"The second in D.A. Mishani's acclaimed literary crime series--the sequel to 2013's The Missing File, shortlisted for the Crime Writer's Association International Dagger Award--featuring Detective Avraham Avraham"--

Mazal Bengtson doesn't know what her husband was doing on the night of the storm. His search for a job is still hopeless - his moods even more unpredictable. But she had believed he would never leave her to sleep alone again.

Inspector Avraham Avraham doesn't know how to begin his first murder case. The only clue is a witness who saw a policeman walk down the stairs after it happened. But no policeman was sent there that day.

What both of them do know is something about the victim's past. They haven't yet realized - but this holds the key to understanding not just the murder, but stranger events; seemingly small, but unforgettable.

For the things that happen in a relationship - in a long marriage, under strain - may not always be against the law. And as desperate as Avraham is to solve the unhappiness of his victims' lives, he cannot mend what he can never truly know.

D. A. Mishani has broken ground with his Avraham series. Inspired by his lifelong study of detective literature, he has created an Inspector of flawed humanity who, uncovering the crimes behind closed doors, takes us on a journey within ourselves. Deeply moving and beautifully written, they are the first crime novels to be shortlisted for Israel's biggest literature prize and are published in eighteen countries.


Conviction

by D. A. Mishani

Published 18 August 2022

Both investigations began on the same day. One seemed domestic, almost banal: a newborn is found in a bag outside a hospital and the woman who left it there is captured after a few hours. The second investigation appeared stranger and more intriguing: a Swiss tourist disappeared from a beach-hotel near Tel-Aviv, and a quick inquiry showed he had been using a fake passport and at least two names. Can he be a Mossad agent like his daughter claims? And is he in danger?

Inspector Avraham Avraham, wishing to outgrow his usual cases of domestic violence, is indifferent to the one, and seduced by the other. Soon he understands he made a wrong choice, as both investigations spiral into a maze of violence and deception, leading to Israel's darkest secrets - and threatening to put Avraham in conflict with the most powerful men in the country, who technically don't even exist.

Conviction is a successful synthesis of the emotionality of the previous Avraham cases and the fast-paced, highly suspenseful standalone novel, Three. Once again, Mishani delivers an almost unbearably tense story, both thrilling and emotionally involving. It is yet another triumph.