Murder Under the Fig Tree

Hamas has taken power in Palestine, and the Israeli government is rounding up threats. When Palestinian policewoman Rania Bakara finds herself thrown in prison, though she has never been part of Hamas, her friend Chloe flies in from San Francisco to get her out. Chloe begs an Israeli policeman named Benny for help—and Benny offers Rania a way out: investigate the death of a young man in a village near her own. The young man’s neighbors believe the Israeli army killed him; Benny believes his death might not have been so honorable.

Initially, Rania refuses; she has no interest in helping the Israelis. But she is released anyway, and returns home to find herself without a job and suspected of being a traitor. Searching for redemption, she launches an investigation into the young man’s death that draws her into a Palestinian gay scene she never knew existed.

With Chloe and her Palestinian Australian lover as guides, Rania explores a Jerusalem gay bar, meets with a lesbian support group, and plunges deep into the victim’s world, forcing her to question her beliefs about love, justice, and cultural identity.

Author: Kate Raphael

Publication Date: September 19, 2017

Categories: Award-Winning, Fall 2017, Fiction, Mystery/Thriller

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About the Author

Description

2019 Next Generation Indie Book Awards: Finalist in Multicultural Fiction & Mystery
2018 Lambda Literary Award Finalist in Lesbian Mystery
2017 Foreword Indies Bronze Winner in Adult Fiction—Multicultural
2017 Foreword Indies Finalist in Adult Fiction—Mystery

“Raphael draws on her experience as a human rights worker in Palestine to capture the Occupied Territories’ intertwined grit and beauty. That, and a cast of thoughtfully developed characters will appeal to readers interested in complex political situations, such as fans of Parker Bilal’s Makana mysteries.”
—Booklist

“Murder Under the Fig Tree is a beautifully written and layered novel that takes on the complexities and ambiguities of Palestinian life; it’s also a damn good mystery that convincingly demonstrates a crime novel can also be fine literature.”
—Michael Nava, author of Lay Your Sleeping Head

About the Author

Kate Raphael is a San Francisco Bay Area writer, feminist, queer activist, and radio journalist who makes her living as a law firm word processor. She lived in Palestine for eighteen months as a member of the International Women’s Peace Service. She spent over a month in Israeli prison and was eventually deported because of her activism. She has won a residency at Hedgebrook and been a grand marshal of the San Francisco LGBT Pride Parade. She produces the weekly radio show Women’s Magazine on Pacifica’s KPFA, which is heard throughout Northern and Central California. Her debut Palestine mystery, Murder Under the Bridge, won the 2016 International Publisher Book Awards (IPPY) Silver Medal for Mystery.