Murder in Jerusalem (Michael Ohayon Series #6) Book

Gur's final mystery novel, featuring Police Detective Michael Ohayon, takes us inside the busy national Israeli Broadcasting network facility in Jerusalem, where a series of puzzling murders unfolds. We meet a panoply of well-sketched out characters, get to know their personalities, and watch them at work. One of them is a murderer and it takes Ohayon and his finely delineated team of detectives several hundred pages to identify who it is.

The television staffers are always in a rush to get their broadcast on the air while the police are working 24/7, without breaks, to catch the murderer. Perhaps it's typical of life in Israel that there's a fair amount of intense interaction. Ohayon, the main character, who is trying to quit smoking, is himself a nervous wreck. The characters come from different backgrounds and have different agendas. In some respects, they are a microcosm of the Jewish Israeli populace.

One character points out that it's a bit like Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians, with one television staffer after another falling by the wayside. To me, Gur's mysteries are more reminiscent of P.D. James's remarkable oeuvre. Although the identity of the perpetrator turns out to be not all that surprising, by the conclusion you feel that you've experienced an absorbing, entertaining, and thought-provoking visit to a hub of Israeli society.