1966; 270 pages. Book 2 (out of 12) in the “Rabbi Small Mystery” series. New Author? : No. Genre : Crime Mystery; Jewish Literature; Amateur Sleuths. Overall Rating : 7*/10.
Poor Isaac Hirsh. He had a good job and a beautiful wife. But he was a recovering alcoholic, and one
night he fell off the wagon.
While almost everyone else in
the predominantly Jewish neighborhood of Barnard’s Crossing was observing Yom
Kippur, Isaac went drinking and driving.
Then he came home, parked his car in the garage, closed the garage door,
and passed out in the driver’s seat with the engine still running. That's where the police found his body.
Was it an accidental death or
was it suicide? That may seem like a
trivial issue to most people, but it makes a big difference to the life
insurance company that covers Isaac’s policy.
It also impacts where Isaac, a non-practicing Jew, can be buried. Suicide’s a sin, and no sinners are allowed
in a Jewish cemetery. It’s up to Rabbi
Small to figure this all out and render a judgment.
Hmm, suicide or accident. Which was it? What if it’s neither?
What’s To Like...
Saturday The Rabbi
Went Hungry is the second book in Harry Kemelman’s Rabbi Small
cozy-mystery series. I read the first
book in the series, Friday The Rabbi Slept Late;
it is reviewed here.
Once again, the story blends a noteworthy amount of Jewish theology with the investigations by various parties, including the police,
Rabbi Small, the life insurance claims agent.
Temple politics play a significant part in the Rabbi getting
involved. God moves in mysterious
ways. Harry Kemelman makes use of a lot of
Hebrew vocabulary in the text, but that’s not a problem in the Kindle version
since highlighting the word or phrase brings up the English definition.
There are lots of characters to meet and be suspicious of, and lots of red herrings to throw both the reader
and the Rabbi off-track in the investigation.
The insights into Jewish theology and how it differs from Christian
thinking was also enlightening. The
story opens with the Rabbi leading a Yom Kippur service, which I gather is
the most important Holy day of the year in Judaism.
The book was published in
1966, during the height of the American Civil Rights movement. Rabbi Small gets invited to take part in that
movement, and I was surprised when he gave his reasons for declining to do
so. I winced the half dozen or so times
the word “negro” was used, having to
remind myself that in the 60s it was the politically correct word to use.
The ending is okay by 1960s
crime-mystery standards, but pretty blah by today’s. The key clue is noticed by the Rabbi, but not
revealed to the reader. Rabbi Small only
divulges it when he makes his accusation.
Bottom line: don’t try to solve this before the Rabbi does. Just tag along and enjoy his interactions
with the many possible suspects.
Ratings…
Amazon:
4.3/5
based on 1,549 ratings and 153 reviews.
Goodreads: 3.91/5 based on 2,775
ratings and 256 reviews.
Kewlest New Word ...
Jocose (adj.) : playful or humorous.
Others: Escheat (v.).
Excerpts...
“I was good to him; I took care of him like
a mother."
“And yet he drank.”
“That started before I met him. And I’m not sorry,” she added defiantly, “because
that’s how I met him.”
“So?”
“He had holed up at this little hotel where
I was working on the cigar counter in the lobby. If he hadn’t been on a bender, how could the
likes of me have met a man like him?”
“And you feel you got the best of the
bargain?”
“It was the best kind of bargain there is,
Rabbi, where both parties feel they’ve got the best of it.” (loc. 4804)
“Well, when a man drives into his garage,
turns off the headlights, closes the garage door behind him, and then is found
dead of carbon monoxide poisoning there’s always a question.”
“Suicide?”
“Isaac Hirsh took out an insurance policy
of twenty-five thousand dollars less than a year ago. There’s a two-year suicide clause on all our
policies and double indemnity for accidental death. If his death was an accident, the company
forks out fifty thousand dollars. If it
was suicide, we don’t pay a red cent.
The company feels that fifty thousand dollars is worth a little
investigation.” (loc.
5088)
Kindle Details…
Saturday
The Rabbi Went Hungry is priced at $6.99 at Amazon right now. The other books in the series are in the $1.99-$8.99
range, in no apparent pattern.
Alternatively, there is a bundle containing the first four books of the
series, for $17.99, which is the format I’m using.
In a small town
there are no secrets; a secret is not something unknown, only something not
talked about openly. (loc.
6515)
There’s no blood, gore, or
“adult situations” in Saturday The Rabbi Went
Hungry, and I noted only five cusswords in the first 50% of the
book. The raciest thing I could come up with was a single use of a slang term to describe parts of the female anatomy.
All the other quibbles have
been covered. If differences in
religious practices and beliefs don’t interest you, then you’ll find the pacing
slow. If the word "negro” makes you
wince, just be thankful the other “n-word”
wasn’t used. If you like trying
to solve the mystery alongside the protagonist, concentrate instead on using
logic to eliminate various characters from the sizable list of suspects.
I’m still getting used to the
tone and structure of this series. The
theological exegesis are interesting to me.
I felt the storyline is more character-driven than whodunit-driven is a
bit disappointing, but I still enjoyed watching the amateur sleuth Rabbi
Small go about his investigation. We’ll
see if I keep that attitude through the remaining two books in the bundle.
7 Stars. There is a father-son duo that pop up frequently in the storyline. Their last name is Goralsky, and the son’s name in Ben. For some reason, the name of the father is withheld for about 95% of the tale. A key clue? A freaky background story? Who knows. Just before the end of the book, his name is finally disclosed: he's Moses. Now I’m more mystified than ever.
No comments:
Post a Comment