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Jewish Regency Mystery #3.5
What's in a Flame?
There’s trouble afoot in Regency London’s Jewish community, and no one to stop the crimes—until wealthy-widower-turned-sleuth Mr. Ezra Melamed teams up with an unlikely General Well’ngone and the Earl of Gravel Lane, the leaders of a gang of young Jewish pickpockets.
In this short mystery story set during the Sukkos holiday of 1812, a sukkah (temporary booth) is vandalized on the first night of the Jewish holiday - but nothing is stolen except a dozen candles. Why would anyone steal candles and leave behind the much more valuable silver candlesticks? The solution to this seemingly trivial puzzle is more surprising than even Mr. Melamed imagined.
In this short mystery story set during the Sukkos holiday of 1812, a sukkah (temporary booth) is vandalized on the first night of the Jewish holiday - but nothing is stolen except a dozen candles. Why would anyone steal candles and leave behind the much more valuable silver candlesticks? The solution to this seemingly trivial puzzle is more surprising than even Mr. Melamed imagined.
62 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 4, 2015
6 people are currently reading
27 people want to read
About the author
Libi Astaire
35 books55 followersI am a mystery writer and explorer of Jewish history who was born in Kansas and now lives in Jerusalem.
The first book in my Ezra Melamed/Jewish Regency Mystery Series, The Disappearing Dowry, was named a Sydney Taylor Notable Book for 2010. Other books in the Jewish Regency Mystery Series, which revolves around Regency London's Jewish community, include The Moon Taker (2015) The Doppelganger's Dance (2013) Tempest in the Tea Room (2012), and Jewish Regency Mystery Stories (2015).
I also work as a journalist, where I frequently write about Jewish history. A topic dear to my heart is the Anusim - Spanish Jews who were forced to convert during the Middle Ages and who became the target of the Spanish Inquisition. My novel about modern-day descendants of Anusim living in Catalonia, Terra Incognita, was published by Targum Press in 2010 and is now available as an ebook and paperback at Amazon.com, etc.
My other books include The Banished Heart, a novel about Shakespeare's writing of The Merchant of Venice; Day Trips to Jewish History, a collection of essays about lesser known people and places in Jewish history; and several ebooks for the Jewish holidays, including: Choose Life! 8 Chassidic Stories for the Jewish New Year, 36 Candles: Chassidic Tales for Chanukah, Pass Over to Freedom: 15 Jewish Tales for Passover, and The World Is Built With Kindness: 15 Chassidic Tales for Shavuos, which bring Chassidic masters such as the Baal Shem Tov and Zusya of Hanipoli into the eReader era.
The first book in my Ezra Melamed/Jewish Regency Mystery Series, The Disappearing Dowry, was named a Sydney Taylor Notable Book for 2010. Other books in the Jewish Regency Mystery Series, which revolves around Regency London's Jewish community, include The Moon Taker (2015) The Doppelganger's Dance (2013) Tempest in the Tea Room (2012), and Jewish Regency Mystery Stories (2015).
I also work as a journalist, where I frequently write about Jewish history. A topic dear to my heart is the Anusim - Spanish Jews who were forced to convert during the Middle Ages and who became the target of the Spanish Inquisition. My novel about modern-day descendants of Anusim living in Catalonia, Terra Incognita, was published by Targum Press in 2010 and is now available as an ebook and paperback at Amazon.com, etc.
My other books include The Banished Heart, a novel about Shakespeare's writing of The Merchant of Venice; Day Trips to Jewish History, a collection of essays about lesser known people and places in Jewish history; and several ebooks for the Jewish holidays, including: Choose Life! 8 Chassidic Stories for the Jewish New Year, 36 Candles: Chassidic Tales for Chanukah, Pass Over to Freedom: 15 Jewish Tales for Passover, and The World Is Built With Kindness: 15 Chassidic Tales for Shavuos, which bring Chassidic masters such as the Baal Shem Tov and Zusya of Hanipoli into the eReader era.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 11, 2016
I loved the ingenuity of the solution in this one! It's also fun to get to see Sukkot in a work of fiction.
I say this on all of these but basically: I'm enjoying this Jewish Regency series because there are oodles of corners of our history longing to be explored, besides the ones usually trod, and it's a relief to be able to find things that are both Jewish and fluffy. Life is sometimes too stressful for books to be stressful as well.
I say this on all of these but basically: I'm enjoying this Jewish Regency series because there are oodles of corners of our history longing to be explored, besides the ones usually trod, and it's a relief to be able to find things that are both Jewish and fluffy. Life is sometimes too stressful for books to be stressful as well.
November 24, 2015
What a great little mystery. Unlike anything I've read. It's a cozy, with humor and the logic and character of Sherlock Holmes; it portrays humanitarian values with a nifty whodunnit mixed with accurate historical fiction.
I am going to read all of the books in this series because of this book. Fun !
I am going to read all of the books in this series because of this book. Fun !
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews