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Book Reviews of The Ritual Bath (Decker/Lazarus, Bk 1)

The Ritual Bath (Decker/Lazarus, Bk 1)
The Ritual Bath - Decker/Lazarus, Bk 1
Author: Faye Kellerman
ISBN-13: 9780060563752
ISBN-10: 0060563753
Publication Date: 2/2004
Pages: 352
Rating:
  • Currently 4.2/5 Stars.
 20

4.2 stars, based on 20 ratings
Publisher: Perennial
Book Type: Paperback
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

35 Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

reviewed The Ritual Bath (Decker/Lazarus, Bk 1) on + 317 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Along with solving a mystery, the reader learns many Jewish traditions.
reviewed The Ritual Bath (Decker/Lazarus, Bk 1) on + 187 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
The first of the Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus novels....If you've read any of the others and wondered how these two got together, this is their story. Kellerman tells a great story, one of those books that you don't want to put down, she draws you into the story and the people's lives. Lots of background into Jewish beliefs and customs. The story line is well-drawn and tense. I've become a Kellerman fan.
reviewed The Ritual Bath (Decker/Lazarus, Bk 1) on + 7 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
This is an awesome book! Detective Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus meet for the first time in this book. This book has a few Jewish words, although they are easy to comprehend.
reviewed The Ritual Bath (Decker/Lazarus, Bk 1) on + 26 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Read this some time ago, but remember it fondly.
reviewed The Ritual Bath (Decker/Lazarus, Bk 1) on + 42 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Peter Decker is a divorced LAPD detective who has the misfortune of picking up a rape case in a Jewish community. Why is this a misfortune? He is already working a rape case that has the police force scrambling. Rina Lazarus is a Torah Jew, and it is a good friend of hers that has been brutalized while walking home from the mikvah (the bathhouse where a cleansing ritual is performed). Together, they form an unlikely alliance to find the rapist.

One of the things I liked about this book, beyond the main story, was the side story of the attraction between Decker and Rina. In almost any other book, this would have been easily resolved by the end. So what if Rina was extremely religious and could not consider being with anyone outside her religion? So what that Decker was a Gentile with a Jewish ex-wife and a Jewish daughter? Normally, these obstacles would be overcome. Not so here (and no, I am not giving away the ending with this). Kellerman is very good at keeping Rina true to her religion but yet letting her feel the angst of developing feelings for Decker.

The book was a good read. My one complaint would be that when characters made comments in Hebrew, it would have been nice to have a translation instead of my having to guess what was being said by using the context of the passage I was reading.

I am hoping that the next book of this series keeps up with the quality of this one.
reviewed The Ritual Bath (Decker/Lazarus, Bk 1) on + 2 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
This is the first in a series-check on the Faye Kellerman web site for the order in which the books were written. The mysteries are all different but to follow the Peter-Rina story you'll enjoy them more in order. There are carry-over characters-cops, Peter's daughter (with a wonderful story of her own), Rina's kids, etc. I enjoyed these books perhaps even more than those written by her husband, Jonathan Kellerman. Enjoy.
reviewed The Ritual Bath (Decker/Lazarus, Bk 1) on
Helpful Score: 1
This book was more enjoyable than I thought it would be, especially since the plot wasn't my normal cup of tea. I really liked Faye Kellerman's writing style and how it flowed. I think I could read any book by Faye Kellerman and probably not lose interest. I was very skeptical during the first chapter about reading a novel blending Jewish mores and the typical American murder mystery, however I was easily sucked in by Kellerman's style and how she didn't go overboard with trying to make the reader "appreciate/respect" Jewish customs. The book was not only entertaining, but I felt wholesome upon finishing the book because I walked away learning more about the different Jewish religions. All in all a great read! I finished it in a matter of hours. :)
reviewed The Ritual Bath (Decker/Lazarus, Bk 1) on + 8 more book reviews
First of the series.
reviewed The Ritual Bath (Decker/Lazarus, Bk 1) on + 67 more book reviews
This is a soft cover book.
reviewed The Ritual Bath (Decker/Lazarus, Bk 1) on + 57 more book reviews
The FIRST book in the series featuring Peter Decker, LAPD detective and Rina Lazarus, his wife in Los Angeles, California.
reviewed The Ritual Bath (Decker/Lazarus, Bk 1) on + 54 more book reviews
Good story line with insight into Jewish life of a yeshiva. Will continue to read the series.
reviewed The Ritual Bath (Decker/Lazarus, Bk 1) on + 47 more book reviews
This is the first book I have read from this series or this author. This book tells of a Jewish settlement in the US where a rape & then a murder occurs. The detective investigating meets a beautiful widow & they both have mutual attraction for each other. This is made more difficult by the fact that the woman will not date anyone out of her faith.
reviewed The Ritual Bath (Decker/Lazarus, Bk 1) on + 62 more book reviews
Great book, believable characters. Can't wait to read more from this author.
reviewed The Ritual Bath (Decker/Lazarus, Bk 1) on + 11 more book reviews
Action-packed, exciting, suspenseful and interesting to boot. A must for Faye Kellerman fans.
reviewed The Ritual Bath (Decker/Lazarus, Bk 1) on + 8 more book reviews
very nice read
reviewed The Ritual Bath (Decker/Lazarus, Bk 1) on + 3 more book reviews
This is the first book in the Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus mystery series. Peter Decker is a LAPD detective called in on a rape case at the local yeshiva, an Orthodox Jewish enclave. As Peter is drawn into solving the case, he is equally drawn to the young widow Rina Lazarus who offers to help him navigate the world of the yeshiva.
This is a class A mystery with an added bonus of taking you into a world few have ever seen. A truly great read.
Fulltimer avatar reviewed The Ritual Bath (Decker/Lazarus, Bk 1) on + 179 more book reviews
This book made me go out and buy the rest of the series.
reviewed The Ritual Bath (Decker/Lazarus, Bk 1) on + 7 more book reviews
First in the Peter Decker series. The characters are refreshing, the story is interesting, but tends to drag just a bit. Still a good book and easy read.
Alison avatar reviewed The Ritual Bath (Decker/Lazarus, Bk 1) on + 551 more book reviews
Faye Kellerman.
reviewed The Ritual Bath (Decker/Lazarus, Bk 1) on + 103 more book reviews
From the book cover, "Someone has declared unholy war on the holiest of places...The quiet ordered world of a yeshiva in the California hills is shattered by an unspeakable crime: a woman is brutally raped as she returns from the mikvah, the bathhouse where women perform their cleansing ritual.

