Part of Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus, book 1
First published 1996
Detective Peter Decker receives an unbelievable call. Someone has been raped at the yeshiva in the canyon hills behind Los Angeles. The crime shocks him because recent problems in the area involved only anti-Semitic vandalism, never violence. The strict Orthodox Jewish community keeps to itself and distrusts outsiders. Decker knows they will resist cooperating with police. His instincts prove correct when he meets Rina Lazarus, the young widow who discovered the victim. She speaks about her insular world but reveals little else. Rina fascinates Decker even as she frustrates his investigation. He remains an outsider looking in, but his police experience tells him something darker lurks beneath the surface. This community guards its privacy fiercely, yet Decker senses that such secrecy might cost them dearly. The price could even be murder.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, detective
Vibes: atmospheric, intimate, suspenseful
Tropes: outsider-looking-in, secrets
Setting: Los Angeles, Yeshiva
Period: Contemporary
288 pages · Mass Market Paperback · Headline Feature
Content warnings: sexual-assault