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by Boris Akunin
Paperback Original. In the middle of the night, a disheveled and badly frightened monk arrives at the doorstep of Bishop Mitrofanii of Zavolzhsk, crying: “Something’s wrong at the Hermitage!” The Hermitage is the centuries-old island monastery of New Ararat, known for its tradition of severely penitent monks, isolated environs, and a mental institution founded by a millionaire in self-imposed exile. Hearing the monk’s eerie message, Mitrofanii’s befuddled but sharp-witted ward Sister Pelagia begs to visit New Ararat and uncover the mystery. Traditions prevail – no women are allowed – and the bishop sends other wards to test their fates against the Black Monk that haunts the once serene locale. But as the Black Monk claims more victims – including Mitrofanii’s envoys – Pelagia goes undercover to see exactly what person, or what spirit, is at the bottom of it all. Fans of Sister Pelagia and the White Bulldog, the first book in Akunin’s Pelagia trilogy, will be instantly mesmerized–and frightened–by this latest foray into Zavolzhsk’s spiritual underworld.
"Starred Review. Readers will savor Akunin's distinctive narrative voice as well as the artful blend of humor and horror with such elements of traditional detective fiction as cleverly concealed clues and numerous false solutions." - Publishers Weekly.
"For all his status as a globe-circling bestseller, Akunin keeps faith in his sleekly engineered and allusive whodunnits with the classical virtues of Russian prose. . . That polish lends his books a peculiar charm." –The Independent (UK).
"Readers can hear echoes of Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoevsky and Anton Chekov in whodunits that, because of their literary overtones, can be guiltlessly consumed as entertainment." –Los Angeles Times.
This information about Sister Pelagia and the Black Monk was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Boris Akunin is the pen name of Grigory Chkhartishvili, who was born in the Republic of Georgia in 1956. A philologist, critic, essayist, and translator of Japanese, Akunin published his first detective stories in 1998 and has already become one of the most widely read authors in Russia.
He is the author of ten Erast Fandorin novels listed below, and three Sister Pelagia novels. He lives in Moscow.
Erast Fandorin
Series
1. The Winter Queen (2003)
2. The Turkish Gambit (2005)
3. Murder on the Leviathan (2004, aka Leviathan)
4. The Death of Achilles (2005)
5. Special Assignments (2007)
6. The State Counsellor (2008)
7. The Coronation (2009)
8. She Lover of Death (2009)
9. He Lover of Death (2011)
10. The Diamond Chariot (2011)
... Full Biography
Link to Boris Akunin's Website
Name Pronunciation
Boris Akunin: The pen name of Grigory Chkhartishvili, pronounced CHAHAR-kesh-veely
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