Thursday, August 18, 2005

Israel’s own Agatha Christie Literature filled with murder and intrigue didn’t only come from the pen of Agatha Christie; Israel’s own Batya Gur is credited with bringing mystery novels to unprecedented popularity in Israel. An internationally acclaimed author, her books have been translated into 13 languages. Gur succumbed to cancer at the age of 57, but her legacy will live on through her extraordinary work. “Batya was an intellectual, a dedicated teacher and loving mother who suffered through the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, yet never gave up hope,” her translator, Helen Seidler, told israel today. The daughter of Holocaust survivors, Gur earned a Master’s degree in Hebrew Literature from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In addition to writing books, she worked for many years as the literary critic for the Israeli daily Ha’aretz. Her mysteries translated into English include Murder Duet, The Saturday Morning Murder, A Literary Murder, and Murder on a Kibbutz. Gur is survived by her husband and three children.

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