Israeli intrigue

REVIEWS BY BRUCE TIERNEY

Not so long ago, a detective novel set in a far-off capital was something of an anomaly. Certainly there were any number of Graham Greene-esque thrillers set in exotic locations, but your basic murder mystery was more often than not firmly rooted in the U.S. Nowadays we routinely find mysteries taking place in Venice, Oslo, Rio and in at least one case, Botswana. Representing the nation of Israel is author Batya Gur, who chronicles the cases of Jerusalem Police Superintendent Michael Ohayon, most recently in The Bethlehem Road Murder. Ohayon is called in to investigate the murder of a beautiful Yemeni girl. Early indications are that the killing might be racially motivated, as the girl was an outspoken ethnic activist, but the plot thickens as the autopsy reveals that she was several months pregnant. The stereotypical Western view of the Middle East is that the tension is primarily between Arab and Jew, but in Gur's Jerusalem, the friction also encompasses black against white, neighbor against neighbor, and everybody against the cops (even, at times, other cops). The Bethlehem Road Murder works reasonably well as a mystery novel, although a dollop of good luck is required over and above the investigative talents of the police. That said, where the book really shines is in its portrayal of a city that, although it appears almost nightly on television news, remains largely unknown (and perhaps unknowable) to the Western eye.


Petra Connor's back

Hot on the heels of his October collaboration with wife Faye (Double Homicide), Jonathan Kellerman is back with a new Petra Connor novel, Twisted. Fans of Kellerman's work will remember Connor from 1999's Billy Straight and last year's A Cold Heart. In Twisted, Connor has been given the unenviable task of baby-sitting a genius, a college-age Hispanic kid with a penchant for statistics. Isaac Gomez plays on his computer, endlessly crunching numbers in an attempt to show that crime solving need not necessarily be hands-on. Although perhaps a bit far-fetched, Isaac's theories bear looking into, and Connor agrees to consider the data along with other evidence in a number of cold murder cases. When the clues begin to coalesce, Connor realizes that a) a dangerous serial killer is at large and known only to her, and b) another killing is imminent. There is little time to lay a trap, and so many opportunities for something to go wrong, not the least of which is the illegal handgun that Isaac secretly carries in his briefcase. Jonathan Kellerman is at the top of his game these days; his novels are briskly paced, shrewdly plotted and staffed with credible and sympathetic characters (except of course for the bad guys, who are deliciously flawed and evil).


Mystery of the month

As I was preparing this column, I realized that I could not remember a time when John Mortimer's classically British barrister Rumpole (of the Bailey) was not around. Surely he predates Perry Mason, possibly even Clarence Darrow, right? Not so, mon frère! The first Rumpole book was published in 1978, which means that Rumpole does not even predate, say, Fleetwood Mac. Go figure. In the intervening years, Mortimer has treated us to more than 100 Rumpole stories in some 20 volumes. The latest, Rumpole and the Penge Bungalow Murders, finds modern-day Rumpole sitting back and recounting the details of his very first case. By a combination of happy accident and the behind-the-scenes machinations of his future wife, Hilda (the aptly monikered "She Who Must Be Obeyed"), Rumpole takes over the defense of a young man accused of killing his war-hero father with a gun taken from a dead German pilot. Rumpole in his early years is perhaps a bit more diffident and less cranky than in his old age, but the seeds of his later-life attitudes are clearly present. She Who Must Be Obeyed is in fine form as well, guiding (some might say "manipulating") our hero in his every move. The Rumpole books are equally appealing to fans of British mysteries and aficionados of the bad-boy English authors of the '50s. They are clever, exceptionally relevant and crammed full of the sort of weird and wonderful quotes that stick with you long after you put the book down. Congrats to John Mortimer, winner of this month's Tip of the Ice Pick award.


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