From well-known local haunts and culinary delights such as figolli and braġoli, to colourful details such as television sets blasting out Italian football matches, the debut novel of an American author is peppered with Maltese references.
Published recently, The Cana Mystery reached number one on Amazon, garnering excellent reviews, to the delight of its author David Beckett.
A litigator by profession, the 40-year-old put pen to paper three years ago following a challenge issued by his wife.
“I was boring her to death, listing errors and deficiencies in Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code.
“Sick of my carping, she said ‘If you can write a better book, do it’. That inspired me.”
Sick of my carping, she said: if you can write a better book, do it
The result was a novel hovering within the archaeology/adventure/historical thriller category.
The story bounces back and forth between the Vatican in 1462 and the present time, even including the recent election of Pope Francis (as well as the election of Malta’s Labour government).
Awakened in the middle of the night by a phone call from an old friend, Ava Fischer is summoned to Yemen to examine a recent discovery: the lost jars of Cana, the very jars that Jesus used at the wedding at Cana. Are the jars authentic, and is there a prophecy somehow hidden in them?
At the same time a shocking global announcement is made: Pope Benedict XVI announced that he will resign for the good of the Church. Is there a connection?
Ava and her old friend Paul set off on a deadly global adventure to Yemen, Egypt, Malta and Rome searching for answers.
Many of the novel’s key scenes occur in Malta – a particular suspenseful episode takes place in the darkness of St Paul’s Catacombs.
How did Mr Beckett come to pick out Malta?
“The book explores the cities of Valletta and Mdina. I selected these locations for their natural beauty, the culture and the historical significance. Voltaire remarked that ‘nothing is more renowned than the siege of Malta’.
“Yet I’ve discovered most of my countrymen remain unfamiliar with that epic clash. Likewise, many North Americans have never learned the details of Malta’s fierce, heroic resistance against the Nazis.
“Before I undertook to write, I decided that my book should incorporate and explain a little of the island’s amazing history, and its Catholic history, ideally without it feeling pedantic.”
Barring a couple of slips, such as the phrase “wiċċ Laskri” being mistakenly translated as ‘unstable’ rather than ‘sullen’ and Malta’s legal drinking age erroneously stated as 16, the references and locations described are relatively accurate.
Mr Beckett admitted that he had visited Malta only briefly, adding that he relied on Google Earth to fact-check some of his memories and to calculate distances.
“Although it’s unpopular these days, I envisioned a story without gratuitous sex, foul language, or graphic, gory violence. No brain-eating zombies, no mutants, no teenaged vampires in lust.
“I hoped to craft an exciting tale that treats readers’ spirituality and matters of faith with due reverence.
“That’s not what the big New York publishers want just now, but I won’t shackle my imagination to the current fads.
“Our goal was to create something lively, engaging, and interesting that my wife, my family, and my community would enjoy.”