Murder over the Border

MURDER OVER THE BORDER is a mystery set in the context of the Middle East Peace Process. The hero, Yossi Abulafia, is an Israeli policeman on army reserve duty near the Jordanian border. Instead of watching the border, he is taking photographs of antelope when the observation post he is sitting in collapses and he is seriously injured. During the accident, he unwittingly takes a photograph of what appears to be a murder -- on the other side of the border with Jordan. As a result of his accident, he is transferred to a boring desk job. He uses his connections to try and investigate what happened on the other side of the river. In the course of his new job, he travels to Amsterdam for a conference where he meets Aziz -- a Jordanian police officer. During the few days they are together, the two men become friends, but are attacked twice by an unknown assailant - the 'shooter'. The first attack passes without any damage, but the second is far more serious. Both men are shot, Yossi loses consciousness and is returned to Israel. As a result of his disabilities from the second accident, Abulafia is discharged from the police force against his will. He is semi-crippled, walks with difficulty and the aid of a cane. His close friend Yehiel, a lawyer and now special advisor to the Prime Minister, offers Yossi a job. Yehiel is in charge of the secret negotiations being conducted with the Palestinians in Oslo. Yossi, who is not enthusiastic about the idea of talking to the PLO, becomes his general factotum and police liaison. For the full story, buy the book

Born in New York City of German-Jewish immigrant parents, Richard Steinitz has been living in Israel since 1968. Murder Over the Border is his first novel. As a long-time resident of Israel and veteran of more than 20 years’ service in the Israeli army (reserves), he was often disappointed by the absence of accurately written books that deal with the Israel-Arab conflict. Many works of fiction claim to give an true picture of the area and the events, yet contain glaring errors of fact and even simple translation mistakes! These were among the reasons he wrote Murder Over the Border.