The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
A "literary" take on the classic detective novel. In the alternate reality established in this book, Meyer Landsman is a detective in Sitka, Alaska, a special territory set aside for Jews after World War Two. When a mysterious murder occurs, Landsman, for reason personal and professional, wants to get to the bottom of the case before Sitka is returned to the US and he loses his jurisdiction.



Good: Interesting premise, characters, and plot. The culture of "black-hat" Judaism was interesting. And, as anyone who has read Chabon's other works knows, the prose is excellent.



Bad: The first 50 pages or so of the book drag a little bit. The very end of the novel (I'm talking about the last 5ish pages) fell flat and didn't really do justice to what was otherwise a very good book.



I recommend it!


View all my reviews.