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Faye Kellerman's detecting duo, Pete Decker (now a Lieutenant) and his wife Rina Decker, formerly Rina Lazarus, were introduced to a now very welcoming audience in 1986 in Kellerman's first published novel Ritual Bath. Pete Decker, at that time, was something of a hell-raiser but was completely changed by Rina and determined to win her as his wife. In pursuit of that quest he converted to Judaism and subsequent novels have detailed the history of their family as well as the individual crimes in which they become enmeshed. Decker always knew he was adopted, but it was not until a later novel that he discovered that his birth family was Jewish. Rina, who had been widowed very young, had two sons who became Pete's much loved step-sons, step-brothers to his own daughter Cindy. Later, Rina and Pete's daughter, Hannah Rosie was born. While it is an advantage to have read the earlier Decker/Rina books, each novel in the series may be enjoyed on its own merits. Sacred and Profane, Milk and Honey , Day of Atonement False Prophet, Grievous Sin, Sanctuary, Justice , Prayers for the Dead Serpent's Tooth, Jupiter's Bones , Stalker, The Forgotten, are part of the series while Moon Music is a stand alone crime/fantasy novel and Quality of Mercy is historical fiction. As a general rule, I find Faye Kellerman's novels attractive - even more so than those of her husband Jonathan. The prominence she gives to the practices of Jewry is insightful and a painless way of learning about that creed. The earlier books had a heavier emphasis on religion than later ones as Decker simply practises his belief rather than learn about it. The author's examination of and obvious delight in family life make her narratives fascinating. The fact that she is good at plotting helps a lot, too! Stone Kiss is another episode in the life of Pete and Rina Decker. Their daughter, Hannah Rosie, is now nine years old, the boys are away in the east at college. Rina, Pete and Hannah still live in Los Angeles. Pete receives a call from his biological half-brother, Rabbi Jonathan Levine. (I found it interesting that Jonathan bears the same name as Faye Kellerman's husband yet I did not find him a particularly appealing character.) The Levines live in New York and Jonathan is seeking Pete's assistance. His brother-in-law, Ephraim Lieber has been found murdered in a 'seedy hotel room' and Ephraim's fifteen year-old niece for whom he had supposedly been caring that day had disappeared. Jonathan wants Decker to fly to New York to help the family. Peter assents, taking Rina and Hannah with him to stay with Rina's former in-laws but planning to stay only a few days before flying on to his own parents and brother. There are, of course, implications of incest and child abuse in the tale. Why would a middle aged recovering drug addict be so devotedly and frequently in the company of his fifteen year-old niece otherwise? Decker applies for help from both state and local police then comes up against an interesting anomaly: Christopher Donatti, formerly known as Whitman when he lived in LA. Eight years previously Decker had been on a case involving Donatti (Justice) during the course of which he had been responsible for both the gaoling and subsequent release of Donatti and the attempted separation of Donatti from his girlfriend Terry. Psychopath and sociopath Donatti is now a major crime figure in New York and Decker feels Chris is in possession of all the facts surrounding the murder/kidnapping. Kellerman never spares us any unpleasantness in her books. Nor, for that matter, does she spare her characters physical punishment. Decker, to his amazement, is spurned by his half-brother's family and instructed to pursue the matter no further yet he persists and gains for himself some pretty awful wounds in the process. He encounters hypocritical Jews indulging in both illicit sex and drugs and skating almost over the boundary of underage girls for prostitution. I had felt in some of Kellerman's later books that her protagonist Peter Decker was running a little out of steam. Then she changed her style somewhat. After writing the stand-alone Moon Music, which I for one thought did not enhance her reputation one bit, Kellerman shifted the focus, very successfully, from Decker and on to others, reviving those tales. Stone KissÝ sees a concentration once again on Peter Decker. The book begins well enough but then Kellerman appears to lose interest. Oh, the plotting is tight enough but the characters seem, well, out of focus somehow. Peter Decker is a blurry caricature of himself and the writing becomes almost sloppy as though the author was a trifle tired or simply wanted to finish the book. Justice, whose characters are resurrected here, was partly written in the first person from the point of view of Terry. This tactic was again adopted but the amount thus written was so brief as to make the ploy seem clumsy. Perhaps it is time for Faye Kellerman to look at new characters - but please, no more attempts at fantasy or horror! I think she needs to take renewed interest in both her characters and her writing. Her plotting has not suffered and certainly, were one not acquainted with her earlier work, this book might seem adequate despite its inharmonious second half. Thus, those lovers of Kellerman's work should find a muted satisfaction in this book but time alone will tell if she can make her next book more inspiring.
Reviewed by Denise Wels, September 2002
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