Winner of a 2010 Sydney Taylor Book Award "A mystery with Jewish practices and values embedded."
Enjoy this Prequel to the Jewish Regency Mystery Series
It is the summer of 1810. The Lyon family of London is eagerly preparing for the wedding of their eldest daughter Hannah. But as the women bustle from the dressmaker to the haberdasher, Mr. Samuel Lyon, a well-respected clockmaker and member of London's Jewish elite, suffers a crushing blow. In the blink of an eye Mr. Lyon's entire fortune is lost. And so instead of leading Hannah to the chuppah, Mr. Lyon might be leading his devastated family to the debtor's ward of Newgate Prison.
The Lyons are on the verge of despair when help arrives from an unexpected source: Mr. Ezra Melamed, wealthy widower and benefactor of London’s Jewish community. But with only a key, a button, and a few cryptic words from a Chassidic Rebbe to guide him, can Mr. Melamed restore the disappearing dowry to its rightful owners...before the Lyon family faces total ruin?