by Beth Anderle

Created on: February 26, 2009   Last Updated: March 06, 2009

The latest Dan Brown mystery may be the most puzzling one yet: the location of The Solomon Key.

Fans of Brown's blockbuster novel The DaVinci Code have been waiting for six years for the promised third book in the Robert Langdon trilogy. Initial reports indicated that The Solomon Key was originally scheduled to be released sometime in late 2006. That date came and went with no word from the author. Since then rumors have been flying adding fuel to the fire.

Many speculate that the cover to The DaVinci Code may have been Brown's undoing. On the cover of the hardback are numerous clues that, when deciphered, allowed the reader to play a quest on Brown's website. The clues revealed a number of places and mysteries that would form the basis of his next book: the sculpture Kryptos in the center courtyard of the CIA building in Langley, the initials "W.W.", the dolphin and anchor symbol, the compass and square of Masonry, and the All-Seeing Eye. The clues also contained the phrases "Is there no help for the Widow's son?" (the Masonic distress call) and "E Pluribus Unum." Theories about the exact plot of the next book were numerous, with many on the Internet concerned that Dan Brown had given too much away and that some unscrupulous author would beat him to the punch by stealing his plot line.

Within the year, in 2004, the movie "National Treasure" was released. With more than a few similarities, this movie in effect stole Brown's thunder. The key to the treasure was tied up in the Masonic legacy of the founding fathers of the United States. It was immediately followed up by a sequel, and a third is in the works, which may use even more of the information that Brown intended to use. Soon afterwards, in 2005, David A. Shugarts released Secrets of the Widow's Son, a fascinating book on the Masonic influences in early America, which explored possible plot lines that Brown might use in The Solomon Key.

What, exactly, is the Solomon Key? There are several interpretations of that. First, the Clavicula Salomonis or "Key of Solomon" is the most famous of the grimoires, or books of magic. Brown could be planning to refer to this manuscript. It is equally possible, however, that the reference is a play on words and will actually refer to the Temple of Solomon being the key to the secrets of the Masonic order. It may also refer to the Knights Templar, who were originally housed in the remains of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem.

So where is The Solomon Key? Certainly when you look objectively

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