The Bar Mitzvah Murder

Rating:
Summary: Great mystery set in Jerusalem!
Review: Christine Bennett's best friend Melanie Gross and her family are going to Jerusalem for the bar mitzvah of her wealthy cousin, Gabe. He is paying for the families to attend his bar mitzvah - he is LONG past the traditional thirteen years old!

Then Chris finds out that her husband, Jack, is being sent to Jerusalem at the same time and she and their son are joining him. Matter of fact, her in-law's agree to come too and take care of their son in a separate hotel. Chris is looking forward to sightseeing with Melanie while her husband is working.

Then Gabe goes missing. Apparently at the party the day after the bar mitzvah, Gabe took ill. An ambulance came and took him to a hospital, but no one can find out what hospital he went to. They begin to wonder if it really was an ambulance that arrived. Then he is found dead. Who would want him dead, especially in Jerusalem? Could it be one of the family members he brought with him?

Chris begins to investigate. Melanie assists her while she is still in Jerusalem. Joshua Davidson, the policeman Jack was working with, assisted Chris with some information. Plus Jack contacted some people in his precinct to assist with information from home.

Chris puts herself in some harrowing situations. Can she figure out this mystery before she goes home? Is it tied to events happening at home?

Chris is such a great character. I always enjoy reading a new book in this series. The relationship between her and Jack has really grown. I like that he helps her and encourages her in the investigations while still asking that she stay safe.

Melanie and Chris make a great team. It is nice to have Melanie help more with the investigation this time.

Once again Chris (an ex-nun) calls Sister Joseph back at the convent for advice and guidance in her investigation.

I highly recommend you read this book and the rest of the series.

Rating:
Summary: Great mystery set in Jerusalem!
Review: Christine Bennett's best friend Melanie Gross and her family are going to Jerusalem for the bar mitzvah of her wealthy cousin, Gabe. He is paying for the families to attend his bar mitzvah - he is LONG past the traditional thirteen years old!

Then Chris finds out that her husband, Jack, is being sent to Jerusalem at the same time and she and their son are joining him. Matter of fact, her in-law's agree to come too and take care of their son in a separate hotel. Chris is looking forward to sightseeing with Melanie while her husband is working.

Then Gabe goes missing. Apparently at the party the day after the bar mitzvah, Gabe took ill. An ambulance came and took him to a hospital, but no one can find out what hospital he went to. They begin to wonder if it really was an ambulance that arrived. Then he is found dead. Who would want him dead, especially in Jerusalem? Could it be one of the family members he brought with him?

Chris begins to investigate. Melanie assists her while she is still in Jerusalem. Joshua Davidson, the policeman Jack was working with, assisted Chris with some information. Plus Jack contacted some people in his precinct to assist with information from home.

Chris puts herself in some harrowing situations. Can she figure out this mystery before she goes home? Is it tied to events happening at home?

Chris is such a great character. I always enjoy reading a new book in this series. The relationship between her and Jack has really grown. I like that he helps her and encourages her in the investigations while still asking that she stay safe.

Melanie and Chris make a great team. It is nice to have Melanie help more with the investigation this time.

Once again Chris (an ex-nun) calls Sister Joseph back at the convent for advice and guidance in her investigation.

I highly recommend you read this book and the rest of the series.

Rating:
Summary: A fun read!
Review: I have just finished reading The Bar Mitzvah Murder and found it to be one of the best in the entire Christine Bennett series. The plot is lively and dynamic, yet the atmosphere is 'cozy.' The setting is refreshingly different, and the heroine is focused on adventure rather than on the particulars of her daily life as wife and mother (a bit too much of that in the other books). She is tougher and less sentimental, too. I look forward to more Christine Bennett books where she will get away from home and go to interesting places, with or without her husband, to solve her cases.

Rating:
Summary: Perhaps the weakest of the series
Review: I've read all of the Lee Harris "holiday themed" mysteries, and this one is the weakest of the lot! While an interesting vacation tale (Christine as tourist), her constant self-denial begins to wear thin. Must it be mentioned in nearly every chapter? And as a "guide" to the Holy Land, stick to travel writers who will do a better job of the historic/political aspects of this part of the world.

