A Possibility of Violence: A Novel (Avraham Avraham Series, 2)

Avraham Avraham has just arrived back in Holon, a suburb of Tel Aviv, after a three-month vacation in Brussels. He had stayed with a policewoman he met there on a previous case, and she is preparing to move to Tel Aviv. He stops at his office in suburban Holon, and volunteers to help with work, even though he is still on vacation. The police office is overwhelmed with work, many of the officers and detectives are on holiday, and he decides to help.He interviews a suspect who placed a fake bomb near a day care center in Holon. The suspect is smart mouthed and obnoxious, but there's no real reason to hold him; a witness's identification is too vague and unsure. But this interview draws Avraham into the case, and he boss tells him he must do well. She had written a rather critical report of his handling of the case detailed in "The Missing File," but she knows he's a solid detective, and what happened in the previous case was not his fault. Avraham himself considers it something of a failure.He suspects the day care center operator knows more than she's letting on, but she denies any reason for someone placing a fake bomb. He explores other possibilities, but the investigation keeps coming back to the operator. Adding to his frustrations is what seems to be a growing reluctance of his girlfriend in Belgium to come to Israel, and he doesn't know why.And then the day care operator is attacked and nearly killed."A Possibility of Violence," published in English in 2014, is the second of three Avraham Avraham detective novels by Israeli author D.A. Mishani, a crime writer and scholar of historical detective fiction. He lives in Tel Aviv and teaches at Tel Aviv University. The second novel in the series is "The Missing File" (2013) and the third is "The Man Who Wanted to Know Everything" (2016). This second novel won the Bernstein Prize in 2014 for the best novel published in Israel. It was translated into English from the Hebrew by Todd Hasak-Lowy.Mishani artfully blends Avraham's private and public lives, along with his internal doubts and public professionalism. The detective becomes a recognizable and real person. And "The Possibility of Violence" like its predecessor "The Missing File," transcends the mystery genre. It's still a good mystery, but it's also good fiction.

There aren't many good detective stories from Israel-- in fact, there are very few translations into English of what exists in the genre from Israel. Aside incessant from terrorism inflicted on it, Israel is actually a very safe place. That's why the two books by D.A. Mishani are so welcome-- we get to see the dark side of Tel Aviv, Israel's largest city, from the point of view of a detective who has to deal with the police bureaucracy while trying to solve crimes and also trying to find some kind of a life for himself in his few hours of spare time. Mishani is a first-class writer; his characters are well-developed, the writing is taut, the story is compelling, and all in all, not only are his first two books are top-notch-- they fairly scream to be made into movies, except that some Hollywood script writer will end up trying to be politically correct and ruin them. So for that reason, I hope they remain away from the clutches of Tinsel Town. I also hope MIshani will continue on with this series, or start a new one, or publish under another name-- anything, so long as he keeps on producing such excellent work.

This detective story based in Isreal is complex not only in the investigations involved but also in the interpersonal interactions as it unfolds. Although the English is a bit choppy and the flow a bit jumbled, it was a story well worth reading!

Love this book and The Missing File, which precedes it and is the first in the series. Great writing , riveting plot,,and --not always a given in mystery series--excellent character development. I have recommended both books to several friends who have also loved them.

Excellent suspense with a lot of local flair.

Not my cup of tea

Unrelievably tedious. What a bore! Nothing happens; then, nothing happens; then nothing happens again. I'd hoped for something "Israeli," but this snooze could have taken place anywhere. Just awful. AVOID.

A very entertaining bookProvides insights into detecting in Israel

I stumbled across this authors first book in a book swap. I had never heard of him before. I found the first book slow to start, but then I could not put it down and went on here and bought the next 2. I don't think he has more yet. I am on the second and am enjoying it just as much.

This is the second book I have read by this author. I doubt I will be reading more. I found it wordy and rambling, without any satisfactory resolution, leaving me wondering what actually happened, rather than just the suppositions of the protagonist who seemed only to look for evidence of his theories.

Set in Israel and assumes that the reader has some idea of life there. The plot is a bit slow and ponderous.

This second novel in the chronicles of Inspector Avraham Avraham can be read on its own, but I would recommend reading the first novel in the series, The Missing File, before you embark on A Possibility of Violence. This book, like its predecessor, is driven by character development as much as by plot, and the reader's appreciation of Avi Avraham's growth will be much enhanced by knowing what happened in The Missing File.Avi is a splendid Everyman. He makes mistakes, he struggles, he grapples and gropes to understand the mysteries with which he finds himself surrounded (and many of those mysteries include his colleagues in the police just as much as the cases on which he works). He is one of the most fully realized protagonists I've encountered in some time, and I am very much looking forward to getting to know him better..

This is quite a dry book - it is not 'ín-yer-face' - I really rather enjoyed both the story and the narrative tone. The characters, the crimes, the motives and the detective processes were believable and, because the whole was somewhat understated, wholly plausible and I was compelled to read through to the end. I have not heard of this author, and on the basis of this I will be sure to watch out for more from this writer. I have given 4 stars and not 5 simply because I don't know his works, and have nothing to compare it with.