1964;
198 pages. Book 1 (out of 12) in the “Rabbi Small Mystery” series. New Author? : Yes. Genre : Religious Mystery; Jewish Literature;
Amateur Sleuth Mystery. Laurels: 1965 Edgar Award for Best First Novel. Overall Rating : 7*/10.
It was a shocking crime in a quiet, upstanding
neighborhood. The victim, a nice
20-something girl, was strangled with her own necklace, and the body dumped in
a church parking lot.
Well, technically, it was a temple
parking lot, since it was a Jewish house of worship. The crime was committed late at night – the
police say it was after midnight – and the body not discovered until the next
morning because it was hidden behind an outside wall.
There was only one car in the parking lot that evening, and it belongs
to the rabbi in charge of the temple.
But he’s known to often leave his vehicle there overnight and besides, a
rabbi – like a Catholic priest or a Protestant minister – is pretty much above suspicion
for a crime like this, right?
So
why was the young woman’s purse found in the rabbi’s car, tucked underneath
the front seat?
What’s To Like...
Friday the Rabbi
Slept Late (and the whole series for that matter) is a mix of two
genres: Jewish Literature and Murder-Mystery.
That may seem like an odd combination, so Harry Kemelman inserts a brief
section called “The Creation of Rabbi Small” the the start of the novel, and I found it quite informative. The book is
an incredibly fast and easy read, with 28 chapters covering 198 pages. The whole story takes place in the greater
Boston area, more accurately a small fictitious seaside town called Barnard’s
Crossing.
The
murder-mystery is structured so that the reader can accompany our amateur
sleuth, Rabbi David Small, as he tries to figure out whodunit. The clues are there, along with lots of red
herrings, for anyone to piece together. I happen to like mysteries where I can vie with the protagonist to see who can solve the crime first. Here, I’m happy to say that I correctly deduced the
key clue, but failed to fit it together with other info to identify the
perpetrator.
The
book was published in 1964 and I really enjoyed going back to those times (I was 14 then) and
seeing how much has changed. Wives were
generally homemakers, many couldn’t drive, and most of them, even the “white
hat” ones, smoked cigarettes. Males used
hair gel for that “greasy kid” look, and some of those in management weren’t
above patting female underlings on the rear, especially if they were
attractive, a practice that was frowned upon by some, but not openly condemned by anyone. A typical house in Barnard’s Crossing cost
about $20,000, and Rabbi Small’s annual salary was $9,500. Racial epithets were in common usage, and
rock-n-roll was considered by adults to be crazy music. Every car had two keys: one for the ignition
and doors, and one for the trunk.
There
are only a few cusswords, and although the murder occurs “onscreen”, there is
no blood. This doesn’t quite qualify it
as a “cozy mystery”, but it comes close.
It also should be mentioned that anti-Semitic bigotry rears its ugly
head when Rabbi Small becomes a suspect.
Not very nice, but very realistic, even in today's world.
The book was very insightful about Jewish practices. One example:
their prayers are mostly about giving thanks, whereas the usual Christian
prayer is more of a petition for something.
Even within the Jewish temple differences existed. Rabbi Small is a Conservative (Orthodox) Jew and wants
to emphasize what sets his religion apart from his Christian neighbors. His congregation is more “modern” (Reformed), and would
prefer to “blend in” with the surrounding gentiles by stressing what they have in common.
Kewlest New Word ...
Obtrude (v.)
: to become noticeable in an unwelcome or intrusive way.
Others : Upstumped
(v., for which, surprisingly, Google
doesn’t supply a usable definition).
Excerpts...
“They say he’s
careless about his appointments, careless in his appearance, even careless in
his manner in the pulpit. His clothes,
they’re apt to be wrinkled. When he gets
up to speak in front of the congregation, or at a meeting, it doesn’t look
right.”
She nodded. “I
know. And maybe some of these critics
blame me. A wife should see to her
husband. But what can I do? I see that his clothes are neat when he
leaves in the morning, but can I follow him around all day? He’s a scholar. When he gets interested in a book, nothing else
matters. If he feels like lying down to
read he doesn’t bother to take off his jacket. (loc. 937)
“If you will tell
me what happened, perhaps I can tell you what you wish to know, or at least be
able to help you more intelligently.”
“You’re right,
rabbi. You understand that we’re bound
be regulations. My common sense tells me
that you as a man of the cloth are in no way implicated, but as a policeman-“
“As a policeman
you are not supposed to use your common sense?
Is that what you were going to say?”
(loc. 1125)
Kindle Details...
Friday The Rabbi Slept Late currently sells for $6.99
at Amazon. All the other e-books in the
series go for either $6.99 or $8.99, and if there’s a
determining factor for choosing either of those prices, I don’t see it.
“Misfortune can happen to
anyone. Only the dead are safe from it.”
(loc. 2368)
Friday The Rabbi Slept Late garnered an Edgar
Award in 1965 for “Best First Novel”, but I had some quibbles with it.
For starters, although I thoroughly enjoyed the inclusion of a plethora
of Hebrew words in the storyline (Examples: minyan, Kaddish, Din Torah, kochlefed, Gaon, cheder,
rebbitzin, S’michah, pilpul, and kipoh), less than half of them come with definitions. Yes, I can certainly google
them, but that’s still a minor PITA.
OTOH, the “7-WD
stores” reference was both enlightening and hilarious.
The pacing is so-so. The murder
doesn’t take place until 30%-Kindle, so until then you pretty much have to
content yourself with temple infighting and 1960’s daily life in Barnard’s
Crossing.
Finally, the ending is anti-climactic.
Rabbi Small figures out whodunit, and conveys his reasoning and
resulting conclusions to the local chief-of-police.
But the actual apprehension of the perpetrator is skipped over
entirely. One minute the rabbi is
presenting his case, the next we’re in the epilogue, with everything already tied up. Presumably the perp was taken in without incident and without protest.
7 Stars.
Friday The
Rabbi Slept Late has to be rated in accordance with the state of
murder-mystery novels in the 50’/60’s.
In that respect it does quite well, but like Science-Fiction, the genre
has evolved significantly since then. Amazon discounts select Rabbi Small
e-books at times, and ISTR seeing the paperback versions in
the bargain bins at Half Price Books. If I come across another one in the series at
a discount outlet I will certainly pick it up.
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