The Rabbi Wore a Fedora
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By Arthur Gross Schaefer, J.D.
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$16.95 Print
$3.99 Ebook
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Rabbi Elijah Daniels lives, works and bicycles in sunny St. Luke on California's Central Coast. Still reeling from the loss of his wife after decades of marriage, he's got a domineering secretary, a high-maintenance congregation and an extensive background in Jewish history, teachings and mysticism. And also a knack for wandering smack into the middle of a murder. Welcome to the Rabbi Daniels Mysteries, where the past is present and spirits never rest easy.
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In The Rabbi Wore a Fedora, Rabbi Daniels experiences more than a little anxiety when he agrees to step in for an injured colleague as chaperone/instructor to a group of evangelical students on a study tour of Germany. Uneasy in a nation that massacred more than six million Jews during World War II, he encounters more challenges than he bargained for.
The rabbi becomes the prime suspect in the murder of a Muslim woman who works for a mysterious institute in the historic building where he is staying.
A determined German police kommissar mean serious danger for Rabbi Daniels, who worries he might not be able to solve the mystery of the woman’s death before finding himself behind bars.
What does the secret group that meets on the institute’s second floor have to do with it? Could the young Arab woman’s murder have been an honor killing? And why is the rabbi being set up?
Book Byte:
Reviews
"Mystery meets mysticism in Arthur Gross Schaefer’s page-turning sequel to The Rabbi Wore Moccasins. This time Rabbi Elijah Daniels dons a fedora as the unlikely leader of a group of evangelical Christian students touring Germany—and winds up the wrong mensch when he finds himself key suspect in a violent murder. Rabbi Gross Schaefer’s wit and wisdom inform every page of this tightly plotted tale."
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- Cheri Steinkellner,
Emmy, Golden Globe and Writers Guild Award winner, writer and producer of “Cheers,” Broadway writer of “Sister Act” and “Hello! My Baby”
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"Gross Schaefer skillfully braids the historical and mystical, investigating the spiritual crisis that, from the very beginning of the tale, appears in Daniels’ dreams. This is also an astute introduction to the history of European Jewry. ... A rigorous presentation of Jewish history ensconced within...drama."
—Kirkus Reviews
"The left arm of the skeleton began to rise. There were no muscles and no sinew. Yet the white bones continued moving toward the rabbi, and there was something in the hand. It was hard to make out but it looked like a dollar bill with red writing, and there were words coming out of the skeleton's clenched mouth. Foreign words. Maybe Arabic? Yes, but also German...Rabbi Daniel's eyes snapped open and he woke to his bedroom."
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