Customer Reviews

Literary Murder

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As always, Batya Gur has crafted an excellent story, and an ambiance which makes us feel we are in Israel. Detective Michael Ohayon is, as usual, brilliant. Gur writes well above the usual "mystery" genre, and her books are worth reading for their literary merit by anyone who enjoys good fiction.

I discovered this novel quite by accident, and I found a real treasure! "Literary Murder" is by far the best written and most intellectual example of the mystery genre I've seen in quite some time. It's set in academia, at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, with some action taking place in the United States. The characters have depth and dimension, and are profoundly interesting. The plot is integrated well into the setting and the characterization. And the prose and poetry are superb.

I can't recommend this novel highly enough!

Batya Gur's entrancing novel captivates readers with its rich plot and well-developed cast of lively characters. Gur masterfully intertwines the murder mystery genre with an academic genre of literary interpretation, allowing readers to understand her book on different levels. The murder plot itself is gripping from the beginning of the novel when two Hebrew University literature colleagues are found dead. Readers follow chief police inspector Michael Ohayon's painstaking procedure of discovering whom he can and cannot trust. The process of fathoming the mystery shows that everyone has secrets and lies, whether they are directly related to the murder or not. Emphasizing the constant tension of discerning truth from lies, Michael and his staff constantly rely on and refer to the polygraph machine, which indicates that nearly all witness testimonies are "inconclusive." The solution of the novel in fact reveals that false identities in fact lie at the center the mystery.
The motivation behind the murders is perhaps more fascinating to the reader than the basic "whodunit" question; revealed at the book's conclusion, the reasoning and background behind the crimes shock readers more than the actual killers. In order to fully enjoy and appreciate the novel, readers must pay close attention to Gur's literary allusions and analogies throughout the plot. Gur interweaves academic lectures on the nature of poems and interpreting lectures within her murder mystery. Although readers may be tempted to skip over the academic speeches as seemingly unrelated to the mystery at hand, the lectures actually parallel, hint at, and comment on the mystery's solution. Connecting the literature professors' lectures on poetry with the reasoning behind the crimes allow readers to perceive a larger implication about the nature of art and its relative importance in the world.

Batya Gur's entrancing novel captivates readers with its rich plot and well-developed cast of lively characters. Gur masterfully intertwines the murder mystery genre with an academic genre of literary interpretation, allowing readers to understand her book on different levels. The murder plot itself is gripping from the beginning of the novel when two Hebrew University literature colleagues are found dead. Readers follow chief police inspector Michael Ohayon's painstaking procedure of discovering whom he can and cannot trust. The process of fathoming the mystery shows that everyone has secrets and lies, whether they are directly related to the murder or not. Emphasizing the constant tension of discerning truth from lies, Michael and his staff constantly rely on and refer to the polygraph machine, which indicates that nearly all witness testimonies are "inconclusive." The solution of the novel in fact reveals that false identities in fact lie at the center the mystery.
The motivation behind the murders is perhaps more fascinating to the reader than the basic "whodunit" question; revealed at the book's conclusion, the reasoning and background behind the crimes shock readers more than the actual killers. In order to fully enjoy and appreciate the novel, readers must pay close attention to Gur's literary allusions and analogies throughout the plot. Gur interweaves academic lectures on the nature of poems and interpreting lectures within her murder mystery. Although readers may be tempted to skip over the academic speeches as seemingly unrelated to the mystery at hand, the lectures actually parallel, hint at, and comment on the mystery's solution. Connecting the literature professors' lectures on poetry with the reasoning behind the crimes allow readers to perceive a larger implication about the nature of art and its relative importance in the world.

Detective fiction for lit-major groupies. As usual the author imposes murder most foul on contemporary Jerusalem--here, the Jerusalem of secular academics; hence, the cast is cosmopolitan and often naughty. There is a panorama of extreme types, from satyr to saint. But, unfortunately, there are (mercifully brief)sections of trendy, nomenclature-ridden exposition that may be appropriate to this hermetic world but that is most certainly delivered with excessive pedagogical glee (the author seems to be having more fun than the reader does). The hero, detective Michael Ohayon, is in the mold of P D James's Cmndr Dalgliesh--in short, in stark contrast to the heroes of classic American detective stories. Some interesting scenes in North Carolina (!) and New York (city). All in all, a good read that offers some sense of a pampered niche in dear Jerusalem. Some of the characterizations actually succeed (for example, that of a modestly corrupt/wiseguy Israeli policeman at play in the fields of NYC).

Batya Gur is reportedly Israel's bestselling mystery novelist, and from this book you can see why. The whole structure of the story echoes England's popular detective novelist, P.D.James, rather closely, though there are of course significant differences.

In this outing, Gur's protagonist, Detective Michael Ohayon, must deal with two separate killings that appear to be unrelated. The two victims, however, worked at the same university in the literature department, and so it seems too coincidental that they should die so close together in time. Things are further complicated in that the elder of the vicitims was Israel's best-known living poet, a womanizing character with a rather haughty attitude towards anyone who lacked his talent, who therefor had no shortage of enemies and people who generally loathed him.

Ohayon's an interesting character, and this is a very literary novel. There are no chases, shootouts, or other suspense devices in Gur's novels: instead, there's a mystery, and various interesting characters and atmosphere. In this entry, everything is well-done, though it does drag a bit in the middle (hence only four stars). I would recommend this book to anyone interested in Israel, and of course to mystery fans.

Read this even if you don't like murder mysteries. The description of the final seminar class reading a poem and discussing Hebrew scripture allusions to Samson and Absolam is wonderful. A later conversation of poetic elements is equally as good. I learned a lot as I was entertained.

I normally really like the so-called literary detectives-- P.D. James, Amanda Cross. I am a big fan of all of them. I really thought that I was going to love Batya Gur and Literary Murder. It has the literary and academic focus that I enjoy. Gur herself is a formidable writer, and is generally considered to have single-handedly given credibility to the detective genre in Israel. My expectations were very high going into the book.

Perhaps that was part of the problem. One thing is for sure-- I did not love this book. I honestly had difficulties even liking it. The major problem that I had was the pacing and the shifting narrator. It really dragged in places, so much so that I nearly put the book down. Ultimately, I am glad that I continued because there is a lot to like. It just really was not what I was expecting.

Potential readers should not be put off too much by my review. Gur is still a really impressive writer and the problem with the pacing gets much better towards the end of the book. Bear in mind that many many people really love her detective stories, so it may be that I just had a bad day. Try it for yourself and find out.