Sleuthing in Jerusalem isn’t what it used to be. If we take Ellen Frankel’s word for it — and there is every reason to do so — it is more dangerous than ever. This may make for significantly more stress and strife in Israel overall, but for aficionados of compelling mysteries like the ones Frankel writes, it is excellent news.
The third book in the Jerusalem Mysteries series, The Passover Protocols is based on the old conspiracy known as the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. In the hands of master storyteller Frankel, these ancient Protocols take on a new dimension: they become entwined with a blood libel murder in Jerusalem right before the Passover holiday. Three American white supremacists have arrived in Israel, and intelligence agent Maya Rimon tries to untangle their plan and stay one step ahead of them.
Setting off the violence is the discovery of the blood-drained body of a young Christian boy. No one can find a murder weapon, and no one is willing to claim responsibility or offer an explanation. Yet the dreaded Protocols, which claimed that Jews need the blood of a Christian child to make the matzos they eat at Passover, predicted exactly this scenario.
Rimon must determine whether the murder is a single event or part of a larger conspiracy. She is profoundly disturbed when the three Americans are identified as members of a right-wing neo-Nazi group. Convinced that they are somehow involved, she sets out to solve the crime. But how to prove her suspicions is another matter entirely — and how to prevent the perpetrators from staging further attacks becomes paramount.
Together with her boss and the police chief inspector, she tries to cobble together the clues she has found so far to figure out where the three men might strike next. Rimon follows her intuition and is silently waiting for the three men when they arrive. Now, she has to fight them on her own.
The Passover Protocols will be especially enthralling for those who’ve read the first two books in the trilogy and are already rooting for the characters. Frankel’s prose is crisp, well-paced, and satisfying. It sees the writer and literary scholar at her best.
Linda F. Burghardt is a New York-based journalist and author who has contributed commentary, breaking news, and features to major newspapers across the U.S., in addition to having three non-fiction books published. She writes frequently on Jewish topics and is now serving as Scholar-in-Residence at the Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center of Nassau County.
