Rabbi Gabriel Klein is offered the opportunity to work on a research project at the University of Basel and to translate a theological work on the Messiah from the 16th century. He thinks he is entitled to a sabbatical, which he is probably entitled to after more than twenty years of involvement in the Zurich community, even if his wife Rivka tries to dismiss the project as a midlife crisis. The break begins quite harmlessly, but then a mysterious murder occurs: Stéphane Hutmacher, a successful lawyer and board member of the Basel Jewish community, is shot at close range: one bullet in the shoulder, one in the head. Klein allows himself to be roped in by a young inspector to investigate the community. During his investigations, his actual project, the translation of the book, takes a back seat - wrongly, as it ultimately proves to be more important than initially assumed. Biography