My novel set in biblical times

[Nehemiah1]

My novel will be a sort of X Files set in biblical times with an ancient hebrew paranormal dectective as protagonist, good or bad idea? what kind of paranormal mysteries are compatible with this historical context?
Ps my novel is set in Hasmonean Jerusalem.

 

[BartholomewB]

Ps my novel is set in Hasmonean Jerusalem.

Interesting! Within that period, you might consider focusing on the thirty years from the death of Queen Salome to the accession of Herod the Great. Salome`s two sons, Hyrcanus and Aristobulus, hated each other so violently that neither of them was able to rule in peace. There was a lot of action going on, involving both the Parthian Empire and the Roman Empire.

 

[TheLittleLady]

The historical facts need to be solid. If you never use them in a story, still be well educated in the social norms, food, religious groups that were in that place at that time and what their practices were. If you don’t know the world these characters inhabit your story loses a lot.

 

[Viki63]

It sounds as if it could be really good.
It reminds me a little of the Sister Fidelma mysteries, set in the 7th century in Treland. Fidelma is both a dalaigh (an [advocate] in the courts of the Five Kingdoms of [Éireann] and Celtic nun.

 

[BornInMarch]

I think your novel could work if you do plenty of research on the history of that time and place. Not just major events but also the culture of the age.

The only biblical-fiction novel I’ve read is one based on Saint Antipas, framed as a collection of letters between him and the author of Luke. It followed a hypothetical path of Antipas from “Proper” Aristocratic Roman to a true Christian and then a martyr. This novel was an assigned reading in a college course I took on the New Testament because it showed how interwoven into Roman society their system of patronage was.