Rating:
Summary: Perhaps the weakest of the series
Review: I've read all of the Lee Harris "holiday themed" mysteries, and this one is the weakest of the lot! While an interesting vacation tale (Christine as tourist), her constant self-denial begins to wear thin. Must it be mentioned in nearly every chapter? And as a "guide" to the Holy Land, stick to travel writers who will do a better job of the historic/political aspects of this part of the world.

Rating:
Summary: Stay in the U.S!
Review: I've read every one of the excellent books in this series and always look forward to the next...this one, however, was disappointing. Starting with a far-fetched reason for Jack to be in Israel, and building on that shaky foundation, this was not up to the author's usual standards. Next time, let's stay home!

Rating:
Summary: A Dream Vacation Turns Deadly Serious!
Review: Recently, versatile Lee Harris gave her fans a much grittier, extremely intriguing change of pace with "Murder in Hell's Kitchen" which introduced police detective, Jane Bauer, coping handily with mayhem and murder in The Big Apple. Although Ms. Harris' latest novel, "The Bar Mitzvah Murder", takes us back to her established series characters: Christine Bennett (former nun turned amateur sleuth) and her policeman husband, Jack Brooks, it too represents something of a departure from her usual suburban focus which makes it, I think, one of the strongest and most moving novels in the 'Holiday Mysteries' to date. After a rough patch of several years while Jack struggled to balance his responsibilities to NYPD with night classes at law school, things are finally looking up for the Brooks family. When the novel opens, degree in hand and newly-promoted to a lieutenancy, Jack comes home with the astonishing news that the Police Commissioner has personally assigned him to a joint American/Israeli task force aimed at tracking down international criminals and that creating a database for this project will entail a two-week trip to Israel...a trip which can and will also include Christine and their young son, Eddie. Thrilled by the prospect of fulfilling her life-long desire to visit the Holy Land, icing on the cake for Christine is knowing that her trip overseas will overlap a visit by close friends, Mel and Hal Gross, who have been invited...all expenses paid...to attend Mel's wealthy cousin Gabe Gross' late-life Bar Mitzvah being held in Jerusalem just prior to the Brooks' arrival. So much for dream vacations! Still fighting jet-lag, Christine receives a frantic yelp for help from a thoroughly panicked Mel: Gabe has disappeared! According to witnesses, he had left his party, was found lying on the ground outside the hotel, and while a doctor member of the family tried to administer CPR, an ambulance came and whisked him away. Problem? The ambulance never arrived at any of the local hospitals. While Jack uses his connection with the Israeli police to jump start an investigation, Christine focuses her attention on the immediate family only to discover that genial Gabe was not averse to sharp dealings, had a troubled marital history and had managed to completely alienate his adult children. After Gabe's body turns up DOA some days later, Christine subjugates sightseeing to sleuthing. The cops now know how he died...it's up to her to discover why and who. As usual, following in her footsteps while she does so makes for a thoroughly satisfying and completely enjoyable reading experience.

I always finish a Lee Harris novel with a smile on my face. In addition to the fun and excitement of tagging along during their well-plotted, intricate investigations, connecting with Jack and Christine's world and becoming part of their extended family is always such a pleasure. Lagniappe for me in "The Bar Mitzvah Murder" was a chance to not just see, but genuinely experience Israel vicariously while I shared their working vacation. Emis! They were absolutely delightful travel companions.

Rating:
Summary: exciting amateur sleuth
Review: Suburbanite Christine Bennett is delighted that her closest friends Hal and Mel Gross are going to visit Israel and their cousin is paying for it. Gabe is a wealthy fifty something year old businessman who wants to have his bar mitzvah in Jerusalem and is wealthy enough to fly his friends and family out there for the event.

Chris, a former nun, is even more excited when her husband NYPD lieutenant Jack informs her they are going to Israel too. He will work with the Jerusalem police on a database. When they arrive at their destination, Mel informs Chris that Gabe was injured and was taken away in an ambulance but they can't find him. The next day his body is found in the Arab sector of Jerusalem and since the police are not making any progress on the case, Mel asks Chris to do some detecting. She discovers that the crime was carefully planned in one country and executed in another but whom and why eludes her.

