The Missing File
Inspector Avraham &#x201C;Avi&#x201D; Avraham is a veteran cop in Holon, a quiet suburb of Tel Aviv. Experience tells him that crime in Holon is pretty simple: no serial killers, and murder and rape are rare. So, when a distraught mother reports that her 16-year-old son didn&#x2019;t return from school, Avi assures her that the boy will turn up. But he doesn&#x2019;t, and Avi, a man filled with self-doubt and perhaps numbed by his town&#x2019;s lack of unusual crime, agonizes as the investigation lurches on. A primary source of his discomfort is a high-school teacher who had previously tutored the missing boy and proceeds to insert himself into the investigation in a way that seems inexplicable. The sense of place here is fascinating (Tel Aviv&#x2019;s suburbs seem both familiar and exotic), and the focus on Avi&#x2019;s state of mind, which is plumbed continuously, brings psychological depth. Procedural details are intriguing, too, suggesting that policing, at least in Holon, is a more humane enterprise than in the U.S. Armchair-traveler crime aficionados will welcome Mishani&#x2019;s debut and look forward to Avi&#x2019;s return. --Thomas Gaughan