The Second Woman

The third in Lapid`s successful thriller series brings back overweight, sharp-tongued private investigator Josh Shirman, who doesn`t give a damn about anybody or anything. This time he`s dealing with two cases simultaneously, and in the course of his investigation he meets two beautiful women, who force him into a killing diet regime.

Kleinmann, an underworld boss who has been held for five months and is awaiting trial, hires Josh to bodyguard his wife, Sophie. Not only does he have to protect her life, he also has to make sure she doesn`t cheat on her husband. But Josh can`t resist temptation and finds himself in Sophie`s bed. What he doesn`t know is that there are hidden cameras in the bedroom that document his affair, and when the information reaches Kleinmann he sends his hoods to beat him up. While Josh is recovering in hospital, Sophie is murdered by a person or persons unknown. Now Josh has to find the killer and at the same time continue working on the second case. A woman called Ella Norman has hired him to find her twin sister, given up for adoption as a baby. With the help of a computer geek, Josh locates her easily and discovers that her husband has been abusing her for years. Josh settles accounts with the abusive husband, and wins Ella`s affections, who finally meets her long-lost twin. On the other hand, the mystery of Sophie`s murder is far more complicated. Was the hit-man sent by Avihayil, Kleinmann’s sworn enemy? Or is it Alter, a victim of the gang war going on in the streets of Tel Aviv? In the course of one of the gangs` hit attempts, Alter`s wife and daughter, who unwittingly walk onto the scene, get murdered. Alter, seeking vengeance, even claims that some of the Palestinian terrorist attacks are actually carried out by criminals, and that the police is concealing this from the public. Once it becomes clear that Alter is taking the law into his own hands, Josh has no choice but to stop him. But he then discovers that he`s harmed an innocent man.