I have been looking for "that perfect detective series" to get involved in since I have read every V I Warshawski book ever written. The Ritual Bath by Faye Kellerman is the first book in the Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus series (thank you Magpie67 for the recommendation). We meet Rina, a widow of two years who still lives at her husband's yeshiva. She is the Mikvah (ritual bath) attendant and math teacher while trying to be both mother and father to her two boys. One night while at the Mikvah,

What to do.....For me, an atheist, I am offended by the obvious purposeful crippling of being human by the rituals of ANY religion. Since the beautiful widow and mother of two boys Rina Lazarus, love interest of the detective Peter Decker, is an Orthodox Jew, I am grinding my teeth even while I am admiring this interesting beach read of a novel.This is book one - how they meet, so I knew I had to start here. However, I'm uncertain about continuing. Usually I give a series at least three books re...

4 Stars

Good book. This is our introduction to the two characters that I know will go on through at least 8 books as I read the 8th book first...Here we see the introduction of the characters and the story line. Many continuing mystery series have some kind of "hook". Here it's the fact of Judaism, maybe in the tradition Harry Kellerman's Rabbi? (By the way as far as I can find Harry Kellerman is no relation to this author or her husband).Anyway, the writer's orthodox faith is part of the story here and...

I had gotten this book (and #2) when a very old copy was being thrown out at the temple library I worked at and it promptly sat on my shelf for two or three years. I can't finish one book without immediately starting another (even if it's only the first couple of pages) and I found myself (late) one night with a finished book and no idea what to read next. So I picked this up and ended up reading almost half of it before going to bed.The next day and despite working at a bookstore I drove around...

I didn't care for this book at all. It's not the worst thing I've read for mystery book club, but the easily solved mystery (with absolutely no real logic behind the crime) and the ridiculous characterization made me toss the book aside once I finished, thinking that it was a waste of time.I disliked Decker: misogynistic (both in the belittling and sexual predatory meanings), patronizing toward women, a "sympathetic" backstory (view spoiler)[now with more Jewishness! (hide spoiler)] (to give him...

Excellent start to this series. I really enjoyed all of the details about Orthodox Jewish life.There is disturbing material, but not graphic enough to keep me from reading more.I read this series years ago, and now I'm re-reading for fun.Grade: A

One of her better books. Trying to describe orthodox Jewish concepts to non-Jews is always hard. Ms Kellerman does fairly well with this book.

This book was clearly written to appeal to someone very different from myself. Didn't get through enough to feel like it would be fair to give it a star rating, although I will say that the writing was uninspired enough to make the experience as interesting as performing the multitude of chores that the main character is engaged in during the first several paragraphs. Audiobook, borrowed from my public library via Audible. Michael Greenberg sounds as bored reading it as I felt listening to it.

I fell in love with the Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus series well into the series with "Grievous Sin"...love the characters & religious overtones...as a Roman Catholic, I appreciate the traditions of religion & thus enjoy the many side journeys into the traditions of Judaism...so, I went to the beginning where they met...it certainly isn't a "meet cute" as Decker arrives at Rina's late husband's yeshiva to investigate a rape on its grounds...great stuff!

Solid 4.5 stars and two thumbs up!This is actually my second Faye Kellerman experience, and it won't be my last. The first was the combined effort of Faye and her husband, Jonathan.I stumbled a bit through some of the book, but I think it was because I was learning so much about the Jewish culture and their language. I find myself the wiser for all of this.A very good police procedural with an element of surprise at times. Very well written, I encourage others to take the chance and read at leas...

This book had a lot of promise in the beginning and I felt connected, drawn to, and cared about the main characters. One of the reasons I'm feeling much disappointment and sadness is because the author was adept at getting me at least emotionally involved with her characters. I was also excited about reading this book for personal reasons. The novel explores and does a good job of explaining many unknowns about one of the many types of Judaism. The author did this in an interesting and engaging

Closer to a 3.5, but a difficult one for me to rate as far as "enjoyment" because of some of the subject matter - reading about rape and extreme prejudice is difficult to "enjoy" as such. An interesting crime mystery with well-developed characters though, and I did really enjoy learning more about Torah Judaism and other varying Orthodox Jewish views and traditions. I also thought the author did an excellent job of portraying some of the difficulties of trying to live one's faith in a culture th...

This is the first book in a mystery series starring LAPD Detective Peter Decker and his romantic interest, Orthodox Jewish widow Rina Lazarus. I absolutely loved this book. Peter and Rina are both well developed, as is the description of life in a yeshiva. The plot (involving rape and murder in a place where Rina and other women feel most safe) is disturbing, but the chemistry between Peter and Rina is light and natural in the most dark and unnatural of circumstances. Highly recommended, and I'm...

