Erez Brown mostly deals with divorces. He’s what you might call a low-rent PI, running a firm that consists only of himself, a secretary, and an apprentice. And, unsurprisingly, there’s a sameness to the cases that come to him. He knows exactly what has happened as soon as a client walks in the door. “I had a ready-made document; I just needed to change the names, dates and locations in which they fucked.” But then an unlikely client turns up. Adam and Rebecca Rubinstein want him to find their daughter, who’s been missing for two years. They’re Ultra-Orthodox Jews, and their rebbe has promised them that Erez can find her. Why? Who knows? But Abraham Rubinstein is a diamond merchant and fabulously wealthy. The money will be great. Unfortunately, Erez doesn’t have a clue what he’s getting himself into in Davidy Rosenfeld’s intriguing private eye novel, Farewell, My Babylon.
Looking for a young woman who doesn’t want to be found
Tracking down a young woman who’s been missing for two years is likely to be a challenge anywhere. Especially in a city of four million people. And it’s an even bigger challenge if she’s determined to stay hidden. Which is clearly the case with Lea Rubinstein. For one thing, it takes Erez uncommonly long to discover that she’s changed her name to Ella. And even longer to learn that she’s set herself up online as a mistress specializing in S&M and bondage.
But no sooner does Erez learn all this than the woman turns up dead. Or, at least someone who looks a lot like her. This maybe-Lea lies butchered in an apartment full of bondage toys and devices. Then Abraham confirms its her. It’s all over, right? But not so fast. Because a little later Ella’s mother insists she’s just gotten a phone call from her daughter. And now mama is really determined for Erez to track her down.
Farewell, My Babylon by Davidy Rosenfeld (2023) 242 pages ★★★★☆
A hard-boiled PI for the modern age
Erez Brown is Davidy Rosenfeld’s answer to Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. And his tough-guy PI’s venture into the world of S&M and bondage offers a look at the seamier side of life that’s reminiscent of classic noir. Otherwise, there’s little about his protagonist that’s original. What distinguishes Farewell, My Babylon from other PI novels is only its setting. And Rosenfeld does a stellar job giving us a picture of a throbbing city with its own diverse mix of ethnic and religious groups living uncomfortably side by side.
Yet Tel Aviv, in the author’s telling, is a modern city little different from others in the Western world. For example, Erez Brown marvels at his good fortune in choosing a specialization. “Divorce is good business,” he muses. “Thirty percent of married couples divorce. In cities like Tel Aviv it’s closer to fifty, and rising. If you take into consideration twenty-five percent of the population almost never divorce, because they’re Orthodox Jews who simply can’t do it. . . you reach the conclusion there’s more or less one happily married couple left in the country—and it’s definitely not you.”
But Rosenfeld loves the city where he lives and finds it unique. “They say this city is a bubble. What it really is, is a broken mirror reflecting countless dreams. Tel Aviv is the capital of unfulfilled fantasies; the port Odysseus never reached; the grand lottery win missing only a single number.”
Amazon bills Farewell, My Babylon as the first in a series featuring Erez Brown.
About the author
Davidy Rosenfeld‘s bio on Amazon reads in part as follows: “Davidy Rosenfeld lives in Ra’anana, Israel with his wife, three children, and a clumsy cat. He graduated from Tel Aviv University with a BA in Eastern Philosophy and an MA in History and Philosophy of Ideas and Science, with honors. He is a teacher for at-risk high school students.” To date he has written two private detective novels and a children’s picture book.
For related reading
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