רצח בדרך בית לחם

Michael Ohayon #5

by Batya Gur, בתיה גור

גופתה של צעירה מרוטשת פנים נמצאת על גג בית הממוקם בדרך בית לחם שבשכונת בקעה בירושלים. סגן ניצב מיכאל אוחיון, בדרכו לבדוק את הבית החדש שרכש בשכונה, נקרא אל זירת הרצח שבה, מעבר לאימה הרגילה, מחכה לו אהובה מן העבר ורומן לא גמור.כמו בספריה הקודמים גם ב"רצח בדרך בית לחם" טווה בתיה גור חקידת רצח מורכבת ומרתקת המשמשת אמצעי כניסה לעולם סגור, בעל חוקים והיגיון פנימיים ובחינה מדוקדקת של בני האדם שבו, איש איש והסודות שהוא נאבק להסתיר.אלא שכאן, בספרה החדש, העולם הסגור הוא שכונה ירושלמית המקפלת בתוכה את ההוויה הישראלית בזעיר אנפין, הוויה מוכרת שגור מפליאה לשרטט את הסדקים בה ולהפוך אותה, כמו את חקירת הרצח, לטעונת בדיקה נוספת, חפה מדעות קדומות; על רקע מתחים בין אשכנזים ומזרחים, איבה בין יהודים וערבים, פרשת ילדי תימן החטופים ואינתיפאדת אל-אקצה, מתנהלת החקירה הבלשית. במהלכה חושף מיכאל אוחיון את המסתתר מתחת למציאות הגלויה.רצח בית לחם הוא הספר החמישי בסדרת ספרי מיכאל אוחיון של בתיה גור, סדרה שקנתה לה מעריצים רבים וכבר היתה לקלאסיקה של הרומן הבלשי בארץ ובעולם. קדמו לו "רצח בשבת בבוקר", "מוות בחוג לספרות", "לינה משותפת" ו"המרחק הנכון ? רצח מוסיקלי"

Genres: Mystery, Israel, Fiction, Jewish, Crime, Mystery Thriller, Middle East

309 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Batya Gur (Hebrew: בתיה גור) was born in Tel Aviv in 1947 to parents who survived the Holocaust. She earned a master's degree in Hebrew literature from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Between 1971 and 1975 Batya lived in Greensboro, NC, where she taught Hebrew and Jewish studies to elementary students at the North Carolina Hebrew Academy at Greensboro (now called B'nai Shalom Day School). Before writing her first detective novel at the age of 39, she taught literature at the Hebrew University Secondary School. Gur was also a literary critic for Haaretz newspaper.

Reviews

[Siv30 · Rating 3 out of 5]

לסקירה מפורטת בעברית, קישור לבלוג שלי -

https://sivi-the-avid-reader.com/רצח-...

[Ellen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found the writing very heavy. There were times, as in the opening section and also later on, when it really wasn't clear what was happening (to which apartment was the author referring...the one Ohayon bought or the one in which the crime was discovered...for example). There were some sections that seemed to have too much detail, and then sections where the text seemed to jump and I was left searching for missing pages. I didn't find the translation as bad as some Goodreads reviewers, but there were definitely some terms that could have been translated much better than they were.

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everything of Batya Gur's is superb.

[Esther · Rating 3 out of 5]

I gave this 3 stars for the story though the translation deserves a maximum of one star.

The book starts with a lot of dialogue which I found choppy and difficult to get into.
I'm not sure whether it was the quality of the translation or simply the fact that the Israeli way of talking is so different from English.
I did enjoy the interaction between the members of the police team but the postmortem scene was just too gory for me.
The whole story was rather slow-paced and the rather introspective love scenes were heavy going and unsatisfying. I wasn't quite sure what our hero saw in Ada.

But the conclusion of the mystery was logical and quite tense.

For me the story became most engrossing and interesting when it delved into the history of the stolen Yemenite children. I remember the events with Rabbi Meshulam and the committee investigating the affair. The story accurately portrayed the anguish and uncertainty felt by the parents as well as the nebulous nature of both the accusations and the conclusions. (Even when children were found to have been adopted most DNA tests disproved a genetic connection with the people they had become convinced were their parents)
My father's family in from North Africa and several of his siblings spent many months in the immigrant camps and although Israel is a different place now there are still members of an older generation who express sentiments not dissimilar from those of Clara Beinish.


