An Old Man's Game

December 2, 2019
Weinberger’s agreeable if flawed first novel and series launch introduces Amos Parisman, an aging Jewish PI in Los Angeles. Amos is retained by the board of an Orthodox synagogue to look into the sudden death of its rabbi, Ezra Diamant, who keeled over during a meal at Canter’s Deli. There’s no evidence of anything other than natural causes, and the cleric was buried without an autopsy. Amos’s suspicions that there may have been foul play are enhanced after someone connected with Diamant is clearly murdered. Amos’s search for a motive for Diamant’s killing leads him to some controversial Friday night sermons Diamant gave that questioned whether the Exodus from Egypt described in the Hebrew Bible ever happened. Some readers may object that the real Canter’s Deli in L.A. is nonkosher and hence not a place an Orthodox rabbi would patronize; more seriously, they may say questioning the Exodus story wouldn’t anger anyone enough to commit murder. Others won’t care. Those seeking more L.A. mysteries with a Jewish theme should check out Joseph Telushkin’s Rabbi Winter series.

January 1, 2020
A celebrity rabbi, known to his flock as "dynamic and charismatic," was alive one second and dead the next, face down in his matzo-ball soup at Canter's Deli in Los Angeles. He was only 53, so members of his temple don't buy the official cause: heart attack. That's why the synagogue president calls on retired PI Amos Parisman, sixtysomething and coot-cranky, to investigate. As with most good detective stories, the real pleasure here is in watching the gumshoe at work. Amos talks about old L.A., dines at the deli, argues about Hamlet with a friend, who never saw the play but guesses "a lot of folks die in it." Others try to dismiss his investigation, telling him murder is "not an old man's game." Another adds, "It's like peeling an onion. When you get to the end you have nothing." But Amos persists and discovers the key in an unexpected place. This is sheer fun, ranking right up there with Daniel Friedman's Buck Schatz series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)