The Adventures of Mona Pinsky Book

A mystical tale of an older Jewish woman's coming-of-age

Publishers Weekly

As sweet and well-meaning as its title character, a 64-year-old restaurant hostess, this mystery is also as scatterbrained. Ziskin (The Blind Eagle) has created a sympathetic heroine, but the story is so full of flaky zigs and zags that it addles the pate. At work one day, Mona overhears a group of suit-clad men talking about a project. At first she assumes it is business-related, but she changes her mind when she also hears them mentioning ``crime'' and ``robbery,'' and begins investigating-spurred on when robberies begin to occur in the very area they were discussing. Mona's daughter, Adina, and Adina's husband, Gideon-a prissy architect busy designing a new prison-wish she'd get respectable, quit her job and stop talking and acting like a crazy person. Their concern is understandable in light of the voices Mona hears in the night and her belief that her dead Uncle Gabe is trying to warn her of impending danger. Although each brief chapter is given a date and location, aiding orientation some, there are so many odd coincidences and mystical connections here that it becomes difficult to keep track of the whodunit at the center of the plot. Despite all the red herrings, the solution is obvious. (July)