Detective Peter Decker of the LAPD has never heard anything like it, and he's relieved to find Rina Lazarus there as a witness. Calm and intelligent, Rina is the only one in the community willing to cooperate with Decker, as she tries to steer him through the maze of religious laws that thwart his investigation at every turn.

But as the trail grows cold, Decker's only getting closer to Rina and not to the rapist - or is he? Maybe Rina was the intended victim all along. And the rapist may not stop with rape the next time..."

This is the excellent first novel by Faye Kellerman, as interesting and informative about Orthodox Judaism, as it is thrilling and fast-paced. Kellerman's Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus mystery series presents intelligent and absorbing murder mysteries.
reviewed The Ritual Bath (Decker/Lazarus, Bk 1) on
Really enjoyable first book in the series. I like the way the relationship between Peter and Rina is beginning to unfold.
reviewed The Ritual Bath (Decker/Lazarus, Bk 1) on + 16 more book reviews
Couldn't put it down!
eadieburke avatar reviewed The Ritual Bath (Decker/Lazarus, Bk 1) on + 1638 more book reviews
This is the first book in the Peter Decler/Rina Lazarus series and I found it very interesting. In was a great introduction to the Orthodox Jewish lifestyles. The author is very good in grasping the reader's attention and keeping one involved with the storyline. Each chapter flows into the next. The characters felt real, the plot was believable and it was written in such a way that it made it difficult to put down. I am now looking forward to reading the next book in the series.
sealady avatar reviewed The Ritual Bath (Decker/Lazarus, Bk 1) on + 657 more book reviews
The first Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus novel; Someone has shattered the sancturary of a remote yeshiva community and brutally raped a woman returning from the bathhouse where the cleansing ritual is performed.
reviewed The Ritual Bath (Decker/Lazarus, Bk 1) on + 50 more book reviews
Had not read Kellerman books before. Once I understood some of the Jewish terminology it was a great read.
reviewed The Ritual Bath (Decker/Lazarus, Bk 1) on + 40 more book reviews
In Faye Kellerman fashion, this book was a wonderful kid of mystery without the bloody and gory details that many use when writing death scenes. I also enjoyed learning that there are different 'sects' among the Jewish faith. The ending seemed a bit rushed - - pull the mask off, expose the villain, the end. But still an enjoyable book.
reviewed The Ritual Bath (Decker/Lazarus, Bk 1) on
Good detective and romance wrapped into one story.
reviewed The Ritual Bath (Decker/Lazarus, Bk 1) on + 11 more book reviews
Great light reading. Very likable characters.
reviewed The Ritual Bath (Decker/Lazarus, Bk 1) on + 7 more book reviews
First book in the Decker/Lazarus series. Very entertaining read!
reviewed The Ritual Bath (Decker/Lazarus, Bk 1) on + 29 more book reviews
Detective Peter Decker is stunned when he gets the report. Someone has shattered the sanctuary of a remote yeshiva community in the California hills with an unimaginable crime. One of the women was brutally raped as she returned from the mikvah, the bathhouse where the cleansing ritual is performed.
reviewed The Ritual Bath (Decker/Lazarus, Bk 1) on + 73 more book reviews
Great mystery!
redhatter avatar reviewed The Ritual Bath (Decker/Lazarus, Bk 1) on + 577 more book reviews
Det. Peter Decker of the LAPD is stunned when he gets the report. Someone has shattered the Sanctuary of a remote yeshiva community in the California hills with an unimaginable crime. One of the women was brutaly raped as she returned fom the mikvah, the bathouse where the cleansing ritual is performed.
The crime was called in by Rina Lazarus, and Decker is relieved to discover that she is a calm and intelligent witness. As Rina tries to steer Decker through the maze of religious laws the two grow closer.
reviewed The Ritual Bath (Decker/Lazarus, Bk 1) on + 26 more book reviews
great book, gives you good insight into Judism while keeping you in suspense
reviewed The Ritual Bath (Decker/Lazarus, Bk 1) on + 17 more book reviews
Interesting insight into Jewish customs with lots of mystery included. Thoroughly enjoyed
mscottcgp avatar reviewed The Ritual Bath (Decker/Lazarus, Bk 1) on + 231 more book reviews
This is the 1st book in Faye Kelerman's series of books with her characters Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus