The Ritual Bath

Number: 101
Title: The Ritual Bath
Author: Faye Kellerman
Started: September 22, 2007
Finished: September 25, 2007
Pages: 358
Genre: mystery
ISBN: 0-380-73266-1

Language: English

Where The Book Came From: It has been waiting for me on my shelves for a bit.

First Sentence: "The key to a good potato kugel is good potatoes," Sarah Libba shouted over the noise of the blow dryer.

Cover Blurb: Detective Peter Decker of the LAPD is stunned when he gets the report. Someone has shattered the sanctuary of a remote yeshiva community in the California hills with an unimaginable crime. One of the women was brutally raped as she returned from the mikvah, the bathhouse where the cleansing ritual is performed.

The crime was called in by Rina Lazarus, and Decker is relieved to discover that she is a calm and intelligent witness. She is also the only one in the sheltered community willing to speak of this unspeakable violation. As Rina tries to steer Decker through the maze of religious laws the two grow closer. But before they get to the bottom of this horrendous crime, revelations come to light that are so shocking that they threaten to come between the hard-nosed cop and the deeply religious woman with whom he has become irrevocably linked.

Reason For Reading: It was for a buddy read and I also had wanted to read this book for quite a while now.

Favorite Part: The last scene, when Peter Decker decides to no deal with the press and instead danced with the other men. That was such a great scene *sigh*

Miscellaneous: Argh! How those reporters mis-pronounced "yeshiva" it hurts my eyes to read it and my ears to imagine the sound! So much for good research...

Rating: A-