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The Bar Mitzvah Murder
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Plot Summary of The Bar Mitzvah Murder
"

Fawcett, Feb 2004, 6.99, 272 pp.
ISBN 0449007294

Suburbanite Christine Bennett is delighted that her closest friends Hal and Mel Gross are going to visit Israel and their cousin is paying for it. Gabe is a wealthy fifty something year old businessman who wants to have his bar mitzvah in Jerusalem and is wealthy enough to fly his friends and family out there for the event.

Chris, a former nun, is even more excited when her husband NYPD lieutenant Jack informs her they are going to Israel too. He will work with the Jerusalem police on a database. When they arrive at their destination, Mel informs Chris that Gabe was injured and was taken away in an ambulance but they can't find him. The next day his body is found in the Arab sector of Jerusalem and since the police are not making any progress on the case, Mel asks Chris to do some detecting. She discovers that the crime was carefully planned in one country and executed in another but whom and why eludes her.

Not only has Lee Harris written another exciting amateur sleuth tale, she also has given her audience a fascinating travelogue of interesting sites and areas in Israel. In spite of the troubles in the area, readers will want to tour the Holy Land. THE BAR MITZVAH MURDER is so complex that nobody reading this book will be able to identify the person who set up the murder scenario until the author chooses to reveal it.

Harriet Klausner

"

Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of The Bar Mitzvah Murder
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 10%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20%




Tone of story - very upbeat
How difficult to spot villain? - Very difficult--no foreshadowing/clues
Time/era of story: - present (2000-2010)
What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 70%
Kind of investigator - amateur citizen investigator
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot? - life in that culture
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes

Main Character
Gender - Female
Profession/status: - teacher
Age: - 20's-30's
How much violence does he/she use? - none
Ethnicity/Race - White/American
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - very athletic

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status: - thief/con artist
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a little/some
Motive of antagonist - money/treasure
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Setting
Asia/Pacific Yes
Asian country: - Israel

Style
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
How many deaths? - 1
Amount of dialog - significantly more dialog than descript
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