Mark Reutlinger

Mark Reutlinger (birth est. 1944 in San Francisco - an American attorney and Professor of Law Emeritus at Seattle University, residing in University Place, WA.) Author of the 3-volume Mrs. Kaplan cozy mystery series featuring Rose Kaplan and her sidekick Ida Berkowitz, two sharp-witted residents of the “Julius and Rebecca Cohen Home for Jewish Seniors”, located in an undisclosed city that could be in New York or Florida or the Pacific Northwest or wherever American Jews go to retire.

Google/AI contends that Reutlinger has some serious purposes in depicting two elderly and very Yiddish ladies as detectives solving murders. For one thing, he wishes to assert the competence and capability of the elderly, who use brains over brawn to outmaneuver the police and solve complex crimes. He leans into the “nosy grandma” stereotype but elevates it, turning gossip and sharp observation into a legitimate investigative tool. The series is sometimes described as “Lucy and Ethel (protagonists of the classic 1950s sitcom, “I Love Lucy”) meet Holmes and Watson”. For another, he celebrates and preserves a specific post-WWII ethnic world, accurately capturing the grammar, worldviews, and dialects (Yiddish) of a generation that is passing. He includes “a bissel (a little) Yiddish” in his books with the explicit goal of having readers learn the language as they go. For Reutlinger, the Yiddish “mameloshen” (mother tongue) is the “deepest soul” of his characters. He uses it to express nuances that English cannot fully capture— for example, terms that convey deep emotional bonds or specific worldviews rather than just literal translations.

He also uses fiction to examine social issues, such as the exploitation of the elderly by “unreliable companions” or the dynamics of living in assisted care. A core “engine” of the books is the powerful bond of female friendship between Rose and Ida, highlighting that life’s joy and purpose don’t end with retirement. He explicitly states he writes cozies because he enjoys the “snappy dialogue” and the challenge of working a murder plot around specific Jewish holidays like Passover or Purim. [Google/AI]

Reutlinger, Mark [Mrs. Kaplan Mysteries #1], (Oy Vey, Maria! [pb, Wild Rose Press, 2021]) 978-1509238354

Reutlinger, Mark [Mrs. Kaplan Mysteries #2], (A Pain in the Tuchis [pb, Wild Rose Press, 2022]) 978- 1509238736

Reutlinger, Mark [Mrs. Kaplan Mysteries #3], (Mrs. Kaplan and the Matzoh Ball of Death [pb, Wild Rose Press, 2022]) 978-1509245475