SRP Heroine Interview: Lucy Berberian from Hummus and Homicide

Welcome to The Self-Rescue Princess, Lucy, please tell our audience a little about what is currently going on in your life:

Hi! I’m Lucy Berberian, a recovering Philadelphia lawyer. After my job threw me a curveball, I returned home to my family’s Mediterranean restaurant, Kebab Kitchen, at the Jersey Shore. I missed the scent of funnel cake, the sight of the wooden roller coaster, and the tastes of my family’s Mediterranean food. But I never thought murder was on the menu…

Things are slow during the off-season, and I end up waitressing at the Kebab Kitchen. My parents have put in a new hummus bar, with every flavor from lemon to roasted red pepper. It’s fun to see our calico cat again, and to catch up with my old BFF, Katie Watson, who’s married to a cop now.

Things are looking good. Until, well, they go south and fast. My former high school rival turns out to be the new town health inspector.  After tallying up bogus violations at the restaurant, we have a monumental spat. But when she shows up to eat at Kebab Kitchen, I’m the unlucky gal who has to wait on her. A crazy day turns deadly when she eats at the hummus bar, then drops dead in the parking lot.

The problem is I’m suspect number one. I served my bitter rival her last meal. Was it food poisoning or murder?

What made you decide to take on such a risky endeavor?

Well, I didn’t really have a choice. After my rival eats hummus at Kebab Kitchen and falls down dead in the parking lot, we’re all in big trouble. Not only is the future of the restaurant at stake, by my family’s livelihood, my parents’ pride—and most frightening of all—my own freedom.

Did you ever imagine yourself being involved in fighting crime?

Never! I was a patent attorney, not an investigator. I can patent a detective’s handcuffs, but not use them.

Who would you say is the least pleased about your additional career choice of amateur sleuthing? Or is detective work your only career?

My parents may have originally wanted me to clear Kebab Kitchen of suspicion, but they wouldn’t have wanted me to go so far as to put myself in danger. Sleuthing can be risky business!

What are your strengths and weaknesses?

I’m pretty organized. I like to make lists and cross off items. As for weaknesses, I can’t cook worth a damn. Everyone in my family can cook, and my mother is a talented chef. She’s trying to teach me, and it’s testing my patience as well as hers. We’ll see how it goes…

Describe what being a self-rescue princess (a strong, confident woman) means to you.

A confident woman is someone who is happy with themselves, intellectually and physically. As women, we need to embrace ourselves more often.

What one advice/wisdom would you like to pass onto young women?

Don’t sweat the small stuff. Value your friends. Treat others with respect. Love your God-given self.

What was one lesson you learned during this challenging time in your life?

I learned to rely on my friends a bit more. I couldn’t have solved a crime without my best friend, Katie Watson. I also learned to have patience during cooking lessons with my mother, a real feat.

Do you plan on dabbling in amateur sleuthing in the future, or have you hung up your detective hat? 

I don’t plan on it, but I have a bad habit of stumbling upon dead bodies. My next sleuthing foray happens when Kebab Kitchen is catering a socialite’s wedding (Stabbed in the Baklava) and during a summer beach festival (One Feta in the Grave). It’s all just an average day at the Jersey shore.

Thank you!

 

SHORT AUTHOR BIO

Tina Kashian is an attorney and a former mechanical engineer whose love of reading for pleasure helped her get through years of academia. Her law cases inspired an inquiring mind of crime, and since then, Tina has been hooked on mysteries. 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 young daughters. Please visit her website at http://www.tinakashian.com to join her newsletter, receive delicious recipes, enter contests, and more!

 

You can also connect with Tina at:

Website: http://www.tinakashian.com

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A Kebab Kitchen Mystery

When Lucy Berberian quits her Philadelphia law firm and heads home to Ocean Crest, she knows what she’s getting—the scent of funnel cake, the sight of the wooden roller coaster, and the tastes of her family’s Mediterranean restaurant. But murder wasn’t on the menu…

Things are slow in the off-season in this Jersey Shore town, but Lucy doesn’t mind. She doesn’t even mind waitressing at the Kebab Kitchen. Her parents have put in a new hummus bar, with every flavor from lemon to roasted red pepper. It’s fun to see their calico cat again, and to catch up with her old BFF, who’s married to a cop now.

She could do without Heather Banks, though. The Gucci-toting ex-cheerleader is still as nasty as she was back in high school…and unfortunately, she’s just taken over as the local health inspector. Just minutes after eating at the Kebab Kitchen—where she’s tallied up a whole list of bogus violations—she falls down dead in the street. Word on the grapevine is it’s homicide, and Lucy’s the number one suspect…

Recipes Included!

“A delectable read.”

–Bestselling Author Shelley Freydont