Synopses & Reviews
Modern Israel is a place filled with contradictions: the beautiful landscape often rife with human conflict; the tranquil and the peaceful in constant struggle with terrible destruction; and amazing human love and kindness set against a backdrop of civil strife. Through the eyes of a writer like Batya Gur and her finest creation, Chief Superintendent Michael Ohayon, these complexities are treated with an intimate familiarity and rare depth of understanding.
When a woman's body is discovered in the wardrobe warehouses of Israel Television, the brooding Ohayon embarks on a tangled and bloody trail of detection through the corridors and studios of Israel's official television station and, especially, through the relations, fears, loves, and courage of the people who make the station what it is. It is a journey that brings into question the very ideals upon which Ohayon -- and indeed the entire nation -- was raised, ideals that may have led to terrible crimes.
Chief Superintendent Ohayon has spent his career surrounded by perplexing and horrific cases, but perhaps nothing disturbs him more deeply than what this mysterious woman's murder reveals. For the media, often at the center of the Israeli consciousness -- a place where political tensions; hostility; corruption; and the ethnic, social, and religious divisions that shake the nation come together -- may indeed be at the root of an unspeakable evil.
Murder in Jerusalem is the crowning achievement of a magnificent career, this final installment in the Michael Ohayon series a wonderful parting gift from the incomparable Batya Gur -- one last fascinating visit to an always tumultuous land, in the company of a writer and a detective so many devoted readers have loved so well.
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“[A] biting cultural expose” New York Times Book Review
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“Gurs tremendous literary gifts are on full display... a sophistication equal to that of P.D. James.” Publishers Weekly (starred review)
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“Gurs novels were insightful, thought provoking and eminently readable…” BookPage, Mystery of the Month
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“[U]niquely Israeli take on the paradox of the sacred and profane in the Holy Land.” Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
The sixth and final novel from beloved and critically-acclaimed Israeli crime novelist Batya Gur--a stunning tale of a beautiful and secretive woman's murder, set against the politically charged backdrop of the Israeli media
Acclaimed Israeli director Benny Meyuhas' film production of the heartbreaking work "Iddo and Eynam" promises to be a landmark of Israeli film--until his wife and the films' set designer Tirzah Rubin is crushed under a set piece, stalling the production indefinitely.
But more shocking is what comes to light in the investigation--that Tirzah's storybook life wasn't at all what it seemed, and that her death may have been part of a larger network of social and political unrest. The brooding Chief Superintendent Michael Ohayon has spent his career surrounded by horrific crimes, but perhaps none most deeply disturbs him than Tirzah's murder, its strange connection to Israeli labor disputes and religious corruption shaking him to the core.
The crowning achievement to a magnificent career, this final installment in the Michael Ohayon series is a wonderful parting gift from the incomparable Batya Gur--one last fascinating visit to an always tumtultous land, in the company of a detective the author and her devoted readers have loved so well.
Synopsis
When a woman's body is discovered in the wardrobe warehouses of Israel Television, Chief Superintendent Michael Ohayon embarks on a tangled and bloody trail of detection through the corridors and studios of Israel's official television station, and through the fears, loves, and contradictions of the people who work there. It is an eye-opening journey that brings into question the very ideals upon which Ohayon—and indeed the entire nation—was raised, ideals that may have led to terrible crimes.
About the Author
Batya Gur (1947-2005) lived in Jerusalem, where she was a literary critic for Haaretz, Israel's most prestigious paper. She earned her master's in Hebrew literature at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and she also taught literature for nearly twenty years.