all about how my quick and simple solution to naming characters wasn’t. Now on “Bookbrowsing,” PJ Nunn’s site:  https://bookbrowsing.wordpress.com/2017/05/22/naming-character…-ilene-schneider/

A return appearance here by J. L. (Janet) Greger, author of the Science Traveler Thriller/Mystery series. In her life before becoming a fiction writer, Janet was a professor in the biological sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and she likes to include “sound bites” on science and on exotic locations in her mysteries. Her books include Murder…A Way to Lose Weight (winner of 2016 Public Safety Writers [PSWA] annual contest and finalist for New Mexico–Arizona book award), I Saw You in Beirut,Malignancy (winner of 2015 PSWA annual contest), and the latest Riddled with Clues. 

 In Riddled with Clues, a hospitalized friend (Xave Zack) gives Sara Almquist a note, which he received just before he was severely injured while investigating the movement of drugs into the U.S. The note is signed by “Red from Udon Thani.” However, he doesn’t know anyone called Red, and the last time he was in Udon Thani was during the Vietnam War. After Sara listens to his rambling tale of all the possibilities, both are assaulted. Xave is left comatose. Sara must determine whether the attacks were related to events during the secret war in Laos fifty years ago or to the modern-day drug trade. As she struggles to survive, she questions who to trust: the local cops, her absent best friend (Sanders), the FBI, or a homeless veteran who leaves puzzling riddles as clues. 

The paperback and Kindle versions of Riddled with Clues are available from Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/1938436237.  I Saw You in Beirut (http://www.amazon.com/dp/1610092201) and Malignancy (http://amzn.com/1610091779) are also available from Amazon.

To learn more, visit her website: http://www.jlgreger.com or her Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B008IFZSC4.

And to learn her tips on keeping characters realistic, even when not real, read on:

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Are you like me? I think it’s a mistake to base a character too closely on real people. (I don’t want to be sued.) On the other hand, characters need to be realistic.

Interesting characters don’t have to be bizarre. I love Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot, but I don’t want to write a mystery with another neurotic genius. Let’s face it – most problems are solved by normal people, albeit sometimes smarter or more observant than most. However, the protagonist of a mystery needs a quirk or two to pique readers’ interests.

Sara Almquist, the lead character in my thrillers: Riddled with Clues, I Saw You in Beirut, and Malignancy, is an epidemiologist (a scientist who studies the incidence and control of diseases in populations). Her profession gives her legitimate reasons to pry into everyone else’s business and makes her a whiz at handling large data sets. She’s normal, but maybe a bit cranky and nosy. She’s also dotty about her dog, Bug. [Ilene here:  As is Janet.]

Realistic characters can be amalgams of several real people. I’ve done pet therapy at the VA campus in Albuquerque for almost ten years. My dog and I have met many veterans in rehab facilities. The veterans portrayed in Riddled with Clues are composites of these men. However, the character Bug in my novels is based on my real Japanese Chin dog, Bug. (He won’t sue me.)

Fictional characters can have real experiences. A medic in Laos during the Vietnam War in the 1960s shared his memoirs with me. I used his notes to create many of the clues mentioned by Xave Zack in Chapter 2 of Riddled with Clues. The real medic wants me to note he doesn’t resemble the character Xave Zack in my novels, but he did treat men covered with hundreds of leeches, a baby monkey, and Hmong children with yaws and vitamin A deficiency besides lots of wounded soldiers.

Vital characters need to grow and adapt to different situations. You could argue comedic or pathetic characters can violate this rule. However, major characters in a series become boring if they’re static and always predictable.

I don’t want to give away a subplot, but in this thriller both Sara and her special friend, Sanders, assess their past assumptions about relationships and what they value in others. It’s an opportunity for growth and mistakes.

Characters, at least in a thriller, need to act on their beliefs and concerns not just talk about them. However, action scenes are illogical to readers if they don’t understand the individuals’ motivations.

Now aren’t you curious about my characters’ motivations and actions?

Now it’s your turn. How do you create realistic fictional characters?