Murder at the Mikvah

by Sarah Segal

Mikvah: A body of water used for ritual immersion in Judaism. An attack at a local mikvah rocks a small Jewish community, leaving a holocaust survivor dead and the wife of a popular rabbi clinging to life. Peter Stem, a reclusive church employee has been arrested at the scene and taken into custody in what appears to be an anti-Semitic attack against two helpless women. Advocating for Peter is his employer, Father Herbert McCormick, a blind priest, who refuses to believe Peter capable of this or any crime. Using his personal relationship with John Collins, the arresting officer whom he has counseled in the past, Father McCormick steers the investigation in a new direction, one that requires the help of a renowned psychiatrist-a man who has a growing interest in both Peter's case and the Rabbi's mother-and will ultimately reveal a bigger secret than any of them could have imagined.

472 pages, Paperback

First published February 17, 2009

Reviews

[Bonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great flow to the tale, characters were well fleshed out and developed. An orthodox Jewish family, Hannah (wife) and Yehuda (aka Ira husband) is a rabbi, surrounding family includes a newborn and other older siblings, a Bubbe (grand mother) and surrounding non family members. The Mitvah is a bath females willingly take to purify and a death happens at this source. The book brings forward characters who rally around the family, details how each person reacts to the tradegy, Bubbe is extremely busy and dedicated to her career as an attorney, an outsider -a woman who is not part of the family dedicates herself to helping and the story goes on. Without telling anything further I do suggest this book as quick reading to one and all.

[Bonney Goldstein]

I really enjoyed this book. I had no idea how she would tie up all the staories within the story but she did a great job. Very believable story, very insightful of the Jewish religion and Jewish women, but anyone could relate. Something about it was very inspiring

[jeanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book!!! One of the best I have read in a year. Learning about the orthodox Jewish culture and the way the characters were interwined was fantastic. The ending was perfect. Enjoy!

[Steven G · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fast paced plot with excellent complex characters.

[Ilene Mindlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting twist

The title may lead you to believe this is a Jewish story, but the book also involves a Priest. Interest combination. Good plot twists. Really enjoyed the book.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

After passing the billboard on 95 toting the book of "Philadelphia author Sarah Segal" numerous times, I finally decided to give it a try. I can't quite put my finger on what I disliked about this book. The writing style seemed very juvenile; I often found myself wanting to rewrite entire chapters, but I've also read other books with similar styles and enjoyed them much more. Maybe it was all the excess story lines that seemed irrelevant and could have been removed entirely, or the extremely anti-climactic "big secret" that is shared at the end. Regardless, it was a mindless read, enjoyable at times, and now I can continue to pass the billboard without wondering who is responsible for the murder at the mikvah.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I too had to read this book after passing the billboards on Philadelphia's I-95. I liked learning about the Orthodox Jewish way of life. The beginning was okay, the middle dragged on, the ending wasn't good and since I was away from home and had nothing else to read, I had to finish it anyway.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A compelling writer, but entirely too long. She could have edited out about 100 pages and a few unnecessary characters.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the insight into Jewish Orthodox culture quite interesting and there is a character who talks about how children react to and carry trauma from their childhood into adulthood.

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok, but nothing special. The "twist" was kind of silly.

[Shari · Rating 2 out of 5]

Anti-climatic

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was good, not great. Parts were too drawn out and the editing was atrocious. Not the author's fault, but I would be hesitant to read another book edited by her editor.

[Monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like this book could have been better than it ended up being. Not that it was awful, it wasn't. But I was really unimpressed with the way it wrapped up after having built up so much suspense.

[Sharon]

What a great mystery.. You really could have fooled me in the end!!

[Cindy Snyder · Rating 2 out of 5]

Easy Read