Murder in the Kollel – Melvyn Westreich The rabbi in charge of the Kollel (Torah study center) in East Lansing, Michigan, is murdered, but the murderer is successful in making it look as if he hung himself in his basement. The head rabbi of the Yeshiva in Detroit is sure that the rabbi did not take his own life and asks Simon Lincoln, a new student in the Yeshiva to investigate. The tall, blonde, muscular, 37 year old former super-tough Detroit Police detective, hardly looks like a typical Yeshiva student, even though he wears the official Yeshiva uniform of a black suit and black Fedora. Dafna Lachler, a 31 year old local widow, super skilled computer expert and amateur sleuth, finagles her way into becoming his partner in the investigation of this baffling case. There is not a shred of evidence that this was not a suicide. There are no signs of a struggle and no signs of trauma other than that of the hanging. He was alone in the locked house and the alarm system shows that no one entered. The medical examiner found no evidence of foul play. Everyone liked the rabbi and his wife and no one stood to gain financially or personally by the death of the rabbi. Everyone close to the rabbi has perfect alibis and before his death the rabbi had informed his boss that he would be leaving his position, apparently because of psychiatric problems. The detective in charge of the investigation is a friend of Simon’s from his days on the Detroit Police and is extremely cooperative. Simon discovers that Dafna’s husband had been a member of the Kollel before he died two years earlier and as the story progresses so does their mutual attraction. Dafna, using her extraordinary computer skills, discovers that before his death someone had erased specific files from the rabbi’s computer and writes a program to discover what the files may have contained. The rabbi’s wife turns out to be a woman with extreme OCD tendencies. The people around her put up with her idiosyncrasies because she utilizes her need for perfection to help the community. The wife’s alibi is that she was at a film and this is substantiated by GPS tracking of her phone and surveillance video showing her in the theater and her car in the parking lot. In addition she is a small woman and it would be impossible for her to move or lift the rabbi’s body. Simon and Dafna investigate the rabbi’s death and slowly uncover a number of unexplained anomalies. Simon is eventually able to prove that the rabbi was murdered but does not know who could have murdered the rabbi or how the murderer accomplished it. One thing is certain … their investigation is making the murderer nervous because he keeps trying to kill them. The pair of sleuths work well together and more than a professional bond begins to develop. Dafna’s mom and her two daughters are all for the romance but our heroes must keep within the rules of ultra-orthodox Judaism. Not easy when their lives are in danger. They are bombed, assaulted and shot, but they eventually solve this locked door mystery.

Murder in the Kollel: A Lincoln/Lachler Mystery

Literature & Fiction

Westreich, Mr. Melvyn

World Literature

Laurel Publishing

excellent and large photo's to help tell this history

Rescuing Da Vinci: Hitler and the Nazis Stole Europe's Great Art - America and Her Allies Recovered It by Edsel, Robert M. (2006) Hardcover

Arts & Photography

Edsel, Robert M.

Nicholas, Lynn H., and

History & Criticism

Hangings, hauntings, Civil War soldiers, and hidden treasure are found in these gathered stories of southwest Virginia. Meet the ghosts of the Martha Washington Inn, the Barter Theatre, the Virginia Creeper Trail, Emory &amp; Henry College, Abingdon, Washington County and Saltville, VA. The reader will be intrigued, surprised and perhaps frightened but will gain a deeper appreciation for the area's history.

Legends, Stories and Ghostly Tales of Abingdon and Washington County, Virginia

Donna Akers Warmuth

Donna Gayle Akers

A killer is loose in lower Michigan and a local rabbi is one of the victims of the gruesome murderer. The team of Lincoln and Lachler help the FBI and Michigan State Police in their pursuit of the elusive culprit. Problem is … will Simon Lachler's prowess as a detective and Dafna Lachler's expertise as a computer genius together with Rabbi Kalmonowitz's inspired insights be enough to catch the 'Kosher Butcher' before their upcoming marriage and before the murderer succeeds in killing them?

The Kosher Butcher: A Lincoln/Lachler Mystery

A frum romanceIt is never going to work. Ayelet Weinberg defends the charedi doctrine of strictly ?separating women and men, while Steve Lincoln believes in radical feminism. Never ?the less they are thrown together to attend their grief counseling program at the Detroit ?Jewish Center. Unexpected things happen ? they always do ? and their 'oil and ?water' relationship, slowly transforms. ?Steve helps Ayelet overcome her grief and teaches her to utilize her amazing skill as a ?baker to start a business. Ayelet helps Steve see the beauty of Torah law. Rabbi ?Kalmonowitz is back once again giving his insights into death and dying [ kind of a ?downer ? but that is part of life] and helps this frum romance evolve.?A humorous look into Orthodox Judaism and a heartwarming frum love story.?

According to Their Deeds: A Frum Romance

Westreich, Melvyn