Howard Denson

Mowbray and the Catacombs Howard Denson

In MOWBRAY AND THE CATACOMBS (fantasy, 3rd POV, 89,700 words), Martin Mowbray has been tasked by his employer, Baron Culdraca, to travel to Ombratta, on the border of Italy and Switzerland. It is on the eve of World War II, and the Baron wants to keep his remaining fortune away from the fascist dictator, Benito Mussolini. Minor mob boss, Tuba Delgado, has been pressured to escort a rival's geriatric father to Sicily, where he can die among his brothers. He "recruits" a reluctant Mowbray to help him with the ins and outs of transatlantic travel. If Tuba lets the old man get killed by New York rivals, then Tuba himself should expect to be killed. To avoid this, he recruits two gardeners from a New York state monastery. Brothers JoJo Nelson and Luigi Goldberg O'Brien were once gangsters, until they decided to work for God a.k.a. "the Big Boss." They don't mind going to Italy because they can take the ashes of a dear friend to be buried in the catacombs in Rome. Tuba also pressures Mowbray to come along since he's headed in that general direction. In Rome, the fascists mistake Mowbray for a British spy and he endures torture. Along the way, he encounters the ghost of a woman killed for her insurance money. She saves Mowbray and helps to get retribution for two of her killers. In Florence, Mowbray sprinkles some of the ashes of a deceased priest around the dome of the cathedral. On the train northward, three Nazis capture him and torture him with a dynamo. He has to use his wits to avoid them. In Ombratta, he arrives just as Mussolini's military is planning an aerial bombardment followed by three truckloads of foot soldiers, some with orders to kill everyone in the castle. One reviewer of a pre-publication book wrote: "The defaults are interesting. The ghosts are not like the couple in 'Beetlejuice' or the young husband in 'Ghost.' They don't know they are dead. Thanks to a childhood accident involving lightning, Mowbray can see them, but initially he doesn't know they are ghosts. Mowbray considers it rude to tell a ghost that he or she is dead. The ghosts are depressed because nobody pays any attention to them. Some resent Mowbray's approaches, while others are relieved when he helps them finish their journey. In the four Mowbray novels so far, Denson does not have ghosts of wicked or evil people. They apparently zip straight to hell or wherever." Other books in the series: MOWBRAY & THE SHARKS (1936-37), MOWBRAY AND THE BARON (1937-38), MOWBRAY AND THE WOLVES (1938).