★★★½
Genre: Mystery
Subject: female ordination, orthodox religions, selincing by the church
Setting: New York, New York, USA
Main Characters: Alexandra Cooper, Mercer Wallace, Mike Chapman
Series: Yes, #13
Dates Read: February 17 - February 19
Number of pages: 320
Off the Shelf (pre-2012)? Source?: yes, audio stockpile
Category for 12 in 12 challenge: Study Hall,Homework
Alex Cooper, Asst. DA for Special Crimes, finds herself,
in this 13th installment of the series, taking on the
religious fanatic who is against the ordination of women
whether as priests, ministers, or rabbis and is
methodically killing the pariahs of the religious sects -
women priest who have been silenced, teaching
ministers on the path to higher positions. The
background history of the NY City buildings, a staple
of the Alex Cooper mysteries, takes the reader from a
former synagogue converted to a Baptist Church in
Harlem all the way to a island leper colony. We also
see the characters especially Mike Chapman
(Irish\Catholic) and Alex Cooper (Christian/Jewish
background) as our symbols of pro and con for the
inclusion of women in the religious sects.
In counter balance we see Alex standing firm against
prosecuting a teenage boy for rape when it was obvious
that the sex for the two teenagers was consensual as
well as instigated by the young woman. Alex will not
bend under pressure to expel the young boy simply
because the girl doesn't want to be confronted by her
previous partner at school and her parents have some
political influence.
Some readers seem to think that Ms Fairstein is
running out of originality, but I am not of that opinion. I
look forward to the next installment just as much as I
did the previous ones.
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