Sanctuary (Bookcassette(r) Edition)

Rating:
Summary: A well-plotted pageturner with vivid characters
Review: I had trouble putting down this book from the very start -- it's a real page turner with a well-plotted mystery -- two of them actually -- keeping you going. The mysteries involve a family who has disappeared out of the blue -- he's a California diamond dealer, so perhaps this was part of a theft -- and a woman and children who arrive unexpectedly for a visit with Detective Decker and his family -- her husband is also a diamond dealer in a Chasidic community in New York. As Decker goes about trying to solve the disappearance of the California family, odd things begin happening with the New York family who are visiting -- they also disappear. Is there a connection?

The mystery takes Decker and wife Rina to Israel, a major diamond cutting/dealing country.

I learned a lot about diamonds and Israel reading this book, and for the most part really enjoyed it. The dialogue was more natural than in some Kellerman books I've read. But -- her pro-Jewish, anti-everything else sentiment was present in this book again, this time in an anti-Moslem bias. Why are metal boxes on door frames considered good religious practice but painting a doorway blue (as Moslems do) treated as superstitious? It seems to me that the customs of Orthodoxy Judaism are unusual enough that Kellerman should be more tolerant and openminded about the practices of other faiths.

Rating:
Summary: ROUGH DIAMONDS
Review: In this entry of the popular Rina/Peter Decker series, Kellerman assures us of more Jewish history and customs as the victims in this one are of the Jewish faith. This time the double-edged mystery sends Peter and Rina to Israel to track down the sons of a wealthy diamond magnate and his wife. Did the boys kill their parents? Add to this, the search for a friend of Rina's from New York, who comes to California for a visit with her three children and then mysteriously vanishes as well---to Israel. Add a cool ice queen named Kate Milligan, a shady partner named Shaul Gold, add a few other nasties and Kellerman sends her heroes off into a labyrinthine plot.
Kellerman's a good writer and as she progresses, she tries to focus more on plot and suspense, and not so much on Rina's faith. It does seem surprising though that she manages to slight other religious beliefs while sanctifying her own? Hopefully, as she progresses she'll take some clues from her husband Jonathan and write more substantial works.

Rating:
Summary: Diamonds are a detective's best friend
Review: Peter Decker and his wife Rina are enjoying family life with her sons and their new baby daughter when Rina's old friend Honey Klein asks to come visit. Rina is surprised because they hasn't been in close contact with Honey in recent years, but she agrees to the visit. Meanwhile Peter works with his partner Marge on a case involving an entire family who have suddenly vanished. The husband is a diamond dealer, and there are many motives for a possible murder, most of them having to do with money. Coincidentally, after Honey comes to the Lazarus home, her husband, also a diamond dealer, is mysteriously killed. Peter's quest for the truth in these matters eventually takes him and Rina to Israel where they pursue missing persons from both of these cases. As usual, author Kellerman weaves interesting facts about the orthodox Jewish religion as well as Peter and Rina's evolving family life. The trip to Israel adds an extra dimension to the story, and the total package is very satisfying for a mystery reader.