Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Chanukah Crime Fiction

Chanukah (Hanukkah) comes early this year. Judaism follows the lunar calendar, so although Chanukah usually falls around Christmas, it doesn't always.

Chanukah will be celebrated December 1 through December 9, 2010. Yes, Eight Days of Chanukah! That will give you enough time to read all of these titles! Let me know if I've missed any.

Novels:
Holiday Grind by Cleo Coyle (mostly about Christmas but Hanukah is mentioned)
Festival of Deaths by Jane Haddam
Out of the Frying Pan into the Choir by Sharon Kahn
Saturday the Rabbi Went Hungry by Harry Kemelman
Murder at the Minyan by Shlumat E. Kustanowitz
The Body in the Sleigh by Katherine Hall Page (mostly about Christmas but Hanukah is mentioned)
Chanukah Guilt by Ilene Schneider

Children's Hanukah Mysteries:
Rabbi Rocketpower and the Mystery of the Missing Menorahs - A
Hanukkah Humdinger! by Rabbi Susan Abramson and Aaron Dvorkin and Ariel DiOrio

Mystery Short Stories:
"Mom Lights a Candle" by James Yaffe, appeared in Mystery: The Best of 2002, ed. by Jon L. Breen.
"Hanukah" by Morris Hershman in Cat Crimes for the Holidays, ed. by Martin Greenberg, Edward Gorman and Larry Segriff
"The Worse Noel" by Barb Goffman in The Gift of Murder.
For more info on Jewish short story mysteries, check out Steven Steinbock who blogs on Criminal Brief, the Mystery Short Story Web Log Project.

Mystery Games:
Children's software mystery game: Who Stole Hanukkah? offered in five languages: English, Hebrew, Russian, French and Spanish
Other Games for Children: The Case of the Stolen Menorah: An Enlightening Hanukkah Mystery

3 comments:

Mom2TeenTwins said...

I think Sharon Kahn's "Out of the Frying Pan into the Choir" is also set during Hannukah.

Barb Goffman said...

Hi, Janet! My short story "The Worst Noel," from The Gift of Murder anthology, involves Hanukkah (and Christmas). The book came out in 2009 from Wolfmont Press.

Happy holidays!

Janet Rudolph said...

Thanks for the updates of titles!