The Instrumental Rabbi: A Professor McCauley Mystery

by R.D. Abruzzese

Sixteen horrific murders have occurred as Linda Roth prepares to leave her apartment and go to work on a sweltering August evening. Police patrols and helicopters that swarm the city do little to allay her fears. The "Subway Slasher" has called for another murder this evening and the city of Boston is frozen in terror. The novel introduces us to the world famous investigator Professor Stuart B. McCauley as he and his protege, Jenny Smith, uncover what lies beneath this series of gruesome murders. Their investigation leads them from Cambridge across New England to a remote genetic research facility in Easton, CT where they confront the imposing Chief of Security for the A.G. Bhermann Company. Eventually, they arrive at the Weston, MA home of the Dr. Albert Scheiter, Chairman of the billion dollar industrial conglomerate and the richest man in the world. Follow the murder, suspense, and intrigue as the investigators search to find meaning and motive for these seemingly senseless Subway murders.

154 pages, Paperback

First published October 15, 2012

Reviews

[Lynda · Rating 5 out of 5]

totally engrossing.

[Linette-Jean Gauer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everything tied up nicely!

The author seems to really know his workings of the human body at least enough to put together a very realistic story! It was an enjoyable read.

[Nigel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I find this a difficult book to review. On the one hand it was a good detective story with interesting plot twists on the other I struggled with the main character (Professor McCauley). There were several reasons for this:
a) Even by the end of book, which I believe is the first of a series I found myself not liking him at all. He was rude and arrogant and there appeared to be no reason for this. He would be behaving normally and then almost in the middle of a sentence would become rude and brusque
b) I couldn’t really work out what he did. He is portrayed as a professor of criminology who is called in to consult, yet he doesn’t appear to have any specific skill. He doesn’t take finger prints, examine trace evidence, create physiological profiles etc. all he does is look at a body / read reports and hey presto he comes up with the answers. Which even allowing for fictional heroism is a bit much to take
c) It was really hard to determine (See point b) if he was supposed to be a modern day Sherlock Holmes type character, that is one knows all and is better than everyone else or a serious modern day criminal scientist. The way the book is written I think the author is aiming for the latter but it comes across as the former although not really well done.

I appreciate that it was a relatively short novel and so there couldn’t have a long drawn out conclusion, but I felt we were going along slowly just developing the Dr Chandler character and then wham! the solution is being presented and it was all over.

Will not be reading more by this author as there are better and more enjoyable detective characters out there.

[Mirrordance · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story begins with a dangerous serial killer on Boston's subway, but there's more to the story.... The first part of the book is addicting but suddenly the well written story turns in sort of draft, sort of incomplete.

La storia in sè è una storia interessante. Partiamo dalla descrizione di un serial killer che colpisce giovani donne sulla metropolitana di Boston. La storia potrebbe essere simile a tante altre ma i personaggi sono ben scelti ed all'inizio ben delineati. Man mano che la storia si snoda però perdiamo dettaglio, la narrazione si fa piu' frammentata ed i personaggi e le situazioni sembrano appena abbozzate, quasi un riassunto della storia vera che si risolve in un giallo semplicistico. Peccato perchè la sensazione era di una storia che aveva delle potenzialità ma si perde pathos.

[Cynthia Maddox · Rating 3 out of 5]

I gave this three stars because I actually liked the story for most of the book but there were some real annoyances in the writing. Primarily, the constant use of he thought/she thought tags were distracting. The author should find another way to convey what the characters think or eliminate the tags. If you read the sentence without the tag, you can tell that most of the time it is unnecessary.

The relationship between the protagonist and the girl had a lot of potential and could have been a bit more developed. In fact, only a couple of character were well developed. The story had an unsatisfactory ending for me - flat and hurried. It was almost as if the author tacked on the ending just to tie up lose ends rather than resolve the conflict.

Overall this was a very interesting story but I think it could be tightened up to give it a bit more punch and better developed characters.

[Star · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finished ‘The Instrumental Rabbi’ in one sitting, not only because it’s a shorter story, but because it is a good mystery which kept me interested. There were some editorial issues and the use of italics could get a bit distracting at times, but overall this is a great mystery. It isn’t until further into the book you discover the meaning behind the title, but it is quite apt. Featuring random murders, a high security international company, and an eccentric professor, ‘The Instrumental Rabbi’ has a quirky cast and a twisted mystery which will keep you guessing. Hopefully the editorial issues will have been addressed by the time book #2 in the Professor McCauley series comes out. I am interested to see what kind of odd case he and Jenny Smith take on next…

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love mysteries, and because of this I am much harsher on mystery writers than that of any other genre. To me a good mystery is akin to a good brain massage.

I certainly liked this book. It's an interesting read from cover to cover.
Having said that - this book starts out fantastic. Both the plot and writing. The suspense and the mystery thrills you at least for a while.

But few details come up through the book. Most notably some of the characters' reactions as well as the unnecessary explanation of some of the most rudimentary things.

Despite these few shortfalls, all is forgiven - this is a pretty good story. I am Absolutely looking forward to the sequel.

[Greg · Rating 2 out of 5]

A relatively short book--under 200 pages--and a bit too tidy the way everything came together for the protagonists. The premise was interesting, but heavy handed. A more subtle approach and greater character development would benefit this book immensely. I would rate this more of a 2.5 than a 2.

[Holly Hilbrands · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite amusing mystery with interesting characters. Quick read

[June · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love mysteries. This book started out with a bang, but it fizzled as I continued on further through the book. And the ending was much too abrupt.

[Tom Park · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this was a quick read, it was a little too quick. The characters were not all that fully developed and the story was a bit of a reach. Too much like a Sherlock Holmes wannabe that wasn't.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

very good

[Julie Carter · Rating 3 out of 5]

a good story but too short. I also felt that the range of emotions shown by the Professor and his assistant were unrealistic. But it was a good plot that held my attention!

[Kim Jackson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story line was good but it was hard to stay focused with the editorial mistakes. With a good edit and re-write this could be a 4 star book.

[Hollie · Rating 3 out of 5]

DNF

[Robbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast-paced, good story-line, needs some editing.