Milk and Honey

There are three mysteries to be solved in Milk and Honey. Two of them are official for Pete Decker and partner Marge Dunn: locating the parents of a toddler Pete finds wandering in the wee hours of the morning and locating a kidnapped toddler. The third is proving the innocence of Pete's old buddy from his Vietnam days. (If he is innocent, that is.)

That last mystery leads to a revelation about something Peter did back then that he's never truly dealt with. It's a powerful scene, as is the story Peter hears about his rabbi's escape from the Nazis during World War II.

One of the toddler cases leads to a gruesome discovery. The other one leads to a mixed outcome. I rather liked the way Ms. Kellerman worked the Biblical phrase about the land show more of milk and honey into the story.

Rina is visiting from New York. There's progress on the Decker-Lazarus front!

Persons using or being used by another/others is a major theme. Both Christian and Jewish characters are guilty. (I was rather surprised by when the author wrote that Decker wouldn't have known that the Biblical Rachel was meant a year ago. He was reared Baptist, so I would have expected him to know. I'm Catholic and I got the reference.)

Warning: there's considerable use of the racist 'N' word in this book. It's used only by bigots, disgusts the main characters, and leads to a situation worth a chortle. There's another chortle-worthy development regarding Rina's family's attitude toward Pete. (I chortled again just thinking about it.) show less

Ugh. I was already getting irritated with some things about this series, mainly a clunky writing style and an overuse of the "grittiness" of LA. I continued on to this book because I wanted some resolution in the romance plot, but this book convinced me that the author's treatment of gender and race is just so obnoxious that I'm not going to bother sticking around, and that any resolution in the romance plot would be unsatisfying to me anyway.

Also, I was expecting that a series of mysteries known as the Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus mysteries would involve both characters in solving the mysteries. Instead, it seems like Decker does all the solving, and Rina Lazarus serves as muse/love interest/source of conflict. Yes, there are other women show more involved in crime-solving, but Decker is really the POV character and by halfway through this book, I had realized that I didn't like him or his point of view. YMMV. show less

I enjoyed this, but less than I remember enjoying the old Faye Kellermans. Still a hundred times better than her later stuff like [b:The Beast|16248127|The Beast (Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus, #21)|Faye Kellerman|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1390007799s/16248127.jpg|22276974]. It was great to see Rina and Peter as actual characters again and not just as the cardboard cut-outs they've become later in the series. A few of the scenes with Abel were WTF, though, especially the one with Rina in the barn. I like Marge. I wonder when Oliver shows up?

Decker finds an abandoned child who is covered in blood and bee stings and is pulled into a multiple murder case at the same time as his old army buddy needs help, but the friend also brings with him painful memories from Vietnam which complicates not only the case, but Decker's home life. Apart from Decker's new(?) "little woman"-attitude towards Rina and the Hicksville description of the Valley, this is a really solid mystery, gruesome as they come, with Decker's Jewish studies as an added angle. I'm enjoying this series quite a lot with its evolving characters and nice description of locale - it's one I'm familiar with, so that make it even more fun to read. If you're ever in LA, I do recommend Decker's restaurant choice for lunch, show more Pico Kosher Deli (their Hot Pastrami sandwich is fantastic and their coleslaw is made in heaven for sure!). show less

In addition to a good plot, engaging writing, and wonderfully real characters, this book manages to address PTSD without explicitly doing so. The characters are simply coping with more or less success. It's especially impressive given that, when it was written, PTSD wasn't nearly as much discussed as it is now.

Every once in a while it's fun to pick up a good old-fashioned page turner, and this book filled the bill. An LA police detective finds a lost 2-year-old which leads him and his partner to a multiple murder. In the meantime, the detective is dealing with the relationship issues between himself and his orthodox Jewish girlfriend. Plus, he is trying to figure out whether his Viet Nam war army buddy is guilty of the rape he's been accused of. Lots going on, with characters who are interesting, and a happily believable plot as well. A fine mystery and, in general, a good read.

This is the third book of a series with this detective (and his girlfriend). I haven't read the first two, but didn't feel at a loss at any time for not having read show more the first two. show less

Our favorite detective Peter Decker finds a small girl just staying outside in her blood-stained pyjamas in the middle of the night. The LA police tries to figure out what happened and it will lead Peter and his usual partner Marge to a small oasis just outside the big city where the time had just stopped.

Rina is still in New York but she does come back in the middle of the investigation and things start moving in the right direction.

PS: When Rina exited the plane she said she had not checked any luggage. Then later she said her gun had been in the packed luggage. Unless if I am mistaken and packed does not really mean checked, then the author seems to have forgotten the lack of luggage on arrival. Not that it really matters...