The Deadliest Fever (Miriam Bat Isaac #4)--Reversing My First Impression

I accepted an invitation to review The Deadliest Fever, the fourth in the Miriam Bat Isaac historical mystery series recently.  The invitation was made by Destiny Brown, a tireless promoter of indie books on Goodreads.  I read all of Destiny's promotional posts.  I figure it was inevitable that one day my interests and hers would intersect.  So I clicked on her link to Net Galley's page for The Deadliest Fever and downloaded a review copy from the indie publisher.

                             

                              
I purchased the first book in the Miriam Bat Isaac series, The Deadliest Lie some time ago because I'm interested in books taking place in ancient Alexandria, and historical fiction with Jewish protagonists. So I decided to read The Deadliest Lie first as background for The Deadliest Fever.  I can't recommend that other readers do the same unless your main interest in historical mysteries is the historical aspect.  There are mountainous info dumps in June Trop's first novel, and the mystery element isn't introduced into the plot until 31%  in the Kindle edition.  I am not the only one to complain about this issue on Goodreads.   Only the most patient mystery reader should attempt to apply themselves to such a narrative.

I would also like to warn those who thought you might eventually want to tackle the gladiatorial book three in the series, The Deadliest Sport.  You probably shouldn't read The Deadliest Fever beforehand.   It contains major spoilers dealing with the The Deadliest Sport's resolution.  Unless you are as tolerant of spoilers as I am, I would advise you to read book three first.

Regardless of when you decide to start The Deadliest Fever, you can expect mystery action beginning at the novel's opening.  So the plot's pacing is vastly improved over book one.

 I also complained in my Goodreads review of  The Deadliest Lie that although it was realistic for Miriam Bat Isaac to behave like an immature teenager when she was seventeen, she wasn't the sort of protagonist that I prefer.  I do read YA, but the YA novels I like best contain unusual central characters who don't behave like typical teenagers. So I was delighted to find that Miriam Bat Isaac is a thirty year old woman in The Deadliest Fever, and is therefore much more in line with my preferences.

Since I enjoy doing research about topics that interest me which are raised in the books that I read,  I often bring up searches I conducted in my reviews.   In this case, I want to discuss my research process.

In The Deadliest Fever, Miriam wants to discover who damaged the mantle which covered her synagogue's Torah.  Mantles are made of cloth covered with embroidery.  Sometimes they are encrusted with gems.

 Since I have seen that not all Torahs are covered with mantles in a contemporary Jewish context, I did a search on the subject.  I discovered that covering Torahs with mantles is an Ashkenazi practice.  Ashkenazis are the descendants of Jews from Germany and Eastern Europe. I myself am of Ashkenazi descent, but there were no Ashkenazis in ancient times.  The only Jews in ancient Alexandria would have been Mizrachis, Jews whose ancestors came from the Middle East.   The current Mizrachi practice is to cover Torahs with silver cylinders which would keep them upright at all times.

 There is a theological conflict of the Sephardis /Mizrachis vs. the Ashkenazis over whether Torahs should be upright or diagonal.  Sephardis are the community descended from the Jewish refugees expelled from Spain.  Many of them settled in the Middle East and adopted the Mizrachi outlook.  If you want to learn more about the reasons behind this disagreement, see this Q & A on the Chabad website.  Chabad is the largest Jewish outreach organization in the world.  Their orientation is Haredi (ultra-Orthodox), but they engage in outreach to Jews of all backgrounds.  After reading that Q & A , I came to the mistaken conclusion that June Trop had been inauthentic.  I believed that the Torah in The Deadliest Fever should have been covered with a wooden or silver cylinder.

Then I gave some additional thought to the matter.  The Rabbis cited in the Chabad Q & A had been medieval authorities. They weren't Talmudic Rabbis from the Roman period.  That entire geographical disagreement hadn't existed in ancient times.  I still needed to find out about ancient Torah covering practices.   I found my answer in an article from the Jewish Virtual Library which revealed that "important" Torahs in the ancient Middle East were covered in cloth.   The Torah in the Great Synagogue of Alexandria would have been regarded as important.  So June Trop had been accurate in her portrayal of that Torah after all.

I included my entire process because I wanted to remind people that asking the right question is the foundation of good research.  This is especially important in evaluating an author's accuracy. 

 The Deadliest Fever has the same great historical background that I found in the first book, but it's used more judiciously.  Plot is prioritized and the maturation of Miriam Bat Isaac has made her a much more viable protagonist.   I expect to go back and read the second book in the series, The Deadliest Hate, eventually.  June Trop has successfully reversed the negative first impression I had after reading her first novel.