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.)

October 1, 2019
Retired Los Angeles private eye Amos Parisman probes the death of a controversial rabbi. Parisman debuts on the mystery scene, bravely flaunting his Yiddishkeit in his first-person narrative. Unfortunately, he loses his street cred by the end of Chapter 1, mangling both Hebrew and Yiddish translations and transliterations with equal abandon. Alav hashalom (not le sholem, Parisman's weirdly French-sounding rendition) really does more or less mean "rest in peace," but twisting alter kocker into alte katchke (which would rhyme with tchotchke) does not make it closer to meaning "old duck." Parisman's gumshoe chops come across as a little more authentic. He's reasonably skeptical when Howie Rothbart hires him to investigate the death of Rabbi Ezra Diamant of Shir Emmet, a wealthy West Hollywood congregation. Why would the board suspect that the demise of their overweight, middle-aged spiritual leader, who keeled over into his matzo ball soup lunch at Canter's Deli on Fairfax, was anything but the natural consequences of his poor food and exercise choices? Rothbart's repeated claim that Diamant rubbed people the wrong way does little to convince Parisman he's looking at a murder. But the subsequent death by crowbar of Diamant's doctor, Dora Ewing, does. By now Amos has grown cautious enough to hire ex-wrestler Omar Villasenor to provide some much-needed muscle, and the ill-assorted pair provide an entertaining tour of LA while they track down a killer with a surprising motive. Probably worthy of an encore--if the author gets a dialogue coach.

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December 6, 2019

DEBUT Amos Parisman is a retired PI in L.A. Despite this fact, Howie Rothbart, president of Temple Shir Emmet, asks Amos to investigate the recent death of their charismatic rabbi. Although Ezra Diamant died at Canter's Deli over lunch, the board of the synagogue is suspicious. The rabbi might have smoked and been overweight, but he was forceful, made headlines, and stirred up trouble. Parisman's friend Lt. Bill Malloy insists it was a natural death, and the man's family concurs, but Amos was hired for a job. He's persistent. When two people are murdered who have connections to the rabbi, and Amos finds a bullet on his car, he brings in protection, a 30-year-old Mexican man who credits Amos for saving him from prison. While the mystery is intriguing, the thoughtful, retired Jewish PI is the draw for this debut mystery. As he and his wife age, he deals with her onset of dementia with love and patience, that patience being a part of his nature as an inquisitive PI. VERDICT The character of the unassuming retired PI will appeal to fans of Naomi Hirahara's "Mas Arai" mysteries, another series with an elderly investigator. The quiet story puts an interesting spin on Jewish history.--Lesa Holstine, Evansville Vanderburgh P.L., IN

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