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I
ST ALBANS ENGLAND TODAY 
 
Like the doomed rabbit that can’t help but stare into the headlight of the car about to run him down, PC Dennis Costain looked up once again, unable to help himself and then promptly lost his battle to hang onto the contents of his stomach, spraying his colleague with bits of regurgitated kebab. 

Costain had been with the Hertfordshire Constabulary for a mere thirteen days and had dreaded seeing his first dead body. At training college, he’d been warned what to  expect – morbid pathologists who wouldn’t be out of place in a black-and-white Frankenstein movie, carving up cadavers with the casualness of a butcher  trimming a side of beef, corpses without limbs, some even headless, mangled in  horrific road accidents, faces of suicide victims blown away by a shotgun blast, the boys from forensics sorting out the pellets from bits of brain hanging from the ceiling. But this scene transcended those bedtime stories and
deposited him in the land where nightmares are born. 
 
‘For fuck’s sake Den,’ his colleague said hopping quickly out of the line of fire, ‘watch where  you’re spraying that stuff. You’ll have me doing it next.’ Not that that was likely. PC Karen Tuckey had been in the force seven years and had seen more than her fair share of mangled bodies. Though she had to admit she’d never seen  anything quite like this one.

Costain wished CID would arrive and take over. It seemed as though he’d radioed in an hour ago,
though in reality it was only a matter of about ten minutes. They’d been called to the scene, a copse in Verulamium Park by the ruins of the southern wall of
the ancient Roman city, after an anonymous caller phoned the station. No doubt, later the detectives would try to ascertain who made the call. 4 o’clock on a bitterly cold April morning was a strange time for someone to be wandering around the park, unless he was the perpetrator.

‘Wonder who the hell he was?’ Tuckey said, appearing to address the corpse.

Costain held his stomach as if that would prevent more embarrassing vomitus projectiles and  glanced up at the corpse, instantly wondering why he needed another look. The image would be with him until the day he died. It was male, Mediterranean appearance, perhaps in his early forties, well built with black, tightly curled hair. He was naked, which somehow rendered the scene a touch more gruesome. His
  injuries were severe. There were numerous small cuts and excessive bruising all over the body. But that wasn’t the worst of it.

Costain’s first body was nailed to a cross.

The man’s wrists and feet had been affixed to a roughly constructed wooden cross with large spikes.
The body, the cross, and the ground were saturated with blood. His head hung limply on his chest. Costain was close enough to notice the tortured look on his face. ‘Don’t know and I don’t care. I just want to get out of here.’

‘I wouldn’t count on your leaving just yet. CID will want us to hang around to keep out the gawkers.’
‘Who’d want to look at that?’ He nodded his head in the general direction but managed to keep his
eyes averted.
‘Don’t worry, come daylight they’ll be here. It’s
not every day you see a latter day Jesus Christ  hanging on a cross in Verulamium Park.’

He bit back a scathing comment and took some deep breaths in an effort to regain control of his stomach.
Costain had been assigned to Tuckey on his first day and he’d never warmed to her. She wasn’t a bad copper, but she was far too cold, too unemotional
for him. He was not a religious person, but he respected the views of those who were, and he
couldn’t see any reason for her to be blasphemous –
especially at a time like this.

A few minutes later, he heard a car approaching
in the distance, along a narrow, bitumen pathway
normally used by pedestrians. Soon after, he heard two car doors slam, and a few minutes later he could see flashlights approaching through the woods. At
this time of the morning the torchbearers just had to
be CID.

‘It’s the cavalry,’ Tuckey said flatly, ‘bringing up the rear as always.’

Costain ignored the comment. Leaving her by the corpse, he walked up to greet the detectives. As
they emerged from the trees he recognised them both, DI Chris O’Rourke and DS Trish Jamieson. Trish looked up and immediately saw what was behind Costain.

‘Jesus!’

‘I doubt it,’ O’Rourke said dryly, ‘right mode of death, wrong millennium.’ Turning to Costain he said, ‘What time did you get here?’

‘About 4.15, Sir,’ the young constable replied, grateful for an excuse to look at the DI instead of the corpse.

‘Do we know who called it in?’

Costain shook his head. ‘No Sir, I understand it was an anonymous caller … male voice though. I think it was about 4 o’clock. We came straight away.’

