Rabbis and Gangsters: A Murder Mystery Novel

Yael Gold is in love with her boss, Rabbi Judah Loeb, but when the rabbi’s wife is found murdered, Yael goes from love-addled naïf to panicky murder suspect overnight. Set in a desert suburb in the Southwest, this brilliant, tense murder mystery keeps readers constantly guessing “whodunit.” Was it Yael’s husband, an insecure Klezmer musician with a savant’s gift for musical trivia or one of Judah Loeb’s many mistresses? Or is the culprit the ethically-challenged senior rabbi whose “open marriage” scandal rocks his desert community—or is it the mysterious former mafia hitman known only as “The Scumbag?” With humor and suspense it follows Yael through the shocking murder as her troubled past—a philandering rabbi father, her Cuban gangster relatives, and scarring childhood abuse—provides scope to her difficult but triumphant journey to becoming a spiritual leader.