The Saturday Morning Murder: A Psychoanalytic Case

With sly, affectionate humor and acute insight, this flawless mystery by an Israeli literature professor traces the parallel processes of police detection and psychoanalysis. Chief Inspector Michael Ohayon is called to the Jerusalem Psychoanalytic Institute on a quiet Sabbath morning when Dr. Eva Neidorf, a highly respected senior analyst, is found dead of a gunshot shortly before she was to have given a lecture on ethical and forensic problems in psychoanalysis. As the intelligent, somewhat sorrowful Ohayon interviews the institute staff, its training analysts and candidates, Gur deftly and subtly inserts red herrings in her plot, at the same time investing her characters with remarkable depth and individuality. Ohayon's instinctive perceptiveness surfaces as Institute head Dr. Ernst Hildesheimer explains the grief and horror the murder has awakened in the analytic community--patients as well as practitioners. Following his investigation through Jerusalem's commercial district and into the ranks of the military as well, Ohayon exhibits the patience and attention to detail unclear what this is of an experienced analyst. A complex, fully satisfying resolution wraps up this masterful American debut. (June)