Edited by Lawrence W. Raphael
Preface by Joel Siegel, ABC's Good Morning America
Confront murder, mayhem—and your own
mysteries of being.
From a corporate giant's kidnapping of a
rabbi, to the disappearance of the clarinetist in a klezmer
band, to four rabbis' use of their text interpretation skills
to help a detective solve a murder that one of them has
committed, this unique collection of mysteries will enlighten
you at the same time it intrigues and entertains.
While featuring enough death and deception
to keep the detective protagonists on their toes, each story
presents the uncertainties that are a part of contemporary
Jewish identity—inviting us all to confront our own
mysteries of being. Throughout the stories' tangled puzzles and
suspenseful adventures, the characters solve not only the
"whodunit"-type mysteries, but also struggle to solve
the mystery of their spiritual lives.
Mystery Midrash will be a lasting delight for mystery buffs of
all faith traditions.
"A kosher treat. A Jewish angle on a
genre of literature that so often employs Talmudic logic and
the Jewish sensibility that wrong is wrong, and must be
stopped."
—Rabbi
Joseph Telushkin, author of Jewish Literacy and An Eye for An Eye, a
mystery featuring sleuth Daniel Winter
"Intriguing tales of detection as
well as meditations on Jewish identity, the stories in this
book do what Jewish writing has always done: provide compelling
narrative with your philosophy and philosophical challenges
with your fiction. Like any Jewish story, the ones in this book
can be read on many levels, but there is no argument, Talmudic
or otherwise about the quality of this collection: Mystery Midrash is
a mitzvah!"
—S.J.
(Shira) Rozan, author of Stone Quarry and
winner of Shamus and Anthony Awards
"Despite their Jewish themes, these
stories have an ecumenical appeal: to Raphael, Mazel
Tov!"
—Publishers
Weekly Starred Review
"With a first class list of
contributors and wonderful stories, Mystery Midrash offers
us a contemporary look at Jewish life, with a mysterious
twist."
—Jack
Dann, editor of Wandering Stars and More Wandering Stars, anthologies of Jewish fantasy and science fiction,
and author of The Silent
