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 earth's greatest secret.
**
Sister Pelagia and the Red Cockerel** features its beloved heroine's
most exciting and explosive inquiry yet, one that just might shake the
foundations of her faith.