The Ritual Bath

The First Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus Novel

By: Faye Kellerman

Narrated by: Mitchell Greenberg

Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

Detective Peter Decker of the LAPD is stunned when he gets the report. Someone has shattered the sanctuary of a remote yeshiva community in the California hills with an unimaginable crime. One of the women was brutally raped as she returned from the mikvah, the bathhouse where the cleansing ritual is performed.

The crime was called in by Rina Lazarus, and Decker is relieved to discover that she is a calm and intelligent witness. She is also the only one in the sheltered community willing to speak of this unspeakable violation. As Rina tries to steer Decker through the maze of religious laws, the two grow closer. But before they get to the bottom of this horrendous crime, revelations come to light that are so shocking that they threaten to come between the hard-nosed cop and the deeply religious woman with whom he has become irrevocably linked.

©1986 Faye Kellerman (P)2007 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"Phenomenal!" ( Murder Inc.)
A Master of Mystery" ( Cleveland Plain Dealer)

Awesome!!!

If you could sum up The Ritual Bath in three words, what would they be?

great story and great narration. I really enjoyed it

What did you like best about this story?

the characters

What does Mitchell Greenberg bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

His voice was perfect for this story. He used accents that were right on!

Any additional comments?

I am going to order all of this series!

A Great Listening

I enjoyed this book, the performance,and the characters that I was introduced to. The personalities of each character was well-defined and I soon felt as though I knew them well or that I had met them somewhere. Usually I enjoy books with a lot of action (Jason Bourne type of action) and though this book does not have that level of action, but there is.more than enough to keep me listening.
Mr. Greenberg's performance is a clear and entertaining portrayal of each character, which also makes this an easy listen.
In fact, I purchased the next two books in the series before I finished this as and I would recommend it to anyone without reservation.

Addictive

What made the experience of listening to The Ritual Bath the most enjoyable?

Likeable characters that unfold. The narrator does a very good job with the individuals.

What did you like best about this story?

Detective work, mystery and a hint of romance in the background. Keeps you very interested especially in the learning of Judaism customs and beliefs.

Which character – as performed by Mitchell Greenberg – was your favorite?

Peter Decker is the extremely likeable 'hero'.

Any additional comments?

Only download if you have time to spare. You will be addicted immediately. This book is well narrated and an interesting insight into an Orthodox Jewish community, their rituals and why they believe what they do. You are sure to want to continue the series.

Mystery, I think ... barely

Would you try another book from Faye Kellerman and/or Mitchell Greenberg?

Not soon

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Predicable

Which scene was your favorite?

The end

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No

Any additional comments?

Hard to tell if this was a gentle romance novel, lesson on the Jewish religion, or a mystery. Painfully, mystery came in last place.

Enjoyed!

Highly recommended, this book met expectations. I did not want to stop listening. I liked Decker and Rina, of course. All the characters were well- done. I am eager to begin the next book. I hope Mitchell Greenberg is narrating it also.

Excellent series! Love it!

Any additional comments?

Excellent series with complex characters!

This first book establishs the beginning of the relationship between Rina and Peter because it is important for the understanding and development of the characters in the entire series, particularly for understanding Peter.

Great detective crime mystery, suspense, Wonderful details of a relatively isolated community, and great development of a new and complex love relationship! Excellent!

In the next books in the series there will be more interesting details about police procedures and police-partners relationships. Each book has a completely different crime mystery with interesting background stories.

Narration very good!

Overall- Excellent! Worth a credit and continued listen to the rest of the series

surprisingly enjoyable

not my usual style, but I found the storytelling gripping. I had a few complaints with some Hebrew pronunciations but it definitely wasn't the most egregious reading of a Jewish audiobook I've ever listened to.

I loved it!

Great book!

Simply a dreadful listen ... just dreadful ...

Easily the worst audible listen in my experience ... slow, boring and juvenile. And to add to the misery, the narrator is simply awful.

caution - this book contains much cursing

why so much foul language? Very distasteful. At about a 3rd of the way through I deleted the book.