This is a slow paced mystery that also makes a reasonable attempt at literary fiction with several well developed characters and other familiar Israeli 'characters' brought to life in quick sketches.
Possibly in the original the writing style is also quite appealing. From the translation you can have no idea.

Ah the translation. It was pretty much what you would expect if you stuck the whole text into Babelfish or Google translate and then corrected grammar and spelling. Maybe that is an exaggeration but there were many phrases translated literally from the Hebrew with no thought as to how an English speaker might understand them.
A few examples.
The darkness of Egypt – this is a metaphor used frequently in Hebrew and references the 9th Biblical plague of Egypt from Exodus. I have never heard it used in English and as a result it just sounded awkward.
"The wicked man, what does he say?" – for a start the quote is incorrect, it should be 'the wicked son'. As it is a direct quote from the Hagada of Passover I doubt that any non-Jew not familiar with the liturgy of Passover would have any idea what he was talking about.
Also "the revenge of a woman scorned is the worst" is just lazy translation when there is such a well-known translation as 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.'
And my favourite, mainly because it is also a favourite with Israeli Tourists, - 'go know'. This is a direct translation from Hebrew but in English 'go figure' would have been more appropriate.

[pdxmaven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had read another Michael Ohayon mystery a while back, the one about the psychoanalysts (Saturday Morning Murder), and then just finished Murder on a Kibbutz, so was happy to find this one as well.
Front cover calls Batya Gur's work "psychologically astute mysteries" and that's what I like, especially when they're also set in another country. This one is set in Jerusalem, and you get (besides the great distraction of the mystery itself) a window into life there -- tensions between various branches of Judaism, between Jews and Araba, the situation with Yemeni immigrants and stolen children, and just life there in Jerusalem. I think now I've read all she's written -- sad for me.

A couple of quotes I liked:
Obayon and the woman he is dating are talking about their relationship, and if it doesn't contain "falling in love" (because they have this long history as friends), then does it 'count'? She talks about her fantasy being re-enacted, of a scene from a Humphrey Bogart movie in which a man spots a woman on the street, decides she is one he wants, and they end up having mad passionate and not slutty sex. And then fall in love. Michael says dismissively, "Them?...They're looking for the kind of excitement that... Technicolor excitement. They don't have any real interest at all in each other. They are falling in love with the story, with what is happening to them. With the reflection of themselves in the other. They have no real interest except in that excitement, in the war, in the winning, in keeping the other person in their pocket." As opposed to what he is looking for, which is: "We really see each other. We've found, both you and I, something else, form the beautiful side of ourselves. The side that hasn't been spoiled yet. I've found it in you and you've found it in me." (pages 176-77)

Here the lawyer is explaining to Michael about how they ended up with the adopted baby, and chose not to ask questions about its origins:
"I also wanted children but my wife, she...she would cry at night, and I saw that if I didn't get her a baby then...And nowadays you can get babies from Brazil or from...But then you couldn't buy a child like that, and I had connections." page 279. So the Israelis were still getting babies form Brazil in 2004 (when this was written?), or maybe it isn’t set in 2004?

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I enjoyed the book, though sometimes it felt like I was working too hard to keep track of everyone to really enjoy it. This is a thinking book without a lot of suspense and with a few plot developments that feel like they came out of nowhere. Probably a far more realistic portrayal of how a crime is solved than the usual thrillers, but this made it less brain candy and more intellectual stimulation. The upside is that the characters are believable and flawed, the dialogue feels realistic (if occasionally exhausting), and even the less likable characters draw you in thanks to their realistic humanity. I think I would have enjoyed the book more if I had started at the beginning of the series; I am likely to pick the first book up at some point, but not immediately.

[Jeannette Hartman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful, talented Yemenite singer is found brutally murdered in the culturally diverse neighborhood of Baka. Its residents include Arabs, Holocaust survivors, Yemenite Jews placed there from transit camps and newly arriving Russians. As Chief Superintendent Michael Ohayon and his team begin their investigation, no secret, no bad blood or tension goes unexplored. Ohayon himself, a Cambridge-educated immigrant from Morocco who has just bought an apartment in the neighborhood, finds himself facing the residents' prejudices and suspicions.

