The Day the Rabbi Resigned

by Harry Kemelman Narrated by George Guidall

Overview

Best-selling author Harry Kemelman's mysteries involving Rabbi David Small have enthralled readers for decades. Full of quirky characters and carefully drawn settings, the books are beloved for their dry wit and authentic detail. For nearly 25 years, Rabbi Small has maintained an uneasy relationship with his congregation. He sees his role as that of a teacher, while they often look to him as more of a spiritual leader. Now, just as his congregation is set to reward him for his long service, the rabbi has decided to explore new options with his life. To make things more complicated, the recent murder of a college professor has the Barnard's Crossing police baffled. Can the rabbi's quiet introspection offer insights the police may have overlooked? Personally approved by the author's estate, narrator George Guidall voices the delightful characters and situations in this final book of an always-intriguing series.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Politics--religious and academic--inform this welcome encore from the always entertaining Kemelman ( Conversations with Rabbi Small ), whose previous Rabbi Small mysteries have won him a legion of fans. Twenty-five years after coming to the Boston suburb of Barnard's Crossing, Rabbi David Small is considering retirement. But before he can get so much as one foot out of the pulpit, a local college professor dies in a car accident and the weary clergyman finds himself once again drawn from his own everyday concerns into more serious matters. A known gigolo, the professor had recently wed the unattractive niece of a college benefactor in a bid to ensure his tenure. At first the authorities ascribe his death to drunk driving, but as the tawdry details of the man's life become known, police chief Hugh Lanigan suspects foul play and enlists the help of his old friend and partner in detection, Rabbi Small. Moving between scenes at the synagogue with its ever-squabbling board of directors and the fiercely competitive tenure-track tableaux at the college, the narrative never flags as clues and suspects accumulate. Lively dialogue, dry wit and wonderfully authentic detail make this a sure winner. (Feb.)

School Library Journal

YA-- A revealing conversation between Rabbi Small and his wife at the beginning of the book invites readers right into their thoughts and feelings and gives a direction as to the man's future plans to teach in a college. Through little twists and turns in each succeeding chapter, the story becomes more complicated. The Rabbi himself seems incidental to the main plot well into the middle of the book, but it is actually he who puts his logical ``Talmudic'' mind to work to help solve the mystery of who has murdered Victor Joyce, college professor and husband of a devout Catholic. Many people have motives, and all, for a time, are suspects to Lanigan, Police Chief of sleepy little (but now wide awake) Barnard's Crossing. A convoluted, sometimes humorous mystery that makes for entertaining reading.--Bunni Union, Geauga West Lib . , OH

Product Details

BN ID:	2940171282615
Publisher:	Recorded Books, LLC
Publication date:	11/16/2012
Series:	Rabbi David Small , #11
Edition description:	Unabridged

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