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Rania, a Palestinian police detective with a young son, meets cheeky Jewish-American feminist Chloe at an Israeli checkpoint-and soon becomes embroiled in a murder case that implicates the highest echelons of the Israeli military.
About the author
Kate Raphael is a San Francisco Bay Area writer, feminist, queer activist, and radio journalist who makes her living as a law firm word processor. She lived in Palestine for eighteen months as a member of the International Women's Peace Service. She spent over a month in Israeli prison and was eventually deported because of her activism. She has won a residency at Hedgebrook and been a grand marshal of the San Francisco LGBT Pride Parade. She produces the weekly radio show
Women's Magazine on Pacifica’s KPFA, which is heard throughout Northern and Central California. Her debut Palestine mystery,
Murder Under the Bridge, won the 2016 International Publisher Book Awards (IPPY) Silver Medal for Mystery.
Summary
Rania, a Palestinian police detective with a young son, meets cheeky Jewish-American feminist Chloe at an Israeli checkpoint—and soon becomes embroiled in a murder case that implicates the highest echelons of the Israeli military.
Additional text
“One of the best mysteries I've read in a long time. Kept me from doing ten important things I should have been doing because I just had to finish it! Kate Raphael writes great women characters and does a fantastic job of portraying the realities of Palestinian life as background to a gripping story.”
—Starhawk, best-selling author of The Fifth Sacred Thing and The Spiral Dance
“Strong and complex female characters, a unique and vividly drawn setting, and an utterly compelling story—Kate Jessica Raphael offers you everything you could possibly want in a page-turning mystery. Let's hope this is the first of many novels to come.”
—Elaine Beale, author of Murder in the Castro
“[Murder Under the Bridge's] mix of murder and politics makes for fascinating reading, made even richer by the revealing glimpse of life in the occupied territories.”
—Booklist
“A stunning mystery novel by a talented new writer. Anyone picking up the book will be drawn in by Rania and Chloe, a dynamic, realistic, pair of women sleuths . . . An outstanding addition to the global mystery field. More, please!”
—Sujata Massey, author of The Sleeping Dictionary
“Raphael has created a wonderful cast, most especially her Palestinian policewoman, Rania… Authoritatively and vividly rendered, Murder Under the Bridge is a compelling read.”
—Karen Joy Fowler, author of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves and The Jane Austen Book Club
“Both [Chloe] and Rania work, in their own ways, to protect the innocent from easy labels like terrorist—labels that Raphael dismantles and examines in this provocative novel.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Raphael thoroughly captures the tension of life on the West Bank by setting a murder in a location marked by daily violence. Substantial yet humanly flawed female protagonists give depth to both the mystery … and the political and social turmoil of the region.”
—Library Journal, starred review
