Customer Reviews

That Day the Rabbi Left Town

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Harry Kemelman's Rabbi David Small is once again gainfully employed! Following his earlier resignation in "The Day the Rabbi Resigned," Small is now teaching at Windermere College--a good, if not proper for him, academic setting. In "That Day the Rabbi Left Town," it seems, having run out of days of the week (remember, this series started with "Friday the Rabbi Slept Late," Kemelman has been creative with working in other diurnal references in his title. That aside, of course, the series has been a fun read. In this one, the death of an elderly colleague gets Rabbi Small into the heart of the action, as it were. Of course, in his new setting he quickly stumbles into all kinds of academic and campus politics, grudges, and jealousies, to say the least. This episode seems a bit different, however, as Kemelman goes didactic and spends a good third of the book giving us perhaps more background, history, and practices of his religion. Readers may find this a struggle, particularly if they are in a hurry to get into the real case! Once that occurs, however, Kemelman cruises.(Billyjhobbs@tyler.net)

Rabbi Small, now in his fifties, is to teach a Judaic course at Windermere College. He is supposed to be available to the history and philosophy departments. He is retiring from serving as rabbi of the temple at Barnard's Crossing. His stay in the position at Barnard's Crossing was of twenty-five years' duration. The temple board, through the Ritual Committee, is to seek a new rabbi.

Miller and Jacobs of the English Department at Windermere College work out together in the college gymnasium. They are characters in the drama. At the hail and farewell brunch for Rabbi Small and his successor, Rabbi Selig, more people speak with Selig than with Small, understandably. The Seligs have dinner with Rabbi Small and his wife, Miriam, a few days later. Professor Miller of Windermere is now a neighbor of the new rabbi. At Kenmore Station Rabbi Small runs into Mordecai Jacobs. At his college office Small meets Sarah McBride, also of the English Department. She intends to audit his course since her husband is Jewish, she explains.

Malcolm Kent, now an old man, fell into teaching at Windermere. He also fell into marriage with Mathilda Clark, the last member of the Clark family, one of the founding families of the school. Malcolm has lied about his credentials. Malcolm decides to give a loan to a former girl friend to help her set up a beauty parlor with her future husband. She is pregnant and plans to marry to the relief of Kent. Malcolm is lonely after his wife dies. He really has no friends at the college.

Rabbi Small is disturbed by noise, such as that of power lawn mowers, and determines that it would help matters for Selig if the Smalls moved to Boston for the winter. A sublet at Coolidge Corner is arranged. The mystery begins as a blizzard blankets the Boston area with snow over the Thanksgiving holiday and many of the characters change their transportation arrangements. The homicide in the story concerns Malcolm Kent. Eventually Rabbi Small suggests a solution, identifying the murderer, showing that one faker had used another.

If you are like me and read all of previous Rabbi Small books, you will be happy that there's another one. Though this wasn't as fun as the others, it was still an enjoyable reading. If you have never read Rabbi Small mystery before, I strongly suggest that you start with his first book. This way you can truly enjoy his books. I got hooked and I had to read every book he wrote

Rabbi Small resigns from the synagogue in Barnard's Crossing and takes a teaching job in Boston. The new rabbi takes over, and becomes accused of murder when a professor from the college is found dead next to his property. This is the same person who was caught peaking in the window the of the rabbi's bedroom when just his wife was at home. Rabbi Small ends up figuring out who was guilty of murdering the professor. Slow book, and the murder doesn't even take place until over halfway in the book.

I suppose the "Rabbi mysteries" are popular and well-known, so I thought I'd try another. I'm even from Massachusetts, so it's pleasant to recognize the places (both real and made-up). But Kemelman just takes too long to set all the pieces in place, with the only spice being some beginner-level explanations of Judaism. The ending is clever and unpredictable -- I'll give him that. But if you've got a few hours to spend on murder mystery, and want something up-to-date, skip the Rabbi and go for Monk.

This is the final book in the Rabbi Small series closely following the events of THE DAY THE RABBI RESIGNED. As the novel opens Rabbi Small has taken a position teaching at nearby Windemere College. He is now Rabbi Emeritus of the Barnard's Crossing congregation, a position that both he and the new Rabbi find awkward. In order to ease the situation the Smalls have sublet an apartment near the campus for the winter but by Thanksgiving it becomes apparent that Barnard's Crossing needs the special talents of Rabbi Small to maintain order in their town.

Like most cozy mysteries the appeal to this series has always been in the characters more than the mysteries. Kemelman takes that premise to an extreme in this one, the murder doesn't even occur until well into the second half of the book and the solution seems rushed, as if it is just a detail rather than the climax of the story. Still fans of the series will want to see how their old friends are coping with the passing years and will definitely not want to miss the Rabbi bring his own style of investigation to bear on this crime. Those looking for a challenging puzzler have probably long ago learned to give this series a miss. Cozy fans new to this series could enjoy this one but would probably do better to begin at the beginning.

That Day the Rabbi Left Town is a pleasant enough book in the Rabbi Small series. The last novel Kemelman wrote I read elsewhere, this novel has Rabbi Small resigning from the Barnard's Crossing Temple to teach at Windermere College in Boston. At one point the rabbi who takes Rabbi Small's job says he is not a man of the cloth. I said "Huh?" Then I looked it up. A man of the cloth was originally a liveried servant, who wore a uniform. A man who took up the cloth was wearing a uniform. Rabbis didn't wear uniforms in medieval times or in Rabbi Small's time. What I like best about these books is how he explains his world and his thought processes. And the Temple, suburban and college politics are delightful!

Let me begin by saying that my edition of this book had 263 pages. The murder occurred on page 166. Much of what went on before could have been omitted. Mr. Kemelman's last few books have not been up to the standards he established with his first few. When he began, his books were tighter. The character expositions seemed more plot-driven. With this book, there is just exposition. Rather than read this book, read (or re-read) "Friday the Rabbi Slept Late".

I hope the other books in this series are wonderful, because this mystery is a triple threat: dull, dreary, and didactic. Molasses at the North Pole would move faster than this narrative. The characters are dull; the dialogue, tedious. Instead of reading this book, do something more interesting like counting the clouds in the sky.

I realize that this is not the first book in this series, but it is his first that I have read. Although it wasn't great, I'm not quite yet ready to write off the author completely. This particular book seems to be really low-key as far as creating a motive and building storylines. However, I thought it was an okay book if you want an easy, non-suspenseful read. I'll probably try and find the first in this series and start there and see how it goes.