An interesting procedural set in Tel Aviv. Fans of the serial killer genre will relish the change of scene. Thanks to netgalley for the arc.

Really good story, well written and a good plot. A new author but I really enjoyed it.

I can't wait to read it. The plot sounds unique

4 and 1 / 2 stars

This book is beautifully translated. The words just flow along.

Superintendent Jonah Merlin is called to the scene of the murder of a young woman. Her clothes indicate that she is wealthy, but she was found in an abandoned warehouse in the poorer part of town. Two superintendents, Merlin and Eli Levy, show up at the scene, but Merlin loses the toss so to speak.

There is interesting graffiti at the scene, so Merlin sets about trying to get more information about it as it seems like a quote from something. He also tries to identify the young woman. There was a great deal of DNA left on the body, so he also hopes to get something from that.

A second murder is committed, a man this time, with the same type of writing on the wall. A young girl who spent most of the night with the victim approaches Merlin and identifies the original author of the quotes.

This book is interspersed with extensive background information on several people. The in-depth telling of their stories gives the reader a deep and extensive understanding of the circumstances of the murders.

And a third murder is committed, an elderly lady this time. Another quote is written on the wall. Zoe, the young lady who identified the source of the quotes, and Rai, the graffiti specialist, get more involved in the case.

This book is not your run of the mill detective story. There is so much background information given, that there is not enough space to describe much detecting. We don’t get to know Merlin’s team very well at all. Although, we do get to know Merlin quite well. We know much more about Zoe and Rai. The characters in this book tell their own stories, in the first person. It is a rather unusual point of view, so many people, so many stories.

The clues come slowly, but I wonder what happened to the DNA evidence spoken about in the first murder. In the end, we find out who murdered whom.

Attitudes about men sure take a beating in this novel.

There are a few bombshells dropped in the end as well. All in all this is a very good book. It is well written and unusually plotted, but certainly readable. I look forward to reading more of Amir Gutfreund’s novels.

I want to send a thank you to Netgalley and Amazon Crossing for forwarding a copy of this interesting and wonderful book to me to read.

On a quest to read internationally. Not sure I've ever read a book from Israel before. Pretty good. A fairly standard cops (with assistance of quirky idiosyncratic civilians) on the tail of a killer story, much elevated not only by an interesting foreign locale/mentality, but also by the well rendered backstories for characters and victims both. In this case the latter is essential since this is a strictly character driven revenge story, decades in waiting and served up with a literary garnish. Quick entertaining read, great for thriller fans. Thanks Netgalley.