''Friday the Rabbi Slept Late'' is a 1964 mystery novel by

Harry Kemelman Harry Kemelman (November 24, 1908 – December 15, 1996) was an American mystery writer and a professor of English. He was the creator of the fictitious religious sleuth Rabbi David Small. Early life Harry Kemelman was born in Boston, Massac ...

, the first of the successful ''Rabbi Small'' series.

Plot introduction

The fictional hero of the book, David Small, is the unconventional leader of the

Conservative Jewish Conservative Judaism, known as Masorti Judaism outside North America, is a Jewish religious movement which regards the authority of ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions as coming primarily from its people and community through the generat ...

congregation in the fictional suburban

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town of Barnard's Crossing. As the protagonist of a series of novels, Rabbi Small has wisdom, an unerring sense of Jewish tradition (which can at times put him at odds with the Jewish community when he believes that they are seriously deviating from

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in t ...

) and all the good qualities of a detective sharpened by his

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...

ic training, which enables him to see the ''third'' side of a problem. He is a devoted husband to his wife and (later in the series) father to his two children Jonathan and Hepsibah. Small's logic, learned from the Talmud, plays an important part in the plots. Usually Small is drawn into the events when they involve a member of his congregation or Barnard's Crossing's Jewish community in general. Small has many troubles with his congregation and he is constantly at odds with at least one of its powerful members, usually the Temple President at the time. Hugh Lanigan is the local police chief. Lanigan (a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

) and Small become friendly, and they often discuss religion over a cup of tea.

Plot summary

The body of a young woman is found on the grounds of the Temple. The woman had been strangled and evidence points to Rabbi Small - her purse is found in his car, which had been left in the Temple parking lot the night before.

Characters

*David Small – the newly hired rabbi of the title; protagonist *Hugh Lanigan – the local police chief *Miriam Small – the Rabbi's wife *Jacob Wasserman – the President of the Temple *Al Becker – local car dealer, unfriendly towards Rabbi Small *Elspeth Bleech – the murder victim, whose body is found on the Temple grounds *Stanley Doble – the Temple custodian and handyman

Series

Between 1966 and 1996, Kemelman wrote a total of 11 sequels to ''Friday the Rabbi Slept Late''. See

here Here is an adverb that means "in, on, or at this place". It may also refer to: Software * Here Technologies, a mapping company * Here WeGo (formerly Here Maps), a mobile app and map website by Here Technologies, Here Television * Here TV (form ...

for the titles of the other novels in the series.

Awards and nominations

The novel received an Edgar Award in 1965, from the

Mystery Writers of America Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is an organization of mystery and crime writers, based in New York City. The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday. It presents the Edgar Awa ...

, for Best First Novel.

Adaptations

Kemelman received $35,000 for the rights to the novel. A made-for-TV adaptation with the title ''

Lanigan's Rabbi ''Lanigan's Rabbi'' is an American crime drama series that aired on NBC from January 30 to April 24, 1977. Synopsis Based upon a series of novels by Harry Kemelman, the series stars Art Carney as Police Chief Paul Lanigan, who fights crime in ...

'' was broadcast on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

in 1976, starring

Art Carney Arthur William Matthew Carney (November 4, 1918 – November 9, 2003) was an American actor and comedian. A recipient of an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and six Primetime Emmy Awards, he was best known for his role as Ed Norton on the si ...

as Chief Paul Lanigan and

Stuart Margolin Stuart Margolin (January 31, 1940 – December 12, 2022) was an American film, theater, and television actor and director who won two Emmy Awards for playing Evelyn "Angel" Martin on the 1970s television series ''The Rockford Files''. In 1973, h ...

as Rabbi David Small. A short-lived TV series followed as part of the NBC Sunday Mystery Movie, with Carney reprising his role as Chief Lanigan, and

Bruce Solomon Bruce Peter Solomon is an American film and television actor, best known for the roles of Sgt. Foley in the TV show ''Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'' and Kenny Zuckerman in ''Beverly Hills, 90210''. Television and film Solomon starred as the tit ...

taking over the role of Rabbi Small.

Release details

*1964, U.S., Crown (), publication date, 1964, hardback (First edition) *1965?, U.S., Fawcett Crest (; ), paperback *1965, UK, Hutchinson (), publication date 30 July 2002, hardback *1979, U.S., Crown (), publication date, October 1979, hardback *1983, U.S., GK Hall (), publication date, October 1983, hardback *1993, U.S., Fawcett Books (), January 1993, paperback *2002, U.S., Simon & Schuster (), publication date 30 July 2002, paperback The novel has been released in unabridged

audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sc ...

format by arrangement with The

Estate by

Recorded Books Recorded Books is an audiobook imprint of RBMedia, a publishing company with operations in countries globally. Recorded Books was formerly an independent audiobook company before being purchased and re-organized under RBMedia, where it is now an ...

, Inc. ({{ISBN, 0-7887-1300-0), 1997 and narrated by

George Guidall George Guidall (born June 7, 1938) is a prolific audiobook narrator and theatre actor. As of November 2014, he had recorded over 1,270 audiobooks, which was believed to be the record at the time. Biography Guidall is from New Jersey. His family n ...

. 1964 American novels American mystery novels American novels adapted into television shows Edgar Award-winning works Novels set in Massachusetts Novels about rabbis