Past Imperfect


Fiction - Mystery - Murder
312 Pages
Reviewed on 10/18/2023
Buy on Amazon

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    Book Review

Reviewed by Keith Mbuya for Readers' Favorite

If only Benjamin Gold, a private investigator in Cleveland, knew what he was getting himself into, perhaps he never would have accepted his latest case. His fellow Jew, Herb Kline, the leader of a local temple, had insisted that he needed Gold to clandestinely investigate Mendel Kahn, a member of the temple’s board of trustees and a real estate mogul. This was after a confrontation between Kahn and a congregant who had identified him as a Nazi collaborator he knew from Poland. Kahn was allegedly a war criminal in his past. Combing through Kahn’s background, Gold finds himself treading a dangerous path that puts his life and those involved in the investigations on the line. Apparently, Kahn’s successful businessman status was a façade he sold to the unsuspecting residents of Cleveland, and he was willing to do anything to keep people from finding out about his past or business. Get yourself Joshua Cohen’s Past Imperfect to know more.

If you love mystery sleuth and crime novels laced with romance and drama, Joshua Cohen’s Past Imperfect is just what you should be looking for. Cohen weaves an intriguing plot, paying just enough attention to detail not to bog down the pace of the plot. The evocative depictions gave me a glimpse of life in Cleveland in the mid-twentieth century. The suspense in the storyline had me on the edge of my seat. The scenes were made tremendously dramatic, accentuating Cohen’s rich sense of wit. Between Kahn’s knack for “playing dirty” and Gold’s penchant for stubbornly sniffing around, I found my ribs hurting from laughter as the two engaged in an endless game of offensive and counter-offensive moves. The well-crafted cast’s complex traits depict their emotions. This made them authentic and easy to connect with. Gold is a shrewd, daring, undaunted, and stubborn investigator you will enjoy.