Welcome Back — Tina Kashian

Sherry Harris

5 years ago

Sallycootie is the winner of Tina’s book! Sally watch for an email from Tina! I’m so glad Tina Kashian could return to talk about her mouthwatering Kebab Kitchen mystery series! Look for a giveaway below.

Tina: I grew up in a family-owned restaurant in New Jersey, and my Kebab Kitchen Mystery Series is set in a Mediterranean restaurant at the Jersey shore. In One Feta in the Grave, Lucy Berberian is a recovering lawyer who returns to Ocean Crest, NJ and her family’s restaurant, Kebab Kitchen. To celebrate a successful summer season, the town plans a beach festival. But things soon take a turn for the worse when an arrogant businessman gets in a screaming match with Lucy’s best friend, Katie, over a sand castle contest. And when the same businessman is found shot dead under the boardwalk, things don’t look good for Katie. It’s up to Lucy to investigate before the wrong person gets skewered.

Many scenes in the series take place on the Jersey Shore boardwalk. I’ve vacationed at the Jersey Shore as a kid and we continue to visit with my two girls every summer. We can’t imagine a beach vacation without going to one of the eateries, enjoying frozen custard, or riding the boardwalk Ferris wheel and roller coaster, and even splashing in the water parks.

Which made me wonder about the history of the boardwalk. After a bit of research, I learned that a fellow by the name of Andrew Boardman was credited with coming up with the idea of the first boardwalk back in 1870. Boardman built the original boardwalk in Atlantic City, NJ, along the ocean front to keep visitors from tracking in sand on the train or in fancy hotels. Over the years, the boardwalk took off and expanded and became an Atlantic City tourist attraction.

The idea of the boardwalk must have spread to the neighboring beach towns of Ocean City, NJ and Wildwood, NJ—two of my favorite Jersey Shore towns. My fictitious town of Ocean Crest is a combination of these two towns. Both have sprawling boardwalks with dozens of eateries, shops, and amusement piers that have become iconic. Both Ocean City and Wildwood each have beachfront boardwalks that stretch 2 ½ miles. They are a one-of-a kind experience and we love visiting every year.

My amateur sleuth, Lucy Berberian, jogs the Ocean Crest boardwalk three times a week. Working with food all day makes exercise a necessity. Her encounters with boardwalk T-shirt and novelty shop owners, tattoo parlors, and a psychic medium all make for interesting witnesses and suspects.

Here’s some pictures I took of the Wildwood, NJ boardwalk from last summer. You can see the eclectic mix of shops and entertainment.

This is the famous Wildwood tramcar that passengers can ride up and down the boardwalk.

The amusement pier with the large Ferris wheel.

Giveaway! Win a signed, print copy of the first book in my Kebab Kitchen mystery series, Hummus and Homicide (U.S. residents only).

Readers: Where is your favorite place to vacation? Please comment for a chance to win!

One Feta in the Grave:

As summer comes to an end in her Jersey Shore town, Lucy Berberian continues to manage her family’s Mediterranean restaurant. The Kebab Kitchen also has a food tent at this year’s beach festival. But now a local businessman is under the boardwalk—dead by the sea . . .

With a sand castle contest and live music, Ocean Crest bids a bittersweet farewell to tourist season. Summer will return next year . . . but Archie Kincaid won’t. The full-of-himself store owner has been fatally shot, soon after a screaming match with Lucy’s best friend. Katie’s far from the only suspect, though, since Archie had some bitter rivals—as well as some relationships no one knew about. It’s up to Lucy to look into some seedy characters and solve the case before the wrong person gets skewered . . .Recipes included!

“A delectable read.” —Bestselling author Shelley Freydont

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2UxFd8q

iBooks: https://apple.co/2B9EAsI

Barnes & Noble: https://bit.ly/2Bbbuta

Kobo: https://bit.ly/2C8zA9M

Google Books: https://bit.ly/2RTDl8r

Tina Kashian is an attorney and a former mechanical engineer whose love of reading for pleasure helped her get through years of academia. Tina spent her childhood summers at the Jersey shore building sandcastles, boogie boarding, and riding the boardwalk Ferris wheel. She also grew up in the restaurant business, as her Armenian parents owned a restaurant for thirty years. Tina still lives in New Jersey with her supportive husband and two daughters. Please visit her website at http://www.tinakashian.com to join her newsletter, receive delicious recipes, enter contests, and more!