STONE KISS by Faye Kellerman

This was my first Faye Kellerman mystery although I have read Jonathan Kellerman forever.  Unfortunately this might be my last of hers.  This is a good story with some good characters but it sort of left me cold.


It's one of the Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus series, and Peter and Rina are the really well-drawn characters.  I did care what happened to them as I was reading, but with some of the others I just couldn't care less.


One of the best things about this novel is that it gave me a peek into a culture I know almost nothing about, Chasidic (I've always spelled it Hasidic) Jews.  Decker's half brother is a rabbi whose brother-in-law is Hasidic.  When the brother-in-law's teenage daughter goes missing, the rabbi calls Decker  in California in a panic, practically begging him to come to New York to help.  Decker's wife thinks they should go and by the way they could also see her grown sons while they are visiting.


In New York Decker is out of his element but he runs into an evil man with a good side (sort of like the prostitute with a heart of gold you know) who helps him.  The problem is that you never know whether this guy is truly helpful or is preparing to kill Decker.  The story is set partly in the city and partly in a fictional upstate NY town with a corrupt police chief.  Decker is in danger no matter where he is but keeps putting off a planned flight to Florida to visit his parents and brother because he just can't quit on the case, even when the Hasidic family lets him know he needs to leave.


There are some passages which stretched my tolerance for fortuitous appearances past its limit, and I thought too many characters were actually ordered from stock.  Nonetheless I can see why Faye Kellerman's novels are very popular and have countless fans.  It just wasn't my cup of tea.


Source:  swap with friend.  Recommended only for people who know and like this author.