Dominique Carpentier – Madame le Juge – is the sect hunter. And on New Year’s Day, 16 bodies of adults and children, arranged in a half circle, are found in a forest in France, the circumstances mirroring an earlier mass suicide in Switzerland. On the trail of the sect behind these two atrocities, the Judge, assisted by Commisaire Andre Schweigen, stumbles upon a mysterious leather-bound book full of maps of the stars and notes in an undecipherable language.

The book leads them to the flamboyant composer, Friedrich Grosz, an intense man who seems to be connected to every single person involved in the suicides. Is it a coincidence, or is he the charismatic leader of this disturbing and elusive cult? Astrology, mythology and music combine in Patricia Duncker’s latest novel – and the result is a heady mix and a thoroughly engrossing mystery.