Friday the Rabbi Slept Late: Amazon.ca: Harry Kemelman: Books

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From Library Journal

Kemelman's 1964 mystery launched the Rabbi David Small series and snagged an Edgar for best first novel. The plot finds the rabbi investigating the murder of a nanny no more than a stone's throw from his synagogue. His investigation, however, turns up heaps of evidence pointing to the killer's being him.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Book Description

Rabbi David Small, the new leader of Barnard's Crossing's Jewish community, can't even enjoy his Sabbath without things getting stirred up in a most unorthodox manner: It seems a young nanny has been found strangled, less than a hundred yards from the Temple's parking lot -- and all the evidence points to the Rabbi.

Add to that the not-so-quiet rumblings of his disgruntled congregation, and you might say our inimitable hero needs a miracle from a Higher Source to save him.... --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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5.0 out of 5 stars A great book on any day of the week!, Feb 3 2003

By	DARBY KERN (Green Bay, WI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Friday the Rabbi Slept Late (Mass Market Paperback)

There's no need for me to recap the story- others have done it already. I do believe that some reviewers of this book, and other books in the series , have missed the point. Rabbi David Small is not a detective who enters a crime scene, recreates the events in his head and presents the police with the killer. He is a student, and a teacher. He is a man who has trained himself to think "outside the box" as the term is now. That is how he manages to lead the police to the criminal.

Another fantastic element of these books is the insight into the Jewish religion. As a gentile (and Protestant Christian) I may not agree with all of the rabbi's beliefs, but I can, and should, respect them. In a foreward to the new editions The late author explained why he began writing about a rabbi who was often in conflict with his congregation. It was because many people of his faith were not aware of the rich heritage or the historical purpose of the rabbi. His agent liked the book but thought he should add a mystery element to it. Thus was born the crime solving rabbi.

Do these stories move with the speed of an Agatha Christie yarn? No. They don't even try. Kemmelman tells stories about people- the crime is often secondary. Are they charming and entertaining? Oh, yeah.

This is the book to start with. Then hang out with the rabbi on every day of the week. Then SOMEDAY. Then ONE FINE DAY. Then on THE DAY THE RABBI RESIGNED. Then on THE DAY THE RABBI LEFT TOWN. Your only regret will be that Mr. Kemmelman only wrote 11 Rabbi Small mysteries.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Light murder mystery with unlikely but likeable Rabbi sleuth, Jul 22 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Friday the Rabbi Slept Late (Mass Market Paperback)

Rabbi Small is a young, "rookie" rabbi at a synogogue in an upstart, suburban Boston community which only recently has had many Jews in the town. The congregation would prefer a "star" that they can show off to their Gentile neighbors--a man who presents himself well at community events--more than they want a spiritual leader and teacher. Unfortunately, Rabbi Small doesn't quite fit their bill: he is often unkempt, he gets lost in his books, he refuses to participate by blessing the boats in the town's annual regatta. He even publicly chides the Sisterhood for serving non-Kosher food at one of their luncheons. At the same time that the Rabbi's contract comes up for renewal, there is a new problem--he is implicated in the murder of a young woman, whose body is found in the synogogue parking lot and whose purse is found in his car. Forming an alliance with the local Irish-Catholic police chief, the Rabbi proceeds to solve the crime, while simultaneousl! y working to win over the confidence of the synagogue Board of Directors to keep his job.

The book is a short, one-or-two nights read, easy to get into. As a mystery, it rates well but not among the great mystery classics. Kemelman's strength as a writer lies not in his build-up of the mystery tension, but rather in his ability to portray characters, including their admitted foibles, within their social context. The portrayal of suburban synagogue politics is uncannily accurate, as well as the struggle within the Yankee town to deal with the specter of prejudice and anti-Semitism when the Rabbi becomes a murder suspect.

For a light mystery, a sort of "Murder, She Wrote" with sociological insight and a Jewish twist, try this first of the "Rabbi" mystery series.

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Friday the Rabbi Slept Late (Mass Market Paperback)

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