Comments (18)

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Aug 06, 2022FloraWest rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
So at its heart, a pretty solid mystery. Her generalizations about other cultures in passing make me wonder about the accuracy of her deeper dive into the Hasidic Jewish community. The protagonist is very young which makes it easier to…
Mar 27, 2022pozrob rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
Better than average police procedural set in New York City’s (Brooklyn) Ultra-Orthodox Heredi Jewish community. Exposes some fascinating insights into a culture that holds onto tradition, some quite secretive and controversial, that are…
Apr 04, 2020maipenrai rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
This is the first book in the Rebekah Roberts series. The murder mysteries are set within the Hasidic Jewish community where the police sometimes have problems penetrating this private world. She seems comparable to Linda Castillo…
Nov 15, 2017
When a young Hasidic wife and mother is murdered, a journalist finds herself drawn into the investigation and into the world in which her own mysterious mother was born and raised. Rebekah's mother left the community before giving birth to…
faigie1836
Jun 11, 2017faigie1836 rated this title 0.5 out of 5 stars
#chassidbashing
Aug 19, 2016ApollosRaven rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
This mystery kept me turning the pages! Not just for the interesting plot, but for the really excellent depiction of a NYC news "stringer" as she struggles to enter the hazardous world of print journalism. Her toe-hold turns out to be that…
Feb 27, 2016
I started to read this book, but I really felt after just getting started with it that the author threw in the "f" word way too often. After all, being a journalist she should have a better and more varied vocabulary. It just aggravated…
Sep 29, 2015Roundcat rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
This is a great first book of a series, laying out the main character, Rebekah Roberts, and her inner world and personal history as well as those around her that influence her. This story takes place in January in New York. The author…
Aug 26, 2015jerksister1 rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Very interesting first novel. Kept my interest throughout. Looking forward to reading her next book.
Aug 23, 2015DorisWaggoner rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
A good first novel about two interesting premises--a young woman whose mother left her and her father when she was an infant, and her "professional" work as a journalist on her first murder case. To her surprise, the victim is a member of…
Wolfespearl
Apr 21, 2015Wolfespearl rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
A good first. Rebekah Roberts catches her first murder as a reporter. She wants more than just to report on this crime; she wants to solve it. As the Hasidic community tries to hide it and ignore it, Rebekah works to find the truth as…
Mar 18, 2015lpreston214 rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
Tabloid stringer Rebekah is sent to cover the scene where a woman't body has been found. When she discovers the victim was a member of the ultra-orthodox Jewish community her interest is piqued as her own absentee mother was also a member.…
Jan 30, 2015sunnye1988 rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
This book is all you want to know about the Hasidic Jews and too afraid to ask. Their community is secret and clannish; very few outsiders know about this sect of Jews. Thanks to author Julia Kahl we now know. There is a house that is a…
Dec 22, 2014savtadina rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
The book's main character, Rebekah, is a journalist working for the New York Tribune, a populist newspaper. Rebekah's mother was a member of an ultra-Orthodox Hasidic (Jewish) sect in Brooklyn. The fled, had Rebekah (the father was not…
Oct 07, 2014akmarti rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
Interesting mystery that injects the sensibilities of conservative Judaism in New York City and how it affects police procedures. The main character is a woman who is in search of her past. Her mother, a member of a conservative Jewish…
Jul 29, 2014NotAllWhoWanderAreLost rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
I read this book over a weekend. I found it to be and easy, enjoyable read. For the author's debut novel it was well written and whoever did the editing did a great job. I have found that editing is becoming a lost art.
Jul 07, 2014ehbooklover rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
A compelling mystery with an intriguing premise and a very interesting exploration of a Hasidic community in New York City. Despite that, I found that I wasn’t a huge fan of the author’s writing style and at times I found the protagonist…
Jun 11, 2014
Excellent mystery with an interesting setting. First book for this author, she is off to a great start in the series!