The East Ham Golem

Bernie Bennett is an unremarkable man of 60. He lives in Custom House and works as a hospital porter at Newham General Hospital. A rather melancholy and lonely man, Bernie's world darkens further when he is called by the police to come up to Plashet Jewish cemetery in East Ham. The graves of his grandparents, Josef and Chani Bennett have been desecrated and their coffins dug up. But when Bernie gets to the cemetery he realises that one of the coffins does not contain his grandfather's body. Instead there is a sculpture of a man, made of clay.
While the local police want to keep details of the grave desecration low key, word gets out and people start talking about what has been dubbed, The Golem of East Ham. The mythical figure of Jewish legend, dating back to 15th century Prague, the idea that someone has left a Golem in Josef's coffin has Bernie terrified, and so when he tells Rose Arnold, about it, she immediately suggests that Bernie go and talk to her son, Lee, and his colleague Mumtaz. If anyone can get to the heart of this most puzzling and disturbing case it is them ...

Barbara Nadel was born and brought up in the East End of London and now lives in Essex. Prior to becoming a full-time author, she worked in psychiatric institutions and in the community with people experiencing mental health problems. Nadel is also the author of the award-winning Inspector Ikmen series now adapted by the BBC as The Turkish Detective.