Books - The Collaborator of Bethleham

I recently finished The Collaborator of Bethlehem by Matt Beynon Rees.  This was a really special book, and I cannot recommend it enough.  On a basic level this is a mystery set in Bethlehem.  The 'detective' is a history teacher in a U.N. sponsored girl's school.  A grandfather, older than his years because of a lifetime as an alchoholic, he is trying to save the life of a former student who was arrested as an Israeli collaborator who caused the death of a member of the Martyr's Brigade.

This is a small book -I read it in a small format hardcover, and it is less than 260 pages long, but it truly imbeds the reader oin the environment.  I would cringe picturing the random shelling, the gangs of gun-toting 'martyrs' and tanks.  It also was a good introduction to the myriad of problems in Palestine even beyond the Israeli issues.  Clan loyalties clash with political loyalties,  the difficulties facing the small Christian community are just two of the many difficulties.

This is a very, very good book, and I look forward to reading others by this author