The Body Under The Bridge by Paul McCusker - REVIEWED

About the Book:

First in a series of modern whodunits from an accomplished author with a worldwide following.

A former Scotland Yard detective, Father Gilbert knows about death. But, now a priest of a modest Anglican church in the small town of Hailsham, he didn’t expect it to show up like this--in the suicide of a man who threw himself off the church tower, and in the discovery of a two-hundred-year-old body beneath an ancient bridge. 

The deaths are linked. The mummified corpse under the bridge, a murder victim, reignites a centuries-old battle between two local families--the Todds and the aristocratic Hayshams. Then both David Todd and Lord Haysham begin to act strangely. They are fearful for reasons they won't explain. 

When Lord Haysham is murdered, David Todd is the prime suspect. But Todd is maniacal, claiming great forces of evil are at work. An entire history of violence and depravity begins to emerge, interweaving the history of several local families with a secret occult society that engages in Black Masses. Has the Society emerged again? 

My  Thoughts:

“I’ve had enough grief and death for one night.” (p. 197)

Father Benson isn’t the only one who’s had his fill of grief and death in this novel.  Father Gilbert has been caught up in a maelstrom of evil from the very beginning of the novel!  The Body Under the Bridge really took me on an unexpected journey!  I went from enjoying a relatively cozy mystery to dealing with some supernatural experiences that really make me shiver!  

Paul McCusker is a masterful story teller, and this is a superb example of his ability!  The characters…mainly a mix of clergy and policemen…find themselves in the midst of a centuries-old feud! This fact alone give the story depth and intrigue, but the way the feud is “fought” within the pages of this novel is breathtaking.  It is truly a spiritual battle being waged among folks who have chosen the darkness rather than the light.  Father Gilbert finds himself a unsuspecting target of this darkness, and he has to rely on God in ways he has never had to until now.


This is a really well-told tale!! There is so much that makes the reader take a second look at what he knows to be fact…or rather what is presented as fact.  When you layer that with a layer of the supernatural and spiritual warfare…well, you’ll be up reading at a frantic pace!!  The twists and turns come fast and furious, and you will enjoy quite the thrill ride!!  And there is much more to follow!! I LOVE a good series!!! I HIGHLY recommend this novel!

About the Author:

Paul McCusker has written more than forty published novels, and many radio scripts and stage plays. He is a vice president with Focus on the Family and producer of the Adventures in Odyssey series. He and his family live in Colorado Springs.