Carl Brecht, an anthropologist, returns to Nepal with his daughter, Kathy, to attend a convention involving the Paramedic Training of Shamans. They don't expect to become entangled with conspirators, who assassinate the royal family and their guests at a dinner party on June 1, 2001, an actual historical event. The setting of this mystery and adventure novel begins with domestic stress in a Chicago suburb, where Carl lives with his wife, Barbara, and their to two children, Kathy and Mark. Their problems are minor compared with the strife taking place at the royal palace in Kathmandu during a time of severe political unrest and economic instability. Carl intends to depart on a flight from O'Hare Field with Kathy the day after her high school graduation party on May 21st. He has been married to Barbara for 24 years and is reluctant to leave her behind since she's feeling abandoned from the empty nest syndrome. Barbara is worried about Carl and Kathy traveling to Nepal where Maoist terrorists have been systematically taking over the police stations. Their older son, Mark, who is studying for finals at the university, also plans to leave for a summer job in Colorado. There's more stress for the Brecht family when Barbara's parents, Sam and Renee Havlett, arrive a week prior to the hectic graduation. Carl and Kathy eventually reach Kathmandu during the peak of the monsoon season. After checking into the Kathmandu Guest House, Carl discovers that Margaret Porter has hired shamans to perform exorcisms to liberate her youngest son's soul from demonic possession. Christoper was five-years-old when he was murdered in the garden of the hotel when Margaret was fleeing from a London coven. The incident took place 25 years ago. At that time her eight-year-old son, Nigel, was kidnapped by the leaders of the coven. Nigel is now a Buddhist monk. He was brought to Kathmandu from the Tengboche Monastery in eastern Nepal by Crown Prince Dipendra, who suffers from addictions. The queen objects to Nigel living at the royal palace and Dipendra's love affair with Devyani, a beautiful woman from India. She threatens to disinherit the crown prince if he doesn't break up with Devyani and marry a Nepalese woman. The queen is also angry with him for drinking, using drugs, smoking, and being overweight. A terrible massacre occurs at the palace during the family dinner party held on June 1st when Crown Prince Dipendra allegedly assassinates his father, King Birendra, his mother, Queen Aishwarya, his sister, Princess Shruti and his brother, Prince Nirajan along with other family members and guests at the dinner party. Nigel, three Buddhist monks, and a yogi are arrested and thrown in jail. They are accused of conspiring with Maoists to overthrow the Shah Dynasty. Margaret, Carl, and Kathy are shocked to discover that Nigel had taken part in the conspiracy. They are also disturbed when Nigel escapes from the jail with the conspirators. The plot thickens when the abbot is murdered at Bodhnath, a monastery in Kathmandu. This is followed by more murders in eastern Nepal, where Carl travels with Kathy to do further research on shamanism and alternative medicines. This novel is a sequel to Cibrario's "Garden of Kathmandu Trilogy," which deals with the adventures of Carl Brecht. It includes a prediction by a yogi that the royal family would be assassinated by the crown prince. The yogi was arrested during the peak of the animal sacrifices to the Mother Goddess, Kali, in October 1976. Even if the readers haven't read the other books of the trilogy, they will enjoy, "Murder in the Mountains" because of the mysterious characters, the exotic setting, and the suspenseful plot.
About the Author: Dominic J. Cibrario was born in Wisconsin, where he was raised on a farm in Kenosha County. He was named after his grandfather, who immigrated to the United States with his wife, Magdalene, from the Piedmont in northern Italy. Dominic's parents called their son Nick. He has three brothers and a sister. Cibrario attended Whittier Grade School, Lincoln Junior High and graduated from Saint Joseph's High School in 1959. Afterwards he attended Racine Kenosha Teachers College and the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, where he completed a bachelor's degree. Nick joined the Peace Corps when John F. Kennedy was President. He spent two years in Nepal from 1962-1964. During that time he taught science and English to high school students. Upon returning to the US was in the Jesuit novitiate with the Chicago Province from 1964-1966. Nick did graduate work in South Asian studies at the University of Pennsylvania, studied American Literature at Marquette University and completed a master's degree at the College of Racine. He taught at William Horlick High School in Racine, Wisconsin from 1970-2000. Cibrario took a sabbatical leave from teaching in 1976 and returned to Nepal, where he wrote his first novel, "The Pomelo Tree." After returning to the states, he married Geri Sue James. She helped him type the manuscripts of four separate novels The writing was put on hold while they raised their three children. When Nick retired from teaching in 2000, Genevieve Sesto from Briton Road Press agreed to publish his manuscript about Nepal. She encouraged him to expand the novel into a trilogy and to return to Nepal to update his Kathmandu Trilogy, "The Pomelo Tree" (2004), "The Harvest" (2005), "The Shamans" (2006). Nick took a break from writing about Nepal and wrote "Secrets on the Family Farm" in (2008). His current novel, "Murder in the Mountains," is a sequel to the trilogy, which occurs 25 years later. It deals with the assassination of the royal family during a dinner party on June 1, 200l when Crown Prince Dipendra allegedly murdered his parents, relatives, and guests.