By Rachel M. Anderson, Contributing Writer 

There are mysteries that date back to the early days of Christianity. What happened to the bones of the Virgin Mary? Where is the Star of Artemis? Did Jesus leave writings?

Some say Mary ascended to heaven after her son, Jesus, died on the cross. Others say her tomb is in the Kidron Valley at the foot of Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. Another theory is that she was buried near her home near Ephesus, a Turkish city once considered the trade center of the ancient world. Could Ephesus also contain the sacred star and writings?

In the new novel, The Ephesian Artifacts, by Seattle University and Evergreen High School graduate Patrick W. Ledray, it is the latter theories that are explored. Ledray will be at Burien Books, located at 824 SW 152nd St, in Burien, Wash., on Wed., Dec. 23, 2015, between 1 p.m. – 3 p.m. for a reading and signing from his new novel, and the public is invited to attend.

When the story begins, a young attorney named Scott Frank is looking for law books and furnishings for an office in Minnesota. He has just graduated from law school and is ready to begin his career. But his law practice gets sidetracked when he gets pulled into a quest being undertaken by the owner of the mansion in Chanhassen, Minn., where he has decided to rent office space. Rutherford Ruffescott needs help getting to the bottom of the mystery of what happened to the Virgin Mary, and other sacred relics, and Scott Frank is drawn into the quest. 

“I have been to the ancient city of Ephesus three times, and every hotel and restaurant described in the book are places I have either stayed at or visited,” says Ledray, who goes on to explain that in addition to doing extensive research online and in the library for his novel, he also had the hundreds of photographs and the copious notes he took during his trips to use as reference materials.

“I probably have five cardboard boxes filled with documents. Over the years, whenever I would come across anything interesting about Ephesus or the Virgin Mary, or Artemis on the Internet, or in newspapers or magazines I would save it,” he says. 

The Ephesian Artifacts will be officially released in November of 2015. For more information, visit www.patrickledray.com.

About the Author 
In addition to his work as an author, Patrick Ledray is an attorney now working in Minnesota.He practices in the areas of business law, civil litigation and criminal defense, but considers himself a general practitioner.