Decker family travels to NY to help half brother's in-laws

Let me start by saying this is definitely not one of of the best of the Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus mysteries by Faye Kellerman. Stone Kiss is the fourteenth of the series and builds on a character from Justice, an earlier novel featuring a colorful character named Chris Donatti. I recently decided to reread the books involving this complex character and his love/hate relationship with Peter Decker. So I won't recommend this as a starting point for anyone just starting the series. I recommend starting with Ritual Bath, the first of the series.

Lt. Decker is asked by his brother, Jonathan, an Orthodox Jewish Rabbi, to come to New York to help find the murderer of his brother-in-law. Peter and his wife Rina had planned a vacation, but they take this side trip to help family. The mystery actually gets overshadowed by the complexity of the relationships and the conscienceless Donatti. It's easy to see who the murderer is but the real draw here is the relationship between Peter and Chris. I enjoy the Jewish aspect and perspective of these books. I found the references to the Orthodox Jewish community to be quite interesting and I think the author did a good job in presenting them as whole characters, not all good or all bad.

Chris is definitely sadistic, egocentric and psychopathic. I like the way the author does show us his 1Cbetter 1D side making us wonder if inside this brutal man there's an abused child trying to connect with Decker. ( )

Decker is called l to NYC to aid his found Jewish family when one of their members is found naked and dead. He runs into a veritable mishegoss of Orthodox and Conservative Jewish angst and guilt. He turns to Chris Donatti for assistance with the usual violence and accumulation of dead bodies that results from such contact. Much introspection by the Lieutenant before he can accept a final solution. ( )

Let me start by saying this is definitely not one of of the best of the Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus mysteries by Faye Kellerman. Stone Kiss is the fourteenth of the series and builds on a character from Justice, an earlier novel featuring a colorful character named Chris Donatti. I recently decided to reread the books involving this complex character and his love/hate relationship with Peter Decker. So I won't recommend this as a starting point for anyone just starting the series. I recommend starting with Ritual Bath, the first of the series.

Lt. Decker is asked by his brother, Jonathan, an Orthodox Jewish Rabbi, to come to New York to help find the murderer of his brother-in-law. Peter and his wife Rina had planned a vacation, but they take this side trip to help family. The mystery actually gets overshadowed by the complexity of the relationships and the conscienceless Donatti. It's easy to see who the murderer is but the real draw here is the relationship between Peter and Chris. I enjoy the Jewish aspect and perspective of these books. I found the references to the Orthodox Jewish community to be quite interesting and I think the author did a good job in presenting them as whole characters, not all good or all bad.

Chris is definitely sadistic, egocentric and psychopathic. I like the way the author does show us his “better” side making us wonder if inside this brutal man there's an abused child trying to connect with Decker. ( )

I found it too Jewish. Not that that is bad but it made the book difficult for me to follow at times. ( )