Forgotten Books: Tuesday the Rabbi Saw Red -- Harry Kemelman

I think I read all the books in Kemelman's Rabbi Small series more or less as they appeared, but this one is my favorite. Why? The campus setting. Small is teaching a course at a tiny Christian college, and when this book was published, so was I. Well, I was teaching several courses, but naturally I was interested in the subject matter of this book. It was published during the Viet Nam era, and Small discovers that things have changed in the years since he was a student. The campus is not a happy place.

Then there's a bombing and a murder. These are things Small can deal with, having solved a crime or two before. It takes a while for him to work things out, though, and the entire community is affected, including, of course, Small's contentious congregation.

The book is set firmly in a place and a time, one that I remember well. I have a feeling that today's readers might find it dated, and they might also find the pacing a bit leisurely. Not me. It's a great nostalgia trip, and I didn't find it slow in the least. In fact, it made me want to go back and look at others in the series. It's one that I remember fondly.