Sister Pelagia & The Red Cockerel

The third installment of the Sister Pelagia series: whodunits that, because of their literary overtones, can be guiltlessly consumed as entertainment (Los Angeles Times)

Murder aboard the Sturgeon

Manuila, the leader of a mystical Jewish sect who claims to be the Messiah, is viciously murdered aboard a steamer bound for Jerusalem. But the badly beaten body is a decoy; the real Manuila is on his way to the promised land. And with a trail of enemies--and Sister Pelagia--stalking behind him, he is not alone.

Pelagia's search for Manuila and the murderer draws her into a series of mysterious caves in both the Russian forests and in Jerusalem. As she visits some of Christianity's most important sites, Pelagia learns the symbolism and value of a red rooster, knowledge that might reveal the true nature of Jesus himself.

With more than twenty-two million books sold worldwide, Boris Akunin enjoys near legendary popularity as one of the most fluent, inventive, fun-loving, and confident authors of our time (Daily Telegraph, UK). His layered and complex mysteries have earned him comparisons to Russian literary greats like Dostoevsky and Tolstoy, and his gripping page-turners have critics and fans asking for more.

The ship carrying the devout to Jerusalem has run into rough waters. Onboard is Manuila, controversial leader of the “Foundlings,” a sect that worships him as the Messiah. But soon the polarizing leader is no longer a passenger or a prophet but a corpse, beaten to death by someone almost supernaturally strong. But not everything is as it seems, and someone else sailing has become enmeshed in the mystery: the seemingly slow but actually astute sleuth Sister Pelagia. Her investigation of the crime will take her deep into the most dangerous areas of the Middle East and Russia, running from one-eyed criminals and after such unlikely animals as a red cockerel that may be more than a red herring. To her shock, she will emerge with not just the culprit in a murder case but a clue to the earths greatest secret.

Sister Pelagia and the Red Cockerel features its beloved heroines most exciting and explosive inquiry yet, one that just might shake the foundations of her faith.

BORIS AKUNIN is the pen name of Grigory Chkhartishvili, a philologist, critic, essayist, and translator born in the republic of Georgia. He has become one of the most widely read authors in Russia.