The Bar Mitzvah Murder

A Christine Bennett Mystery

By: Lee Harris

Narrated by: Dee Macalouso

Today, I am a dead man.

For suburban sleuth Christine Bennett, the chance to visit the Holy Land is a dream come true. Her best friend Melanie Gross will be in Jerusalem at the same time for the Bar Mitzvah of her very wealthy cousin. Although he’s long past the customary age of 13, Gabe is planning a lavish party and is flying family and friends over from the States to celebrate. Not accustomed to traveling, Christine is thrilled to have Melanie along to share the experience.

The beauty and mystery of the golden city is overwhelming, and Christine is excited about exploring every part of it - until Gabe disappears without a trace, turning her vacation tour into a trail of clues that leads to a cold and cunning killer.

©2003 Lee Harris (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Murder in the Holy Land

This is probably my favorite of the series, for a couple reasons. The descriptions of Chris, Jack, and their family and friends visiting Jerusalem and the Holy Land is wonderful, the vacation of a lifetime, a personal dream of mine, and who better to experience it than a Christian couple and a Jewish couple? To walk where Jesus walked and lived. I suppose if you are not a Christian (or Jewish) you might not enjoy it as much, but from a purely historical perspective it is the roots of much of our modern society, of law and order. I was wishing that I could be walking and visiting those places right along with Chris and her friend, Mel Gross. The murder at the Bar Mitzvah happens early on in the story, Mel and Hal's wealthy cousin, Gabe Gross was throwing himself a late Bar Mitzvah and paying the way for all his guests, when he got ill at the party and was taken away by ambulance. He disappeared and could not be found at any of the local hospitals. By the time that Chris and Jack arrived in Jerusalem, the Bar Mitzvah was over and the hunt for Gabe was on. Mel, frantic, asked for Chris to help find him. Jack was busy with police work during the daytime hours. A few days after the party, Gabe's beaten dead body was found dumped. Chris continued to try to find out what had happened and Jack's police contact in Israel was helpful in tracking down leads. A search for a motive and a killer spanned Israel and the United States, as guests began returning home from the Bar Mitzvah. Buried secrets, jealousy and a variety of possible motives surface, as Christine digs deeper and deeper into Gabe's business and personal life. I love all the people in this series: Chris, Jack, Eddie, Mel, Sister Joseph and the nuns at St. Stephen's. I love the pace of the storytelling, that there isn't graphic sex scenes or language. Excellent conclusion by Christine and great addition to the series.