Ritual Bath (Faye Kellerman)

I have actually already read most of the books in her Peter Decker & Rina Lazarus series, then went back to the first one in the series.

This book is more like a romance than a mystery (though it is not a complete romance, coz in the end the couple is still not together), yet it is a very unconventional one. Romantic suspense is a very popular genre, this one is special in the religious aspect. And this is what attracted me when I read my first Faye Kellerman book-- Prayers for the Dead. (If you haven't read it, READ IT NOW, or after you read the intial few books, it's the BEST book in this series.)

Rina Lazarus is a VERY devout Jew, and she met Peter Decker in this first book when her friend got raped and Peter is the detective in charge of the case. She fought their attraction as Peter is not an Orthodox Jew.

The mystery part is quite weak in my opinion, maybe that's because I have already knew who the rapist was from the start as I have read about it in the later books of the series.

It doesn't matter though. I love the series for all the Jewish custom and the characters, and the evolving relationship of Rina and Peter. (The story carried on long after they got married. Some writers believed getting married is the end of the story and that's stupid.)

Also, it's such a rare thing to read about the heroine with such strong religious principles (though she did something really out her character in the later books, hmm... I don't think Kellerman should write that, anyway...) I can really understand her need to find someone with the same religious principles, though I am not Jewish. And I have never read this sort of storyline in another book, but this is a struggle faced by so many people I know.

I strongly recommend this book. If you love mystery, the reviews are quite good (it's just me who don't like the mystery part, though I have to admit mystery has never been my favourite genre). If you don't like mystery, the character development is quite good too. I just read the book for the characters myself.