From Publishers Weekly
Juliet Applebaum, L.A. public defender turned stay-at-home mom, returns for a second amusing but poignant adventure mixing child-rearing and sleuthing (after 2000's somewhat weaker Nursery Crimes, which was marred by a clich‚d ending). Four-month-old Isaac isn't sleeping much, and neither is his mother, while dad is busy getting the pilot for a new TV series ready. A chance encounter with a Hasidic storekeeper, Nettie Tannenbaum, brings Juliet temporary relief, when Nettie recommends her niece, Fraydle Finkelstein, as a babysitter. Fraydle works wonders with Isaac and three-year-old Ruby, but next day goes missing. Could Fraydle's disappearance have something to do with her family belonging to a strict religious group, the Satmar Hasidim, and her parents having arranged a marriage for her? Juliet saw Fraydle chatting with a young Israeli named Yossi, but the girl vehemently denied that he was her boyfriend. When the Finkelstein family refuses to involve the police, Juliet travels to Brooklyn, where she wangles a meeting with the family of Fraydle's intended husband. The surprising truth of what happened to Fraydle, however, lies back in Los Angeles. Drawing sharp contrasts between the world of conservative Judaism and Juliet's more liberal Hollywood life, Waldman has given her heroine a compelling story befitting her intelligent, witty voice.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Booklist
Juliet Appelbaum, Waldman's Harvard-trained lawyer turned stay-at-home mother--
Nursery Crimes (2000)--is wondering if she will ever sleep again. Her second child, four-month-old Isaac, loathes naps, and her three-year-old daughter, Ruby, thinks she will never go to the park again. Her screenwriter husband seems to spend more time at work with an attractive producer than he does at home. The desperate Juliet hires Freydle Finkelstein, a rabbi's daughter and member of the Hasidic community in the Applebaums' Los Angeles neighborhood, to babysit. Then Fredyle disappears suddenly, and Juliet wonders why. Is she fleeing an arranged marriage? What about the mysterious non-Hasidic man who was talking to her before she vanished? When Freydle's parents refuse to call the police, Juliet feels that she must try to find the missing woman herself. Waldman treats the Los Angeles scene with humor, offers a revealing glimpse of Hasidic life, and provides a surprise ending. This is an entertaining mystery with a satirical tone.
Barbara BibelCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
