The Missing File

Sixteen-year-old Ofer left his home in the suburbs of Tel Aviv for school one morning and disappeared without a trace. Police detective Abraham Abraham takes on the case, a seemingly routine investigation that soon spins out of control, taking over his life. It seems that the more he finds out about the boy and his background, the further he gets from the truth. Ofer’s neighbour, schoolteacher Zeev Avni, gradually becomes one of the main suspects. But will the neighbour’s strange story save the investigation before it’s too late?

Told from the perspectives of both men, The Missing File is an adept and suspenseful mystery, and a rare Israeli crime novel. D.A. Mishani paints an outstanding picture of suburban life and tensions in Israel, and he has created in Abraham Abraham an unforgettable character, extraordinary in his work but common in his abilities. A true page-turner whose unexpected resolution forces readers to question all they have taken for granted about innocence, guilt and the ways in which truth evades us.

D.A. MISHANI is the editor of Israeli fiction and crime literature at Keter Books in Israel and a literary scholar specializing in the history of detective literature. The Missing File is his first novel, and the first in a series featuring police inspector Abraham Abraham.