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applegnreads's review against another edition
3.0
Rina and Peter continue to irritate. Why have I made it to number 9?
jggiggle's review against another edition
I know this book is like 25 years old but some things did not age well at all.
stefaniefrei's review against another edition
5.0
Mighty Ego
I REALLY LOVED TO READ THIS. You have a short sequence in the beginning which left me wondering all through the rest of the book. Then you find the police at the site of the murder of a successful, renowned and wealthy heart surgeon, who also excelled at being deeply religious and very philantrophic. But who could have committed the ghastly crime? And, furthermore, why?
This is number 9 in the Decker/Lazarus series but it might be read on its own – any reference to the past will be explained in this very book, thus not requiring to have read the other titles but offering more insight to some of the past than the first eight books did. I liked the clever trick author Kellerman did about that.
The case is complex, it is topical, and motivations go way beyond what I had expected. LAPD Lieutenant Decker, now newly appointed head of the operations, finds himself unexpectedly personnally involved – his wife Rina knew the dead man. And more, she once was close to one of his sons, who turned away from the proprietary christian beliefs of his family to become a catholic priest. Investigations include researching within the victim’s large family, with grown-up children not even close to their father’s success or money, a biker gang, and the victims extended business activities. The setup kept me wondering all throughout the book. For those sensitive about that, no sexual assault in this book, and the gory details left reduced to what the cops see when finding a dead body (well, that can hardly be hygienical very often).
Apart from the aforementioned fact that you might start on the series with this book, those who know it will love to learn that, finally, Rina is back to play a significant role, not only privately, but, much to Decker’s dislike, in the case. Same is true for Decker’s former “partner in crime“, cop Marge Dunn. Also, Judaism again plays a bigger role: Decker married an orthodox jewish wife, same background you may find out about the author. Along with the books, some of the tradition is being explained, this time, the namegiving prayers for the dead and some others. Additionally, the author enters a field you might consider the counterpart for christians, constantly mentioning that the dead doctor was a fundamentalist and even disapproved about one of his sons becoming “only“ a catholic. Yes, there are pretty fundamentalist sects within christian belief but they probably would not call themselves thus nor would anybody openly refer to them as such all the time. It sounds a bit either PC or not knowing that Kellerman does not just give that group a name, she might at least have picked an invented one (there is one someplace, but less often than “fundamentalist“ which sounds rather awkward).
This minor point of criticism does not lessen how much I really enjoyed this book. A solid 5 stars.
I REALLY LOVED TO READ THIS. You have a short sequence in the beginning which left me wondering all through the rest of the book. Then you find the police at the site of the murder of a successful, renowned and wealthy heart surgeon, who also excelled at being deeply religious and very philantrophic. But who could have committed the ghastly crime? And, furthermore, why?
This is number 9 in the Decker/Lazarus series but it might be read on its own – any reference to the past will be explained in this very book, thus not requiring to have read the other titles but offering more insight to some of the past than the first eight books did. I liked the clever trick author Kellerman did about that.
The case is complex, it is topical, and motivations go way beyond what I had expected. LAPD Lieutenant Decker, now newly appointed head of the operations, finds himself unexpectedly personnally involved – his wife Rina knew the dead man. And more, she once was close to one of his sons, who turned away from the proprietary christian beliefs of his family to become a catholic priest. Investigations include researching within the victim’s large family, with grown-up children not even close to their father’s success or money, a biker gang, and the victims extended business activities. The setup kept me wondering all throughout the book. For those sensitive about that, no sexual assault in this book, and the gory details left reduced to what the cops see when finding a dead body (well, that can hardly be hygienical very often).
Apart from the aforementioned fact that you might start on the series with this book, those who know it will love to learn that, finally, Rina is back to play a significant role, not only privately, but, much to Decker’s dislike, in the case. Same is true for Decker’s former “partner in crime“, cop Marge Dunn. Also, Judaism again plays a bigger role: Decker married an orthodox jewish wife, same background you may find out about the author. Along with the books, some of the tradition is being explained, this time, the namegiving prayers for the dead and some others. Additionally, the author enters a field you might consider the counterpart for christians, constantly mentioning that the dead doctor was a fundamentalist and even disapproved about one of his sons becoming “only“ a catholic. Yes, there are pretty fundamentalist sects within christian belief but they probably would not call themselves thus nor would anybody openly refer to them as such all the time. It sounds a bit either PC or not knowing that Kellerman does not just give that group a name, she might at least have picked an invented one (there is one someplace, but less often than “fundamentalist“ which sounds rather awkward).
This minor point of criticism does not lessen how much I really enjoyed this book. A solid 5 stars.
robinlovesreading's review against another edition
5.0
After several years away from the series, I was completely drawn into the Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus series as Peter, a police lieutenant, is investigating the murder of a well-respected doctor. He had a large family, with several adult children, so as Peter begins his investigation, he looks at each of them as possible suspects.
One of them, Bram, a priest, has a connection with Rina, Peter's wife, that rather disturbs him and has the potential to affect his ability to investigate without prejudice.
I loved this book and am more than eager to catch up with the rest of this series.
One of them, Bram, a priest, has a connection with Rina, Peter's wife, that rather disturbs him and has the potential to affect his ability to investigate without prejudice.
I loved this book and am more than eager to catch up with the rest of this series.
pepper1133's review against another edition
4.0
Finally! Rina gets to be kinda complex and, gasp, human!
ruby_reads1's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
fallchicken's review against another edition
3.0
Better than the last one, wherein I almost threw in the towel for this series. A little like a Christie mystery, though, where you just pick the most unlikely character and that's the whodunnit.
lauraellis's review against another edition
3.5
The most recent Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus mystery, a series which always manages to intertwine murder and crime with religion, spirituality, and family. Here a famous surgeon, with a hidden side, dies, leaving a widow and six adult children, one of whom Rina had been very close to right after her first husband’s murder. It could have been a recipe for a schlocky romance, but instead its an intriguing book about mostly decent, and some not-so-decent, but all very human characters.
devrose's review against another edition
3.0
I loved the dives into Rina and the boys' pasts in this book, but the ending seemed a little like something out of Crossing Jordan, the way everything was tied up so neatly. Well, except for the very end, which was really sad.
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