Peter Decker is a fictional character in a series of mystery novels by Faye Kellerman

Faye Kellerman

Faye Kellerman is an American author of mystery novels, in particular the "Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus" series, as well as three non-series books, The Quality of Mercy, Moon Music and Straight into Darkness.-Early life:...

. A lieutenant in the LAPD

Los Angeles Police Department

The Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With just under 10,000 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 4.1 million people, it is the third largest local law enforcement agency in...

, Decker is assisted in solving crimes by his Orthodox Jewish wife Rina Lazarus

Rina Lazarus

Rina Lazarus is a fictional character in a series of mystery novels by Faye Kellerman. The novels in the series include The Ritual Bath , Sacred and Profane , Milk and Honey , Day of Atonement , False Prophet , Grievous Sin , Sanctuary , Justice, , Prayers for the Dead , Serpent's Tooth ,...

.

When he meets Rina, a young widow, during an investigation at a yeshiva

Yeshiva

Yeshiva is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim and in study pairs called chavrutas...

 in The Ritual Bath, he is compelled to explore the religion for himself and eventually to become a religiously observant Orthodox Jew. Decker, though raised Baptist

Baptist

Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...

 by his adoptive parents in Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

, discovers as an adult that his birth parents were Jewish, which makes him Jewish under traditional Jewish religious law

Halakha

Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...

 as well. All the books in the series are rooted in, or at least include, Jewish themes.

Major characters in the books include Rina's two sons by her late husband, Jacob and Samuel Lazarus; Cindy Decker

Cindy Decker

Cindy Decker Kutiel is a fictional character in a series of mystery novels by Faye Kellerman. The novels in the series include The Ritual Bath , Sacred and Profane , Milk and Honey , Day of Atonement , False Prophet , Grievous Sin , Sanctuary , Justice, , Prayers for the Dead , Serpent's Tooth...

, Peter's daughter from his first marriage; Rina and Peter's daughter Hannah Decker; and Peter's police partner Detective Marge Dunn. Decker's daughter from his first marriage, Cindy Decker

Cindy Decker

Cindy Decker Kutiel is a fictional character in a series of mystery novels by Faye Kellerman. The novels in the series include The Ritual Bath , Sacred and Profane , Milk and Honey , Day of Atonement , False Prophet , Grievous Sin , Sanctuary , Justice, , Prayers for the Dead , Serpent's Tooth...

, a teenager in the earliest books, eventually follows her father into the police force and is the main character of two of the later books, Stalker and Street Dreams.

Novels in the series

• The Ritual Bath (1986)
• Sacred and Profane (1987)
• Milk and Honey (1990)
• Day of Atonement (1991)
• False Prophet (1992)
• Grievous Sin (1993)
• Sanctuary (1994)
• Justice, (1995)
• Prayers for the Dead (1996)
• Serpent's Tooth (1997)
• Jupiter's Bones (1999)
• Stalker (2000)
• The Forgotten (2001)
• Stone Kiss (2002)
• Street Dreams (2003)
• The burnt house (2007)
• The Mercedes Coffin (2008)
• Blindman's Bluff (2009)
• Hangman (2010)