Mystery Midrash: An Anthology of Jewish Mystery & Detective Fiction

by Lawrence W. Raphael

Paperback, 1999

Status

Available

Call number

FIC RAP

Genres

Mystery

All Topics

Fiction

Collection

Fiction

Publication

Jewish Lights Publishing (1999), Edition: 1st, Paperback, 200 pages

Description

Confront murder, mayhem--and your own mysteries of being. From a corporate giant's kidnapping of a rabbi, to the disappearance of the clarinetist in a klezmer band, to four rabbis' use of their text interpretation skills to help a detective solve a murder that one of them has committed, this unique collection of mysteries will enlighten you at the same time it intrigues and entertains. While featuring enough death and deception to keep the detective protagonists on their toes, each story presents the uncertainties that are a part of contemporary Jewish identity--inviting us all to confront our own mysteries of being. Throughout the stories' tangled puzzles and suspenseful adventures, the characters solve not only the "whodunit"-type mysteries, but also struggle to solve the mystery of their spiritual lives. Mystery Midrash will be a lasting delight for mystery buffs of all faith traditions. Contributors include: Joel Siegel * Lawrence W. Raphael * Toni Brill * Howard Engel * Richard Fliegel * Michael A. Kahn * Stuart M. Kaminsky * Faye Kellerman * Ronald Levitsky * Ellen Rawlings * Rabbi Bob Sloan * Janice Steinberg * James Yaffe * Batya Swift Yasgur… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member suesbooks

I don't usually care to read mysteries, and these were ok. Some were included as Jewish-themed mysteries only because many of the characters had Jewish names. I enjoyed the ones better where Judaism was an integral part of the story. I found it interesting that many of the characters had to say

that they had left Judaism, and I wonder why so many authors felt it necessary to include that fact. I also was very interested in the mystery that occurred in North Minneapolis,since that is where my father was from, and I was very familiar with the locations mentioned. Most of these were not the kind of mysteries where clues are presented, so the reader can possibly solve the crime.

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