Author Batya Gur has taken a big picture look at Israeli society and history, yet she never loses sight of the individual and the personal.

[Joanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was excellent and I do plan to read the other books by this author (as I can find them). I learned a lot about Israel and Jewish relations between different groups of Jews as well as enjoying the mystery of the murder. A few years back I had an opportunity to go to Israel but the trip was cancelled as the US deemed travel to the region unsafe at the time. The more I read this book, the sorrier I was that I was not able to make that trip - and the more I realized how much I still want to go there. The descriptions of daily life as well as how holidays are celebrated gave a glimpse into the culture and people that leaves you wanting more...

[Dhartridge · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Batya Gur books I have read give some insight into life in Israel, although it's always a darker side involving petty dislikes, bickering neighbors, social distinctions. There are differences between immigrants from various regions that lead to ongoing feuds and clashes(many Israelis are immigrants or the children of immigrants.) Her detective, Michael Ohayon never quite comes across as a real human being to me, though these books are always enthusiastically reviewed.

[Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

I tried to slog through this because it touched on some interesting topics, but gave up halfway through. The writing was difficult to follow, and the relationship between the main character and his old flame seemed unconvincing. Other reviewers have suggested that this is a translating problem - not sure, but it felt like too much work.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Depressing murder mystery set in Israel.

[Shahar · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 - its not the whodunit that makes this book good . its the human relationship and the moral subjects Gur brings into the story

[Le Monde du Polar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Le roman « Meurtre sur la route de Bethléem » de Batya Gour nous plonge dans le quartier de Bakaa à Jérusalem, un microcosme urbain riche en contrastes et en histoire. Ancien quartier arabe devenu lieu de résidence prisé, Bakaa témoigne des transformations de la société israélienne à travers son architecture caractéristique : maisons arabes traditionnelles côtoyant des immeubles modernes, ruelles étroites débouchant sur de larges avenues, jardins secrets dissimulés derrière des murets de pierre...
La suite de ma chronique sur mon blog :
https://lemondedupolar.com/entre-trad...

[Susan Mock · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cotinue to love these books. There is so much about Israel that I did not know and still don't. Yes, they are great mysteries, but learning about the culture is NOT what I was taught in Sunday School. I have started my last book in the series and am sorry to see this end, but what an education from an unlikely source.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

The body of a young Yemeni woman is found in the attic of a house in Jerusalem. The area where she was located is a neighbourhood that is not accessible to outsiders. Superintendent Michael Ohayon has a difficult task investigating this case.

[Michel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ce n’est peut-être pas le meilleur opus de la série, mais il demeure passionnant. En filigrane, on retrouve toujours cette subtile radiographie de la société israélienne, ses contradictions, ses failles, mais aussi ses réussites.

[Laura Boudreau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this series!

[Adi Elkin · Rating 3 out of 5]

הפחות מוצלח בסדרה. עדיין כתוב טוב, אבל נקרא כמו משהו שנכתב בחצי כוח

[Harriet · Rating 4 out of 5]

יופי!

[Yolanda Harman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I struggled a bit initially with this book, but found myself speeding through the second half trying to figure out the pieces of the puzzle and how they fit together. Very enjoyable and different.

[Josephine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. I don't usually read murder mysteries but this one was smart while still being entertaining.

[KYH · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es war nicht mein erstes Buch von Batya Gur und auch nicht mein erster Inspektor Ochajon Krimi. Dank Bookcrossing weiß ich, dass ich offenbar 2004 eine Gur-Phase hatte und dann feststellte, dass man nicht zu viele dieser Bücher hintereinander lesen sollte...

Es hat mir gefallen, aber nicht begeistert.
Ich fand es gut, dass man einige Einblicke in das Privatleben des guten Inspektors bekam. Und es gab wieder einmal einen Einblick in einen Teil des Lebens, der einem nicht so geläufig war. Möglicherweise ist es der Ochajon Roman, der sich am meisten mit dem religiösen Leben aber auch dem Rassismus in Israel beschäftigt.

