Mrs. Baul Investigates

Book excerpt: Moving to the Middle East at the height of the war on terror, Rev. Baul becomes the priest of the international Episcopal church in Cairo, Egypt. Paranoid of danger imagined at every turn, Mrs. Baul is convinced that this assignment is proof that her gifted husband is working as a secret agent, in addition to his priestly duties, a "double opportunity," as she comes to call it. Quite oblivious to her meddling, Rev. Baul dotes on his wife with great admiration despite her disapproval of his pigeon-racing hobby. Behind the scenes, their two savvy children, in league with their gadget inventing Grandpa Baul, expend huge efforts to keep peace intact as Mrs. Baul ventures to blow the lid off brewing deception involving a Donkey Rescue charity and a kidnapped bishop whose trail leads the entire Baul entourage to a climatic pigeon race in the remote desert oasis of Siwa.