Not only has Lee Harris written another exciting amateur sleuth tale, she also has given her audience a fascinating travelogue of interesting sites and areas in Israel. In spite of the troubles in the area, readers will want to tour the Holy Land. THE BAR MITZVAH MURDER is so complex that nobody reading this book will be able to identify the person who set up the murder scenario until the author chooses to reveal it.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: exciting amateur sleuth
Review: Suburbanite Christine Bennett is delighted that her closest friends Hal and Mel Gross are going to visit Israel and their cousin is paying for it. Gabe is a wealthy fifty something year old businessman who wants to have his bar mitzvah in Jerusalem and is wealthy enough to fly his friends and family out there for the event.

Chris, a former nun, is even more excited when her husband NYPD lieutenant Jack informs her they are going to Israel too. He will work with the Jerusalem police on a database. When they arrive at their destination, Mel informs Chris that Gabe was injured and was taken away in an ambulance but they can't find him. The next day his body is found in the Arab sector of Jerusalem and since the police are not making any progress on the case, Mel asks Chris to do some detecting. She discovers that the crime was carefully planned in one country and executed in another but whom and why eludes her.

Not only has Lee Harris written another exciting amateur sleuth tale, she also has given her audience a fascinating travelogue of interesting sites and areas in Israel. In spite of the troubles in the area, readers will want to tour the Holy Land. THE BAR MITZVAH MURDER is so complex that nobody reading this book will be able to identify the person who set up the murder scenario until the author chooses to reveal it.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Good story marred by pace, extraneous "travelogue" filler
Review: We've been Lee Harris fans for quite a while, having read all fifteen of the prior ex-nun Christine Bennett mysteries. The series features Chris's introduction to the secular life after resigning from a nunnery after half her life at age 30. Over the course of the prior novels, she "ages" about half a year per book: she meets NYPD detective Jack (who's a handy official resource to her amateur sleuthing), becomes engaged and marries him, and has a baby, now four-year-old Eddie. The various yarns feature her solving mostly crimes from the past that never received adequate police work, allowing Chris to nose around with unlimited time and questioning until new facts appear in sufficient quantity to unravel long buried truths. The tales are clean family fare, with little or no violence, sex, swearing, or much other unpleasantness other than the crime that spawns the plot per se.

This latest entry, "Bar Mitzvah", starts off so far-fetched, that we were irritated almost from the start. A rich older man, Gabe Gross, decides he wants a proper Bar Mitzvah, and takes 40 friends and relatives to Israel to do it up right. Included is Chris's best girlfriend, Gabe's relative Melanie Gross, who naturally is excited at her impending foreign experience. Just by coincidence (gulp!) Chris's hubby, now a rising star lawyer-officer in the NYPD HQ, gets a special two-week assignment to -- guess where ?!? -- Israel, to coincide with the big celebration. When Gabe first gets sick, then rushed away in an ambulance, only to be the victim of a kidnapping/murder, our favorite busybody gets into her act and beats the apparently inept local police to every clue and every development in solving the case. Just in case there might be a shard of suspense to this fiction, the main plot is interrupted in virtually every chapter with little side trips by all concerned throughout the wonderful landscape of modern Israel and its wonderful biblical settings, visits to the wonderful shops there, meals at the wonderful restaurants there, etc. Get the drift? By the time the whole story comes out, involving a falsified last will and testament and mysterious things found in Gabe's safe back at home in America, we're so tired of the whole thing we just want it over. Only the last 25 pages or so of this plodding 250-page account had us really turning pages out of anything but loyalty.

This book smacks of something due to fulfill a contract, and as justification for author Syrell Rogovin Leahy traveling to Israel as "research" to write off her trip to the homeland of her ancestors. To us, an interesting travelogue it isn't; moreover, the now worldly Chris is getting to be a bit of a bore if you please.

We note that Harris has turned to a new character for both the previously published "Murder in Hell's Kitchen" and her upcoming novel "Murder in Alphabet City", both featuring NYPD Detective Jane Bauer. Perhaps Lee herself realizes Christine may well have run her course. Although I see (from the author's web site) that at least one more entry is due in the set, we hope she returns to form with a story that grabs and holds our attention. "Mitzvah" wasn't wretched, just disappointing compared to the rest.