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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Rabbi Small Counts his Days!,
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This review is from: Thursday the Rabbi Walked Out (Mass Market Paperback)
There's no rabbi more famous in fiction that David Small! In this tres kosher series of the rabbi-as-detective, author Harry Kemelman has created one of the most interesting characters of this genre. In "Thursday the Rabbi Walked Out," Small becomes involved in another murder story--this time the victim is a notorious anti-Semite, and a number of his congregation are now suspects (they seem to be for good reason!). It is up to Small to match wits--and skill--with the actual murderer. (Billyjhobbs@tyler.net)Certainly any of the "day" novels of Kemelman are a treat (the first was "Friday the Rabbi Slept Late") and on this particular "day" (Thursday) readers will not be disappointed. Kemelman's style is fast-paced and his detective revelations are logical, solid, and do not insult the reader. Clearly, he takes the time and patience to weave his tales--and they are worth the wait!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
End of the Week,
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This review is from: Thursday the Rabbi Walked Out (Rabbi Small Mystery) (Mass Market Paperback)
This is the 7th novel in Kemelman's weekday mysteries. As usual, it is light reading with considerable Temple politics revolving around Rabbi Small's contract renewal at his Temple in a Boston suburban town. The mystery is, perhaps, a bit more complicated than most of them though a bit dated too--but still quite enjoyable, IMHO. As usual, Small's relationship with Police Chief Lanigan is central to the plot. I was glad to see the Rabbi's wife Miriam make a valuable contribution this time--a cute & clever scene. Once again R. Small expostulates on his version of Conservative Judaism though IMHO his version is hardly normative. While he's technically correct regarding the Bar Mitzvah I don't see why he would oppose something just because it's unnecessary. He seems to have a very rigid viewpoint whereas the Talmud usually has numerous conflicting opinions. Indeed, contemporary Conservative Judaism frequently accepts several alternatives from which a Rabbi may choose. Thus, a congregation will select/keep a Rabbi whose decisions generally reflect the congregation's orientation. Thus, I find R. Small's (Kemelman's?) views rather skewed--& lacking necessary context. Furthermore, his descriptions of free will & sin seem absurd to me. Still, such asides seem less intrusive in this particular novel. Also, it has some nice turns of phrase mostly relevant to the mystery: p. 9: "The fellow who got a reputation as a crack shot by firing first & then drawing a target around the bullet hole, p. 23: Her associates were all Bohemian & long on ideals, especially where the necessity of living up to them was someone else's, & p. 250: I suppose it shows that it takes age & experience & the wisdom of maturity to be fooled."
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good Mystery, but Easily Solved,
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This review is from: Thursday the Rabbi Walked Out (Mass Market Paperback)
I like the Rabbi Small mysteries, because they are classic who-dun-it stories, and often give an insight into Jewish law and temple politics. If there is a problem with them, it is that Kemelman tends to beat people over the head with clues, and sometimes the police work is less than stellar. This mystery is one of those cases.The real problem is that a serious examination of the crime scene shows the police theory was all wet. The facts were that the victim was shot dead-on, and a clock (providing the "time of death") was also shot. The altered timepiece is a classic of detective fiction, but since it has been so widely used, the clue was obvious. Also weak was the evidence which got the killer. Surely somebody who wiped the clock clean of fingerprints would also have wiped the key used to alter the clock in the first place. However, the motive is where everything falls down. The new (unsigned) will the victim's lawyer drew up acknowledged he had a blood son. Once that fact was out, there was no way the killer could inherit the victim's money. The Rabbi's conclusions were good, but a good CSI would have had half the case solved.
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