This is the first in a short series of detective novels featuring Chief Inspector Michael Ohayon of Jerusalem's Major Crime Unit. Ohayon is a policeman by default, as he was on course to earn a PhD in Medieval history when he found himself "trapped" into marrying his pregnant girlfriend. We meet him years later, when his marriage has dissolved, and he is again feeling somewhat trapped in a career he is not terribly enthusiastic about. He is, nevertheless, a good investigator, and when he is faced with the particularly puzzling murder of a prominent psychoanalyst, he brings his unique thought processes to bear on the few clues he has to work with. This is not a fast-paced, high suspense, thrill-a-minute police procedural, but rather, as the subtitle tells us, "A psychoanalytic case". I enjoyed it very much and will carry on with the next in the series, Literary Murder. Translated from the original Hebrew. ( )

Inspektor Michael Ochajon von der Jerusalemer Kriminalpolizei steht vor einem Mordfall, wie er ungewöhnlicher nicht sein kann.

A murder at an institute for training psychoanalysts is solved by police detective Michael Ohayon. It's all very matter of fact. While most of the characters are Jewish, they are secular. There is no mention of why Saturday is such a quiet day in the city. While the title in the original Hebrew, Retsah be-Shabat ba-Boker, hints that Saturday (Shabbat) is different from other days, that distinction is lost in translation. ( )

The story begins early one Saturday morning. Shlomo Gold arrives at the Jerusalem Psychoanalytic Institute to find the dead body of senior analyst Eva Neidorf. Although she was about to give a much anticipated lecture, someone has murdered her with a single gunshot to the head. So begins The Saturday Morning Murder: a Psychological Case, Gur's first make-you-think fictional thriller starring Chief Inspector Michael Ohayon. [Note: Gur published a collection of essays in Hebrew two year before this translated publication.] Since this is our first introduction to the Inspector, Gur builds Ohayon's personality with much detail. Early on we learn he is a heavy smoker and doesn't like talking to the press. He drinks his coffee like an addict and takes it with sugar. He has no problem remembering names, hates to be unshaven and drives a Renault. He is a thirty-nine year old father and has been divorced for eight years. He is involved with a married woman and wanted to get a doctorate at Cambridge. But, back to the review. Gur builds this mystery through the characters she introduced. Don't worry about trying to remember them all. Gur tries to throw you off the scent by making you think any of them could be the killer. When the whole story is finally revealed it isn't this big out-of-left-field moment. If you are paying attention you definitely can see it coming. Despite the transparency, this was a great read. ( )

A pretty standard, well constructed whodunnit. All the facts fit together neatly at the end, though I wasn't surprised or taken aback by any twists or turns—Gur seems devoted to realism, to the dogged determination it takes to solve most crimes, and the murderer's identity was fairly certain for me from near the beginning. The most enjoyable parts of the book for me were the hints we got of Israeli society—the main character, Chief Superintendent Michael Ohayon, is an immigrant from north Africa with a complicated private life, whose origins mean he is sometimes looked down on. There is also a minor character who is a Palestinian living in a refugee camp and working in a local hospital. As far as I can remember, this is the first book I've read by an Israeli author—certainly the first fiction book—so I appreciated those glimpses we got of life in Jerusalem. ( )