O’Rourke turned back to Trish Jamieson. ‘What’s the latest on the pathologist?’

‘Don Monk said he’d be here in twenty minutes … that was ten minutes ago … the soccos won’t be far  behind.’

‘Right.’O’Rourke turned to the two uniforms. ‘You’d better remain here once the area is cordoned off.
This is going to attract a lot of attention and I want no-one near the scene. And for heaven’s sake, don’t let the press anywhere near it or we’ll have every religious nutter in the country making a pilgrimage here.’

Costain nodded, unsuccessfully trying to hide his lack of enthusiasm. This was not going to be  his day.

 

CALVUS
by Darryl Greer

In modern day St Albans, England there is a grisly discovery in Verulamium Park and Australian DI Chris O'Rourke is the investigating officer.

 A crucified body, ancient coffins, 2000-year-old skeletons, Latin writings and an old pair of sandals—it is an investigation that baffles even the tenacious O'Rourke.

 In a story that spans three continents and two thousand years,  what O'Rourke eventually discovers is about to send
shockwaves around the globe.

Go to the Author's page to find out more about Darryl Greer

Paperback also available from The
Nile Bookshop: www.thenile.com.au

James Bennett library suppliers: www.bennett.com.au

eBook available on Amazon, Smashwords and many online
stores.

Read an extract from the first chapter below.
REVIEWS:
Review by Anastasia Gonis 

It is thirteen days into his constabulary that PC Costain finds his first dead body. It’s not so much the body, as how it died. The crucified man is discovered in Verulamium Park in England, by the ruins of an ancient Roman city. Australian DI O’Rourke is called in to head the investigation. This riveting introduction to the first part, set in modern times, is a strong hook which draws the reader into this interesting and well- crafted murder mystery.

Part I goes back in time to the crucifixion of Christ and gives an intimate view of the life of Calvus, a loyal and ethical centurion in the age of Nero, Ruler of Rome. The young Calvus is amongst the soldiers who cast lots for Christ’s belongings, and he reluctantly ends up with His sandals. These sandals are the thread used to connect the past with the present story. The experience of the crucifixion will change Calvus’ entire life. It will influence his beliefs and moral attitudes, and reward him with dignity in death.

 This is an expansive and well-researched historical thriller/ murder mystery. It exposes the class distinctions, corruption, abuse of power, but also the absolute loyalty commanded, before it again returns to modern times, the reason for the crucifixion and how it was connected to Calvus’ life. 

But who carried out the crucifixion and why? This is the challenge for O’Rourke and his group as they go back and forth in time to find the answers.

 The author Darryl Greer is a Gold Coast lawyer with a passion for writing gripping, murder mystery. With powerful writing and a unique subject, he has the reader engaged from the first to the last word.

REVIEW  BY JILL SMITH
The cover of this book is dark and foreboding, however, I was delighted to find myself immersed in the mystery of the police investigation of a crucified body in modern-day St Albans, England in Verulamium Park.  The site was the historical site of such punishments in ancient Roman times.  Was there a band of Roman enthusiasts going about in costume with the full regalia who carried out this horrific act?  Would DI Chris O’Rourke find out who the victim was and bring the culprits to justice?  How does this case relate back to ancient Romans living in the sodden cool English climate 2000 years earlier?

This is a fascinating story of Julianus Tadius Calvus, his journey around the world serving the Roman Empire, first as a legionary soldier, then after his marriage to his beloved Vipsania, rising through the ranks to centurion, his peace keeping duties in the Roman outpost suiting his nature.  His adoring children Zeno and Fannia, his true love Viipsania and their devoted slave Helena lived comfortably, not expecting trouble from any others than the locals he went out on patrol to subdue.  Little did he realise that imbibing with a fellow centurion, a slip of the tongue without his wits, could lead to devastating consequences for himself and his family.

The investigation in the modern day is frustratingly impossible to solve; DI Chris O’Rourke is confronted by a crowd of religious zealots over-running the crime scene at Verulamium Park.  The police set up a vigil to watch over a rough group of Roman fanatics that dress up in Roman costumes to indulge in orgies, but they don’t seem capable of such a heinous crime.

I loved the way the families in past history and the modern world were portrayed.  Darryl has provided a page turning and engrossing tale.

Jill Smith for Book Coasters