Sister Pelagia Fell in the Sea!

"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."

(Plucked from my Goodreads update.  Punched into my phone via a moment of ranting.)

I'm on page 224 of 432 of Sister Pelagia and the Red Cockerel.  One of the most saddening DNF's I've ever experienced. The 1st book in this series was NEXT LEVEL. The 2nd book was a creepy yet gripping follow-up. And now this third book? Tsk-tsk. While the first 160 pages got my reading blood racing for more, the story derailed when the author strayed from Sister Pelagia's POV and into other characters for just a little too long. I found myself skimming and skipping around wondering what the hell happened to my girl Pelagia.  Needless to say, once I found her, I also found myself unable to continue with the book.  It was as if the momentum just slipped out the window like a plumb of sage smoke.  Or, something to that effect.  Anyway, for any book I'm stuck inside of reading for over 8 days, BAD NEWS approaches! With only three books in this series, I have to say I'm sad the ending of Pelagia's journey went down like this.  Evidently, I wasn't the only reader who felt her final book was a huge disappointment. Oh well!  Moving right along!