When a player drops dead during batting practice after dining on a dish of matzo balls, Ruby Rothman must keep her eye on things in and around her small Jewish community to figure out who is behind the recent string of strange events Ruby Rothman, widow of Eternal's (TX) previous rabbi (Fax Me a Bagel), runs a bagel bakery and a software consulting business while fending off the attentions of the new rabbi. In addition, the outrageous Essie Margolis, who owns half-interest in the town's only gym, enlists her aid in a fundraiser involving low-fat matzo balls, an ecumenical seder meal, and a nearby posh fitness farm. As if that weren't enough, someone murders the gym's personal trainer. The resulting confusion is a perfect mask for Ruby's breathless and somewhat ditsy sleuthing. Good for a few chuckles. Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. Kahn's second has no dearth of plot; once again, a murder lays itself at the very doorstep of Ruby Rothman (Fax Me a Bagel, 1998), widow of Rabbi Stu Rothman, late religious leader to the Jews of Eternal, Texas. This time, it's Hubert Bogardis, known as Bogie, baseball coach of Essie Sue Margolis's pet project, the synagogue's Center for Bodily Movement, who is found, dead as a lox, in front of the Center's batting machine by Ruby and Eternal's lunkish new rabbi, Kevin Kapstein. And there are plenty of memorable characters to push the plot along: Harmon and Hetty Poundburn, proprietors of the Fit and Rural Ranch, where Bogie had hoped to snag the post of athletic director; Ardis Sommerfield, Fit and Rural's power-suited social director; and spiritual director Angel Elkin, a space shot from Silicon Valley who seems well on her way to becoming the second Mrs. Kapstein. What's missing is a firmer sense of place. Ruby's first-person narrative, bolstered by her e-mails to her mysterious friend Nan, tells you everything you want to know about her opinions, but tends to crowd out description. What does Eternal look like? What does Police Chief Purdy, Ruby's best friend, sound like? And, aside from being three-legged, what kind of dog is Ruby's faithful companion? It's a bit like being inside the head of someone you're not sure you get along with. In channeling Ruby, Kahn robs her story of any real satiric bite, just as she robs readers of the chance to find out what really went on at Eternal's Ecumenical Diet Seder. -- Copyright ©2000, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. Dorothy Cannell award-winning author of The Trouble with Harriet Ruby is as engaging as ever. A delight from start to finish. -- Review Sharon Kahn has worked as an arbitrator, attorney, and freelance writer. She is a graduate of Vassar College and the University of Arizona Law School. She has written, along with two children's books, weekly news articles and computer-related book reviews under her byline for CompuServe's Online Today. The former wife of a rabbi and mother of three, she is a native of Birmingham, Alabama, and lives in Austin, Texas. Chapter One I always wondered if exercise could kill you, and now I'm about to find out. "Kevin, you're drifting." He's too busy doing the water aerobics version of cross-country skiing to hear me, so I yell it. "You're drifting!" Too late. Kevin's short, hairy, and hefty frame is inexorably backing into me as he treads through the water on pretend skis, and he knocks me like an eight ball, right into Essie Sue's line just behind me. She delivers a swift, defensive kick. Why didn't I think of that? We've now caused a three-line pileup, throwing the water aerobics class into an uproar. Celeste, our teacher -- a cute brunette and ninety-nine-pound role model -- is forced to run over and turn off the accompaniment tape of Rock with the Classics. Trust me, she'd rather eat solid cholesterol than interrupt the High Intensity portion of our daily workout. I say "daily" with a grain of kosher salt, since three days a week is all I can take of being sandwiched between my old nemesis, Essie Sue Margolis, and our new spiritual leader at Temple Rita, Rabbi Kevin Kapstein. "Rabbi and Ruby, why can't you stay in your lines like everyone else?" Just as I thought, this is Celeste's vision of the apocalypse. "I didn't do anything. He bumped into me." Even in school, I hated it when they lumped you all together without finding out who was at fault. Celeste isn't hearing any of it. She's looking out for her boss. "Are you all right, Mrs. Margolis?" I'm Ruby -- Essie Sue is Mrs. Margolis, I notice. Of course, I'm not the new half-owner of the Center for Bodily Movement, either. If I were, you can bet the gym's name wouldn't sound like something you need extra plumbing for. Essie Sue insisted she wanted the name to reflect the "dignified spirit" of her new venture -- "gym" sounded much too sweaty. Not that she wanted to keep males away -- her first gesture was to present Kevin with an honorary membership. "It's smart business," she said, and