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.

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...

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.

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...

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 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,

4 Stars

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.

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...

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...

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

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...

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.

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

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!

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...

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 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...

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.

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...