Foreword’s Book of the Year IndieFab Finalist

An engaging and uplifting tale, Climbing the Coliseum will appeal to mystery lovers who enjoy characters with depth. -Foreword Clarion Review

He’s teetering on the edge of suicide. She’s a reminder of his tragic mistake. Forced together by a dark puzzle, can they become each other’s savior?

Ed Northrup is overwhelmed by quiet despair. Still dealing with the fallout from a heartbreaking case, the despondent psychologist contemplates ending it all. But his constant stream of tortured thoughts take second place when his ex-wife drops off her angry teenage daughter in his care… and then vanishes.

Floundering in the face of the fourteen-year-old’s sullen resentment, Ed discovers an ally in a recently arrived deputy sheriff to help him track down the girl’s missing mother. But with the troubled teen raising the specter of his greatest failure as a therapist, he fears any attempt at atonement will only result in tragedy.

Can Ed master his own misgivings and help a damaged young woman find a way forward?

Climbing the Coliseum is the tense first book in the Monastery Valley series of character-driven mysteries. If you like haunted protagonists, rich prose, and stories filled with hope, then you’ll love Bill Percy’s bittersweet tale.