Rule of Capture by Ona Russell, Sunstone Press, © 2015, 336 pages, ISBN 978-1-63293-047-7.
By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO—This is the third novel by Ona Russell featuring a Jewish, mystery-solving probate officer from Ohio named Sarah Kaufman, who can sense crime and cover-up but admittedly has flawed judgment when it comes to the men she sleeps with.
With her attendance at a pyramid-scheme trial in Los Angeles as the backdrop for her adventures, Kaufman encounters a panicked young woman, who pleads for help, but runs off before there is sufficient time to react. The fleeing woman leaves behind her expensive shoes. Soon there is a story about her in the newspaper; the Mexican wife of a wealthy Anglo real estate developer, she has been found dead.
This prompts Sarah to bring the shoes and the tale of her encounter with the woman to the police, who are convinced the woman died of natural causes. Feeling an injustice is being committed, Sarah starts investigating the case, which takes her to Tijuana and back to the Hollywood hills.
The setting in the 1920s is Los Angeles, when, apparently, slurs against Jews were commonplace, so Sarah often has to endure stereotypic insults. But that doesn’t keep her from following the leads, nor is she overly frightened when her life seems in danger.
My major quibble with this book is that it gave me the uncomfortable feeling that the author is not as familiar with Jewish life and ritual as she should be.
For example, she describes a Friday night service at Sinai Temple during which “men adjusted their tallis, the silky fringed shawls that adorned their shoulders, and women their minks.” Since when do men wear tallisim at a Friday night service? I had to wonder. Doesn’t the author know that tallisim (which is the plural for tallis) typically are worn during Saturday morning services, but not during Friday night ones? As for the women in minks, isn’t it enough that some of the characters in the book mouth anti-Semitic stereotypes? Must the author too?
Overall, Kaufman is an interesting protagonist, whom one hopes Russell will invest with greater Jewish knowledge in her next book.
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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. You may comment to him at donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com or post your comment on this website provided that the comment is civil and that you identify yourself by full name and by your city and state of residence.