The Ritual Bath (Thorndike Core) [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Faye Kellerman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2000 | Series: Thorndike Core

Detective Peter Decker of the LAPD is stunned when he gets the report. Someone has shattered the sanctuary of a remote yeshiva community in the California hills with an unimaginable crime. One of the women was brutally raped as she returned from the mikvah, the bathhouse where the cleansing ritual is performed.

The crime was called in by Rina Lazarus, and Decker is relieved to discover that she is a calm and intelligent witness. She is also the only one in the sheltered community willing to speak of this unspeakable violation. As Rina tries to steer Decker through the maze of religious laws, the two grow closer. But before they get to the bottom of this horrendous crime, revelations come to light that are so shocking, they threaten to come between the hard-nosed cop and the deeply religious woman with whom he has become irrevocably linked.

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Like the series it inspired, Kellerman's award-winning 1986 debut novel combines police procedure, via hard-boiled LAPD detective Peter Decker, with Judaic rites and rituals courtesy of its heroine Rina Lazarus, an ultra-Orthodox widowed mother of two. Decker and Lazarus are brought together by the brutal rape of a young bride-to-be at the mikvah (a bathhouse used in the purification ritual) that Rina manages in the Hollywood hills. Mitchell Greenberg nicely vocalizes the story from Decker's point of view, with the detective struggling to stick to his sleuthing in spite of his developing feelings for Rina. The novel continually rings true, from explaining various Orthodox beliefs and customs to Decker and his crew's no-nonsense unmasking of the villain. Greenberg moves in and out of the novel's elements smoothly and efficiently. He paces the police work with just the right sense of urgency and frustration; handles the romantic sequences with the proper emotion and without a hint of sentimentality; and breezes through the many Jewish-centric passages with the confidence and clarity of a yeshiva graduate. An Avon paperback. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Review

"A Master of Mystery" -- Cleveland Plain Dealer

"Engaging" -- -- Los Angeles Times Book Review

"Exceptionally fine suspense." -- -- San Diego Union-Tribune

"Phenomenal!" -- -- Murder Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 339 pages
• Publisher: G. K. Hall & Company (June 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 078389046X
• ISBN-13: 978-0783890463
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (56 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,582,401 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Faye Kellerman is the author of twenty-six novels, including nineteen New York Times bestselling mysteries that feature the husband-and-wife team of Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus. She has also penned two best selling short novels with her husband, New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Kellerman, and recently has teamed up with her daughter, Aliza, to co-write a teen novel, entitled PRISM. She lives in Los Angeles, California, and Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

90 of 91 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great introductory book to a new detective pair.., November 27, 1997

By 

Harold L. Laroff - See all my reviews

This review is from: THe Ritual Bath (Peter Decker & Rina Lazarus Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

The first of eleven novels in the Peter Decler/Rina Lazarus series, The Ritual Bath, published in 1986, throws the two together for the first time when Decker is assigned to investigate a rape at the mikvah in the Orthodox complex where Rina lives with her two sons, Shumel (Sammy) and Yaakov (Jacob or Jake) . Decker and his partner Marge Dunn are shocked that such a heinous crime could take place at a Yeshiva, Jewtown as the police refer to it. As the novel unfolds and murder comes into play Rina and Peter are drawn to each other. As one would expect their relationship is frowned upon because she's religious, frum, and Peter is considered an outsider. Peter's biological mother was a Jew; but was given up for adoption at birth. Through an adoption agency mix-up he was placed with Baptist parents. He grew up as a Baptist. Magnificent treatment and presentation of Orthodox Jewish lifestyles! Realistic struggles and wonderfully developed relationships along side of the police drama/mystery. Faye begins Peter and Rina's life story here with romance and tenderness while helping Peter to discover his roots and begin to touch his spiritual beliefs.

40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Once you start you can't stop reading this series!, October 10, 2000

By 

SFG (Woodmere, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ritual Bath (Peter Decker & Rina Lazarus Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

I recently discovered Faye Kellerman's entertaining and informative series about Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus. I began by reading 'Ritual Bath' (the first in the series) on Rosh Hashanah. It was a perfect read for the holidays and by Yom Kippur I had completed five more Decker/Lazarus novels and was on to a seventh book. I like that the characters are intelligent and have good values but are presented as human beings-flaws and all.

This first book about a rape that occurs just outside the mikvah in a small orthodox community shows how the relationship between Peter and Rina begins to develop while cleverly solving the crime. It deals more with issues of religion than the rest of the series. I found this quite enlightening being a very secular jew living in a community that is becoming quite orthodox.

I don't want to give away any of the story as many reviewers do so I'll just advise you to read this book. However, I'm warning you that you will not be able to stop with just one of Faye Kellerman's books.

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well-written debut novel, January 27, 2003

By 

Karen Potts (Lake Jackson, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Ritual Bath (Peter Decker & Rina Lazarus Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

Police detective Peter Decker is called to an orthodox Jewish community to investigate the rape of one of the women who lives there. The call is made by the victim's friend, Rina Lazarus, whom Peter is attracted to immediately. Thus begins a wonderful mystery series which features a strictly religious orthodox Jewish woman, and a man who is indifferent to religion, but not to Rina. The tension between the two creates a wonderful dance of approach/avoidance and a question as to whether their beliefs or their feelings will reign supreme in their relationship. Decker becomes acquainted with Rina's two sons and does his best to protect her from any future sexual attacks by the predator who roams the yeshiva community. The rape occurred near the mikvah where the women go for spiritual purification. Throughout the book the reader is treated to a background of orthodox Jewish practices and receives a real education in this fascinating religion. The difficulties in the relationship between Rina and Peter are clearly defined, but the ending leaves room for further development in the other books of the series.