About this book
The small Catskills town of Red River is rocked when the dynamic young heir to the local rabbinic dynasty is found murdered in the synagogue his family split from. It is up to his childhood best friend, now the local sheriff, to find his killer and keep the town from boiling over. Her quest is made more difficult by the fact that she is seen as “off the derech” (a Jew who has left the Right Path) by the victim’s family. An additional complication? A strange drifter showing up with mysterious abilities. Not to worry though, Em has some tricks of her own. Will they find the killer before the killer finds them? And how does his murder tie into the town’s secret history?
Advance Praise/ Reviews
“The locked-room mystery genre has distinctly Jewish origins in the 1892 novel The Big Bow Mystery by the British writer Israel Zangwill. One hundred years after Zangwill’s death, Mordechai Luchins produces a thoroughly Jewish locked-room mystery, exploring the dynamics of a small Catskills community. Written for a general audience, Luchins takes great pains to detail the intricacies of Orthodox observance. Compelling characters and clever plotting make this a remarkable work to be sought out by mystery fans.”
— Daniel Scheide, Association of Jewish Libraries Reviews
“In a small Catskills town where the river runs red and old synagogue rivalries run deep, a lie-detecting cop and a stranger with a painful gift must navigate faith, politics, and murder to uncover a truth no one wants found.”
— Daniel P. Aldrich, author of Site Fights, Building Resilience, and Black Wave
“The best Jewish mystery novel since the Harry Kemelman rabbi series.”
— Michael A. Burstein, Astounding Award winner and editor of Jewish Futures
“Clever and heartfelt, the real calling card of this charming mystery is the sheer authenticity of both the characters, but most importantly, the setting. As we have all seen in a number of classic franchises over the years, once you’ve thoroughly detailed a setting, you can easily mine the connections that you’ve set up for compelling drama, and Mordechai Luchins has created a very detailed environment in this novel that is rife with uneasy edges, any one of which could easily ripen into a full-blown conflict at any moment. When you throw a murder into such a setting, all that setup work pays off beautifully in various twists and turns. When you throw superpowers into the mix, as well, it is clear that Broken Faith really has everything and the kitchen sink!”
— Brian Cronin, senior staff writer, CBR.com; author, Was Superman a Spy? and Other Comic Book Legends Revealed
“A police detective trying to solve a murder in a small Catskills town full of secrets, a paranormal twist, and a bystander who’s a mystery all on his own. In Mordechai Luchins’ expert hands, this becomes a brilliant yarn driven by a strong narrator whose voice is as complex as her story. I cannot wait to read more.”
—Stacey Agdern, author of Hey Alma’s Fan Favorite Jewish Book, The B’Nai Mitzvah Mistake
“When you read this book, you will uncover the secrets of two rabbinical families in a small town in the Catskills, including a long-forgotten motive for murder. You will find out “whodunnit” but also how, with a novel solution to the classic locked-room mystery. It’s a twisty, turny little story that drew me right in and kept me turning the pages.”
—Dennis Fischman, Book review: ‘Broken Faith: A Story of Murder, Secrets, and a Catskills Synagogue’ by Mordechai Luchins, The Sommerville Times
