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More Than Murder
Is What She Wrote
ERICA MEYER RAUZIN SPECIAL TO THEJEWISH NEWS
I
here is a new man in my
life and Fm nuts about him,
although usually detectives
aren't my type.
His name is Peter Decker and
our new friendship should be
credited to author Faye Keller-
man, who invented Decker, his
wife Rina Lazarus, their sons and
daughters, and Deck's partner
Marge. I'm increasingly fond of
all these people, but I'm devour-
ing my sixth Decker-Lazarus
mystery, and Fm afraid that once
I finish number seven, which is
already out, I'm going to have to
wait a long time for the next one.
Generally, I don't like myster-
ies. My junk genre reading is
more along the sci fi line. Up un-
til now, my only mystery addic-
tion has focused around a
medieval Benedictine monk
named Brother Cadfael, the won-
derful creation of Ellis Peters. I
love the Cadfael books because
they have the other-worldliness
of good science fiction, no mean
feat but one that Ellis Peters (the
pen name of historian Edith Par-
geter) accomplishes as she know-
ingly recreates the cloistered
world of an English abbey and
makes it real to her readers.
But Faye Kellerman's Detec-
tive Decker series also has a twist
that endears it to me. Deck is an
observant Jew. Really. Kosher,
Sabbath-observant, studies with
his rabbi, the whole ball of wax.
Over the course of the first sev-
en (I devoutly hope there will be
more) books, he goes from being
totally outside observant Ju-
daism to becoming increasingly
committed to it.
Decker's growth in his religion
is never the central action in the
books. Crime solving hold center
stage. Yet, his religion is never
irrelevant to the story. Some-
times it even provides crime solv-
ing clues. The Judaic thread
woven through the book isn't just
fancy trim. These stories offer far
more than just watching a man
lay teffilin, daven Ma'ariv, and
go catch the bad guy. Kellerman
weaves Decker's religion into his
approach to his work, his sense
of himself, his logistical problems,
and his crime solving methods.
She does all this without ever
being heavy-handed about reli-
gion. The only place she could use
a slightly lighter touch is in de-
scribing murder scenes, which
are just as gory and messy and
mystery-evoking as in straight
shoot-em up detective stories. But
then, that's the genre.
And Kellerman is an ace at the
genre. However while producing
rousing murder mysteries, she
imbues Decker's spiritual in-
volvement with reality...her own
reality, or something that seems
to resemble it closely. The author
is the wife of novelist Jonathan
Kellerman, the mother of four
children, and an observant Jew
herself. She is clearly knowl-
edgeable about Yiddishkeit, and
she gently spins Judaic informa-
tion through her novels.
These stories offer
more than catching
the bad guy.
Decker's wife Rina Lazarus is
an Orthodox woman who meets
her future husband when she
witnesses a crime, in the series'
first book, Ritual Bath. Their ro-
mance gently unfolds over the se-
ries, and religion is an issue they
discuss often. Kellerman uses the
character of Rina to demonstrate
not only a lively intelligence, a
feisty spirit and a loving family
member, but also an observant
life led with matter-of-fact prac-
ticality and genuine faith. The
couple reads like real people: they
fight, they rush to be ready for
Shabbat, they visit the in-laws,
they dote on their baby, and they
emerge off the page — as all good
fiction characters do — with their
own thoughts and actions. How
wonderful it is to read an adven-
ture, a mystery, that is based not
on gore or gimmicks or clichés,
but on values and on doing what's
right, whether you're a cop or a
housewife.
Thank you, Mrs. Kellerman
and, please, keep 'em coming. El
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or to issue date.
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