The King James Conspiracy

Phillip DePoy's new book is an intriguing and fresh murder mystery set in 17th century England.

Master monks hand picked by King James assemble at various locations outside of London to transcribe original Greek and Hebrew texts into a new publication of the Bible. According to James, protestant England was in need of a Bible based on original documents rather than the Catholic Church's latin vulgate. There is just one problem. One of the monks at Cambridge is grotesquely murdered.

Brother Timon is sent to investigate, but ends up being accused of a series of murders that follow his arrival. Full of events based on actual fact and supplemented with details of the human condition, this book is captivating from cover to cover.

I was leery of reading this book because it sounded like a retelling of The Name of the Rose. How mistaken I was! Although there was one murder described in disturbing detail in the fourth chapter, I couldn't put it down. That is saying a lot for a person that averages 20 pages an hour. I read this book (360 pages) in two days!

I have to hand it to DePoy that he stayed true to the environment and general spirit of the time period, while playing on the many conspiracy theories that people have hatched about the early Catholic Church. In addition, he included an Afterword that helps explain the actual facts.

If I had to sum up the general feel of this book in one phrase for the average evening television audience, I would say: 24 meets History's Mysteries. This is definitely a MUST READ!