Für mich persönlich hatte das Buch noch einen besonderen Reiz. Ich habe es gelesen, nachdem ich grade von einer Reise zurück kam, bei der ich auch einen Ausflug nach Jerusalem und Bethlehem gemacht hatte. Im Vorfeld dazu hatte ich in einem Lesekreis das Buch The Wall Between Us: Notes from the Holy Land von Matthew Small gelesen, das ich äußerst interessant fand (Ein junger Mann unterwegs mit einer Hilfsorganisation im Palestinänsergebiet und seine Gedanken zu dem was er sieht und der politischen Lage)

Und dann komme ich zu diesem Buch, dass schon ein paar Jahre älter ist und in einer Zeit spielt, als die Lage mal wieder sehr angespannt war. Und die Vorurteile und die Angst sind so offensichtlich, obwohl sie gar nicht das eigentliche Thema waren. Das fand ich höchst spannend zu lesen.

[Michelle Bayuk · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's weird. Most series mysteries act almost as if the past doesn't exist and the characters remain pretty much as is. In these, time passes by years between books and you are left in the dark about much of what happens in between - you just find the characters' lives changed and only know that some of the other characters have details, but you never do. As to the mystery itself, I picked the murderer in the first few seconds after he was mentioned. Not sure I liked that the murderer turned out to be a psychopath -- rather than just carried away in the heat of the moment(torturing cats as a child etc.) There's only one more in the series.

[Orly · Rating 4 out of 5]

הכתיבה טובה, הסיפור מעניין, אבל בכל זאת היה פחות לטעמי. אהבתי יותר את הספרים הקצרים שלה, הספר הזה הרגיש ממש ארוך, עם המון קשקושים מיותרים שנועדו להמחיש את ההתנהגות והאופי של הדמויות - למשל שוטר מעצבן שכל הזמן חופר סחור סחור במקום להגיע לעיקר - הבנתי שהוא מעצבן, אני לא צריכה שכל דיאלוג איתו יהיה ככה, אפשר היה לחסוך לקוראים... גם הרומן שהוצמד לגיבור הראשי היה לי ממש מיותר, וקצת קרינג' בניחוח שנות השמונים, למרות שבכלל היינו בתחילת שנות האלפיים. חוץ מזה די שנאתי כמעט את כל הדמויות, כולל אלה שאמורות להיות טובות. אז לסיכום 3.5 כוכבים בשבילי, אבל נראה לי שבאופן כללי מגיע לו 4.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like the others in Batya Gur's Michael Ohayon series (this is the 5th of 6), this is a pleasant read for those who enjoy mysteries. In addition, there's a focus on the tensions among various groups in Israel: between Jews and Arabs, highlighted by the stereotypes and assumptions of some members of Ohayon's team; but also among Jews who arrived in Israel from different countries and different backgrounds.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Again, a very subtle portrait of a hackneyed topic: eastern and european jewish relations. It is interesting to read about the 2nd intifada and the various fear and views, especially living here now....and seeing what, if any of those fears etc. have changed. I admire the way in which Gur is able to so completely get into the 'voice' of different people seamlessly - the 10 year old girl, for example. Well written and enjoyable.

[Xerxessia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Von Buch zu Buch gefällt mir besser, wie und was Batya Gur schreibt: Diesmal geht es um Rassismus in Israel und zwar nicht nur zwischen Palestinensern und Israelis, sondern auch zwischen der jüdischen Bevölkerung. Zwischen den Aschkenasim (aus Europa) und den aus Afrika (Äthiopien, Marokko, Yemen u.a.) immigrierten Juden ist man sich offenbar auch nicht besonders wohlgesonnen.
Batya Gur hat das in einen tollen Krimi verarbeitet, finde ich.

[K.B. Hallman · Rating 4 out of 5]

By no means is this a fast read, but it is a very rewarding one. Gur really makes you feel like you're in Ohayon's shoes--you feel his frustration, confusion, compassion--yet, in many ways, he remains a stranger. The social and cultural atmosphere--the violence, the ethnic and religious tensions, socioeconomic differences--is very real.

I look forward to reading the other books in the series.

[Tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure the book deserves 3 stars ... the plot was interesting, but like a lot of other readers I wonder about the translation. Many parts were almost unreadable, which I only slogged through because it was a book club book. However, as I've finished after the discussion, I have no one to ask, why did he do it??

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh my goodness, what a good book. So many layers. The muder investigation trundles along i the background as the relationship between the people develops. An enlightening view into Israeli society. An even moe enlightening look into human nature.