10/20/07TITLE/AUTHOR: LIEBERMAN'S FOLLY by Stuart KaminskyRATING: 4.5/B+GENRE/PUB DATE/# OF PGS: Mystery/1991/216 pgsSERIES/STAND ALONE: 1st in the Abe Lieberman/Bill Hanrahan series TIME/PLACE: 1990's/ChicagoCHARACTERS: Abe Lieberman "rabbi" & Bill Hanrahan "priest" -- police detectives FIRST LINES: The tavern was called Babe O'Brien's. No one names O'Brien had ever, in its 20 yrs of business, owned the place. In fact, no one even remotely Irish had ever owned Babe O'Brien's. The name had been chosen by Juan Hernandez De Barcelona, who had never been to Barcelona & whose ancestors had almost certainly never been to either Ireland or Spain.COMMENTS: Library book, thought I'd try 1st in series after seeing author at MOTB recently. Great start to a fine police procedural series. An informer/prostitute is killed. Abe learns that there was a crime a decade ago in Corpus Christi, TX where 2 prostitutes killed a bar owner and is making a connection w/ the current case.
#1 of the Abe Lieberman series-I absolutely love the characters in this book. The development, the humor, excellent. The mystery was good but I was a tad disappointed in the solution. This is a series about 2 cops in Chicago, Abe Lieberman and Bill Hanrahan. Abe is Jewish, is married and has a daughter. He has such a way about him. I loved the scene when the gang of boys come up to Abe and Bill while Bill is telling Abe about his girlfriend. Classic. Bill is a Catholic who has a drinking problem ever since his wife left him. These guys grew on me. It didn’t take long for me to decide I had to read the next book. And fast.
What do You think about Lieberman's Folly (1991)?
This was the first Abe Lieberman in the series, but I couldn't find it until now when I had read all the rest. I was surprised at how coarse the first book was compared to the rest, but appreciated his treatment of the nitty-gritty things of life, and how we reconcile bad things which happen with a larger perspective on what matters. I'm glad Kaminsky kept going and further developed the characters in this series - but a good introduction to the pasts which influenced Father and Rabbi's futures in following books.
—Sarah
