Wednesday the Rabbi Got Wet

A pharmaceutical mishap draws the rabbi into a murder investigation in this New York Times bestseller: "An endearing character . . . a devious plot" ( San Diego Union-Tribune ). Edgar Award–Winning Author New Age thinking has come to Barnard's Crossing, Massachusetts. The recently elected president of Rabbi David Small's synagogue is intent on using temple money to build a meditation retreat. The congregation is practicing yoga, buying crystals, and reciting chants. When a troubled young man returns to the town after spending time in a controversial Hasidic cult, the rabbi expects him to be another New Ager. But things take a grisly turn away from new-fangled mantras of peace and love when something terribly old fashioned happens: murder. An elderly patient dies after being given the wrong medication by the local pharmacist, who coincidentally is also the Hasidic man's father. When the dead man's family suggests the mix-up was intentional, both the druggist and his son become suspects and it's up to Rabbi Small to investigate by drawing on some Old Testament wisdom in a village of New Age fads. "If Agatha Christie's Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot had had a son who naturally became a detective, sharp as Marple on murder, wise as Poirot on plotting, he would be known as rabbi David Small." — Vogue "A jim-dandy tale." — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "Fine entertainment . . . Superior reading." — AP News Features