Sitting Shiva

The first novel of Elliot Feldman’s Detroit Trilogy, with illustrations by the author, is a genre-bending tale about a son coming to terms with the death of his father, a small-time Detroit gangster. Charlie Fish’s father is found dead in a cheap motel room. Was he murdered by gamblers or by his psycho mistress and her family? Or did he kill himself? For the seven traditional days of Jewish mourning, or shiva, Charlie doesn’t stay at his invalid mother’s home and grieve with friends and family. Instead, he searches the city for answers, and in his quest relives moments from his past and reunites with shadowy figures that once terrorized him, finding out as much about himself as his black-sheep father. Detective yarn, coming-of-age story, confessional, and black comedy, this savagely funny and deeply tragic novel pits Charlie’s youth in the 1950s against the gritty backdrop of the Motor City.