Harry Kemelman: Wednesday the Rabbi Got Wet (USA 2015)

From the Publisher:
A pharmaceutical mishap draws the rabbi into a murder investigation in this New York Times bestseller: "An endearing character... a devious plot" (San Diego Union-Tribune).

New Age thinking has come to Barnard's Crossing, Massachusetts. The recently elected president of Rabbi David Small's synagogue is intent on using temple money to build a meditation retreat. The congregation is practicing yoga, buying crystals, and reciting chants. When a troubled young man returns to the town after spending time in a controversial Hasidic cult, the rabbi expects him to be another New Ager. But things take a grisly turn away from new-fangled mantras of peace and love when something terribly old fashioned happens: murder.

An elderly patient dies after being given the wrong medication by the local pharmacist, who coincidentally is also the Hasidic man's father. When the dead man's family suggests the mix-up was intentional, both the druggist and his son become suspects and it's up to Rabbi Small to investigate by drawing on some Old Testament wisdom in a village of New Age fads.

Harry Kemelman: Wednesday the Rabbi Got Wet. A Rabbi Small Mystery. Open Road Media, ISBN: 9781504016094 (August, 2015), eBook, 706 KB (ca. 333 p.), $7.99.

Harry Kemelman: Wednesday the Rabbi Got Wet (USA 2003)

From the Publisher:
The sixth in the ibooks series of definitive editions of Rabbi David Small mysteries by Edgar Award-winning author Harry Kemelman.
Things aren't kosher in Barnard's Crossing. An unpleasant member of the congregation dies mysteriously and the suspect is a troubled young man. Rabbi Small comes to the case with Talmudic reasoning and insight -- and finds a solution that no one else sees.

Harry Kemelman: Wednesday the Rabbi Got Wet. A Rabb Small Mystery. iBooks, ISBN: 0743458303 (March, 2003), 336 p., $6.99.

Harry Kemelman: Wednesday the Rabbi Got Wet (USA 1985)

From the Publisher:
"If Agatha Christie's Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot had had a son who naturally became a detective, sharp as Marple on murder, wise as Poirot on plotting, he would be known as Rabbi David Small!" - Vogue

Things aren't kosher in Barnard's Crossing. An unpleasant member of the congregation dies mysteriously and the suspect is a troubled young man. Rabbi Small comes to the case with Talmudic reasoning and insight - and finds a solution that no one else sees... "Fine entertainment... Superior reading." - AP News Features

"A JIM-DANDY TALE.' - Pittsburgh Post Gazette

"KEMELMAN HAS BLENDED AN ENDEARING CHARACTER WITH A DEVIOUS PLOT TO GIVE US A SPICY PEEK AT MYSTERY AND INTO THE TALMUDIC AMBIENCE.' - The San Diego Union

Harry Kemelman: Wednesday the Rabbi Got Wet. Fawcett Crest, ISBN: 0449209644 (July, 1985), 288 p., $2.95.

Harry Kemelman: Wednesday the Rabbi Got Wet (USA 1981)

From the Publisher:
"If Agatha Christie's Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot had had a son who naturally became a detective, sharp as Marple on murder, wise as Poirot on plotting, he would be known as Rabbi David Small!" - Vogue

Things aren't kosher in Barnard's Crossing. An unpleasant member of the congregation dies mysteriously and the suspect is a troubled young man. Rabbi Small comes to the case with Talmudic reasoning and insight - and finds a solution that no one else sees... "Fine entertainment... Superior reading." - AP News Features

"A JIM-DANDY TALE.' - Pittsburgh Post Gazette

"KEMELMAN HAS BLENDED AN ENDEARING CHARACTER WITH A DEVIOUS PLOT TO GIVE US A SPICY PEEK AT MYSTERY AND INTO THE TALMUDIC AMBIENCE.' - The San Diego Union

Harry Kemelman: Wednesday the Rabbi Got Wet. Fawcett Crest, ISBN: 0449232913 (April, 1981), 288 p., $1.95.

Harry Kemelman: Wednesday the Rabbi Got Wet (USA 1976)

From the Publisher:
Rabbi David Small has become one of the most endearing sleuths in modern fiction. Irascible and compassionate, innocent and worldly wise, Rabbi Small can see the third side of any question, an exceptional talent he employs, along with Talmudic reasoning and insight, to solve the high crime of murder.

Now, in his latest novel in this spectacularly successtul series, Harry Kemelian once again portrays the all-too-human world of Barnand's Crossing, the New England town where Rabbi Small serves as the religious leader of the temple.

This time the rabbi becomes involved in the mysterious death of an old man with many enemies, a death that intrigues and eventually fascinates both him and the town's chief of police, Hugh Lanigan.

But finding the solution to a puzzling death is not the only matter that concerns Rabbi Small. He is involved in saving the innocent from disgrace and the charge of murder, while also fighting the temple's well-intentioned but erring board of directors over a question of high principle.

One of the great appeals of Harry Kemelman's novels is the way he skillfully weaves the teachings of Judaism into the plot. In Wednesday the Rabi Got Wet the author presents, through Rabbi Small, a fascinating view of the Jewish attitudes toward meditation, mysticism, religious retreats, and Christianity.

Those who have read Harry Kemelman's earlier novels will find Wednesday the Rabbi Got Wet among his very best. Those who have yet to become acquainted with Rabb Small and Barnard's Crossing have a delectable treat in store for them.

Harry Kemelman: Wednesday the Rabbi Got Wet. A Novel. William Morrow, ISBN: 0688030602 (January, 1976), 312 p., $8.95.