From Publishers Weekly
Jerusalem cop Avram Cohen contends with religious, political and international tensions while he searches for the killer of two nuns in Rosenberg's impressive thriller. Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

New York Times Book Review
“A superior thriller, very well written, sensitively and beautifully plotted.” —

Book Description
In a holy city, even saints can be suspects...It was the time of the intifada, a season of hatred and fear in the city called Jerusalem, the City of Peace...Criminal Investigations Department Commander Avram Cohen faces a terrible double murder of two Russian nuns, mother and daughter, members of the Russian Orthodox convent in Ein Kerem. The KGB baby-sitter for the Red Russian mission in the Holy Land is embarrassed, the police are embarrassed, the Knesset is embarrassed-even the Prime Minister exerts pressure for a quick solution...

FROM THE PUBLISHER

A suspense thriller set in the city of Jerusalem. The main character is Detective Avram Cohen, who must search for a killer who is sure to strike again. The mystery is set against a backdrop of Jerusalem's political and religious tensions.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Although the title of this impressive thriller debut is geographically nondescript, its story of religious, political and international tension could only be set in Jerusalem. Two nuns, mother and daughter, residing in the Red Russian Orthodox mission in Ein Kerem, are savagely knifed to death. Avram Cohen, head of Jerusalem's Criminal Investigation Department, and other police, security and political figures become involved, including the Begin-like prime minister, who is anxious that justice be done while hopeful that the perpetrator is not Jewish. More frustrated than usual by the byzantine strictures of Israeli politics, Cohen is stymied, until he is able to plant a mole in the Russian mission. The result is useful information and a tongue-lashing from the prime minister, who is anxious not to offend the Soviets on the eve of sensitive talks. Rosenberg, who lives in Tel Aviv and previously wrote Shcharansky: A Journey Home ) is obviously familiar with Jerusalem's geography, and descriptions of the neighborhoods that comprise the Holy City are woven skillfully into the narrative. The writing is fluent and mature, and one gets a clear, if foreboding sense of the religious fanaticism that threatens to disrupt the fragile truce of Jerusalem's daily life. (Feb.)

Chicago Tribune

"This season's gift is a first novel by an experienced newsman. Robert Rosenberg's Crimes of the City is a lively tour of duty... Avram Cohen, a 50-ish survivor of Dachau, in love with a sexy Jerusalem judge, also loving his cognac and cigarettes a bit too much, is presented by Rosenberg with sardonic humor... The book is exciting, the talk intelligent, the prose crisp. Rosenberg is very good indeed."

New York Times Book Review

"A superior thriller, very well written, sensitively and beautifully plotted. In Avram Cohen, Mr. Rosenberg gives us a real person struggling to find a killer, accommodate himself to the realities of politics, and preserve his own integrity... Everybody in the book is convincingly portrayed, including the killer."

Murder Ink

"A stunning novel set in Jerusalem during the Palestinian infitada. Part police procedural, part spy thriller."

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING