Cindy Decker (later known as Cindy Decker Kutiel) is a fictional character in a series of

mystery novel Mystery is a fiction genre where the nature of an event, usually a murder or other crime, remains mysterious until the end of the story. Often within a closed circle of suspects, each suspect is usually provided with a credible motive and a re ...

s by

Faye Kellerman Faye Marder Kellerman (born July 31, 1952) is an American writer of mystery novels, in particular the "Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus" series, as well as three nonseries books, ''The Quality of Mercy'', ''Moon Music'', and ''Straight into Darkness' ...

. She is the daughter of the protagonist, Los Angeles police lieutenant

Peter Decker Peter Decker is a fictional character in a series of mystery novels by Faye Kellerman. A lieutenant in the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), Decker is assisted in solving crimes by his Orthodox Jewish wife Rina Lazarus. When he meets Rina, a y ...

, by his first marriage. While Cindy and her mother Jan are Jewish, they are not as religiously observant as Peter's second wife

Rina Lazarus Rina Lazarus is a fictional character in a series of mystery novels by Faye Kellerman. Overview Rina, an Orthodox Jew, is the daughter of Holocaust survivors from Hungary. She married a'' yeshiva'' scholar when she was 17, lived in Israel with h ...

Novels in the series

* ''The Ritual Bath'' (1986) * ''Sacred and Profane'' (1987) * ''Milk and Honey'' (1990) * ''Day of Atonement'' (1991) * ''False Prophet'' (1992) * ''Grievous Sin'' (1993) * ''Sanctuary'' (1994) * ''Justice'' (1995) * ''Prayers for the Dead'' (1996) * ''Serpent's Tooth'' (1997) * ''Jupiter's Bones'' (1999) * ''Stalker'' (2000) * ''The Forgotten'' (2001) * ''Stone Kiss'' (2002) * ''Street Dreams'' (2004)

Plot summary

Cindy is a teenager in the earliest books, but takes on a more active role in solving crimes in later novels and eventually follows her father into the police force. In ''Grievous Sin,'' Cindy helps care for her infant half-sister Hannah Decker, after her stepmother has a difficult childbirth, and helps investigate the disappearance of another infant from the hospital ward where Hannah is being cared for. In ''Stalker'', she is a highly motivated, university-educated police

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

who comes into an explosive conflict with very corrupt criminal fellow police officers. In ''Street Dreams,'' Cindy investigates the case of an abandoned infant, and dates and eventually marries a male nurse and Ethiopian-Israeli Jew, Yaakov ("Koby") Kutiel. Fictional female detectives Fictional police officers Novel series by featured character Characters in American novels Fictional Los Angeles Police Department detectives Fictional Jews {{novel-char-stub