Stuart M. Kaminsky

In The Man Who Walked Like a Bear they look into the disappearance of a Moscow bus, petty theivery at a shoe factory, a threat, though thought little of, of a kidnapping attempt on a Party member and Rostnikov's own investigation into a man who appears in his wife's hospital room, this, the man who walked like a bear. Kaminsky takes us on an interesting journey into places in the Soviet Union which we have never seen before and gives us an interesting look into the lives of everyday Russian citizens. This series is worth a read, if only for the insight into the cultural differences and Kaminsky's research seems to be superb. The second book in the eleven book series, Black Knight in Red Square, was an Edgar nominee and the fifth, A Cold Red Sunrise, won an Edgar. The latest in the Rostnikov series was published in 1997 and is titled Tarnished Icons.

Kaminsky's third series features non-practicing Jewish police detective, Abe Leiberman. This series is a straight forward police procedural which brings to life the multicultural aspects of Chicago, not only in the crimes which are solved, but also within Leiberman's own circle. His partner, Hanrahan, is an Irish Catholic ex-alcoholic who is engaged to a Chinese woman and is affectionatly called Father Murphy by Lieberman. Hanrahan returns the favor by calling Lieberman Rabbi. His wife is president of their temple, although Abe does not attend. Their daughter divorced her husband, left her two children, Barry and Melissa, in the care of her parents and moved to California, where she meets and marries a black pathologist. Despite his own lack of religious practice, Lieberman insists that his grandson complete his Bar Mitzvah (please excuse me if I have used the wrong terminology, it is only by way of ignorance and I apologize).

The Lieberman book I just finished is the latest and fifth in the series, published in 1996 and titled Lieberman's Law. Again, set against a multicultural background, Lieberman searchs for answers when his temple and several others are broken into and damaged. The temple's most valuable Torah has been stolen and Leiberman and Hanrahan set out to find it. What Stuart M. Kaminsky offers is definitly worth the ride.

All of Kaminsky's books hold the reader's attention from first page to last and the ending is never predictable.

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