As a thriller or police procedural, it just about passes muster. However, the characters were sufficiently interesting for me to order the next book in the series to find out about their further adventures.

Fast read! I read the second book in the series first, and now went back to read this one. It does give more background to the main characters, and leads directly into the second book. Some parts are a little predictable, but Kellerman has enough twists and turns to keep it interesting. I felt the ending was a bit abrupt without much follow-up, but I'm excited to continue on to the third book 'Milk and Honey'. Again I love the setting in Southern California and learning about Jewish culture.

I read until page 80/335 and I’m not into the characters or the plot which has lack of tension. And even though the focus is on the two main characters, I find them both quite bland. No rating because I DNF’d it. It just wasn’t for me.

This is my review of all the Rina/Peter Decker series.They can be read in any order, but I recommend reading this one first.This series I contrast to Faye Kellerman's husband writing by noting that Faye's are more about character development than hardcore procedural details.I like both, in their place, but probably prefer this series of the two.Rina is an orthodox Jew who meets Peter during a very painful investigation that clashes strictly practiced Orthodox Judaism with Peter's more prosaic la...

I'm very torn about how to rate and review The Ritual Bath. What usually pushes me to rate a book is how well it is written.In that respect, I will go with 4-stars, because this book is very well written. What I find unusual is the amount of Orthodox Jewish life represented in what I thought would be a mainstream book. To someone unfamiliar with Orthodox Judaism, that may be a huge turn off.A portion of the story hit me on a personal level, in an irritating way - that included an "all too conven...

My first Faye Kellerman read, another author recommended to me. I've read several of her husband's - Jonathan Kellerman - books and decided it was time to try her's. This is the first book in the Peter Decker detective series by Faye Kellerman. Definitely enjoyed it and will read the others as I find them. I liked that she added a little about the Jewish traditions of a yeshiva. I enjoy learning about other religions and cultures. Was a mover and kept my interest. I pictured David Caruso as Deck...

A decent thriller with a great setting. I wish there were more books about orthodox Jews as I find them fascinating. It's like if Yentl were a thriller. My only complaint was that at times it felt more like a romance than a thriller. I could have done with a bit more thrilling and a bit less romance. But still good.

This is the first book in the series and my first experience of Faye Kellerman's work.The book was very enjoyable and I will be looking to read more of her work shortly.

This was a fun mystery story, set in Los Angeles, revolving around violence at an Orthodox Jew yeshiva. The main character is a gruff (of course!) LA detective, Peter Decker, who is also trying to hunt down the Hillside Rapist, while solving a rape at the school. In his investigations at the yeshiva, Peter works with a young widow Rina Lazarus, a devout teacher who struggles with her attractions to the rough detective. The cultural conflicts (Jewish orthodoxy, LA street cop) is as interesting as...

I enjoyed this whole series. I so learned a lot about Jewish history and the religious tenets.

What a great story! I couldn't put it down.

The actual mystery dragged on too long, but otherwise this was a very good read with good detail about Orthodox Jewish customs and life style. I look forward to the second book in this series.

We are entangled into the world we are thrown into. This book was written in 1986 and has 1986 ethos painted all over it. Social Order Warriors (SOWs) of today, that is those who want to Make America Great Again (MAGA) and Jordon Peterson followers want nothing more than to bring back ‘social order’ to the way things used to be as depicted in this book: where heroic men objectivize women, religious superstitions must be respected, and women need a man to protect them. That recent in the news but...

Who doesn’t like a mysterious crime? Especially one filled with intrigue, suspense and served up with a little romance on the side. That is what “The Ritual Bath” by Faye Kellerman has to offer. This is the first book of the Decker/Lazarus series. The story takes place in a yeshiva community in the California hills in Los Angeles. The people of this small, remote community keep to themselves; however their peace is disturbed by a violent rape. Detective Decker is sent to solve this case. While d...

This was okay; a little dated, but not too bad. The interesting thing with this series is the pairing of Detective Peter Decker with Rina Lazarus, a Hasidic Jewish schoolteacher. Typically a series will team up a cop with a forensic specialist or a medical examiner, so it will be interesting to see how this series develops Rina's character.In this first book, Rina calls the police to investigate a sexual assault that has taken place inside her insular community. The citizens are distrustful of t...

Another book I couldnt put down. Takes place in a Jewish Yeshiva community with a group of very religious people. Det. Decker is dealing with rapes in his town and is assigned to this community to cover yet another rape - but because of this close knit group, he has to approach it carefully as their customs are strict. The only one who will talk openly to him is Rina Lazarus who also takes him through the customs and laws. But doing so has brought them closer than is permitted. By the time they