Celebrating Mysteries: Europe

 

First of all, I just want to say Thank You to everyone for their response to last week's first post in this series, Celebrating Mysteries: Africa & Australasia. Reading your tweets, emails, and comments added to my own Need to Read list just as I hoped it would, and it was gratifying to see how many readers love books with a strong sense of place.

Last year when the pandemic was raging, reading books set in far-off places kept my mind off the fact that I was a gnat's eyelash from going stir crazy. Reading mysteries set in places I knew well made me vigilant in checking the author's facts. Did they get everything right? Reading books set in places I've never been to helped satiate my wanderlust-- especially if they were set in places I never intend to travel to. 

I love learning about the landscape, the culture, and the food of other places. This world and the people in it are so diverse that the more I learn, the more connected I feel to others. There's no way I can express how much I appreciate authors who can bring another place, another culture to life for me. The only way I can try is to list some of my favorites. 

This week, I'm concentrating on the countries in Europe. There are big gaps in my list, and I'm hoping that you can fill in some of them with your comments. I found that, although I do have many favorite authors whose books are set in Europe, their emphasis seems to be more on character and story rather than putting much emphasis on place. The following authors are my favorite exceptions to that. Clicking on the link in the book's title will take you to my review.

England

William Shaw, compared to many others on my favorites list, is a relative newcomer, but I've been recommending his Alexandra Cupidi series to anyone who will listen. The setting of the marshlands of southeastern England plays a large role in these books. It's a haunting landscape, an elemental landscape, one that reminds me of watching Patrick McGoohan as The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh as a child. It's the perfect setting for Shaw's marvelous characters and stories.

The Birdwatcher is the first book in the series (although it's not always listed as such)

Salt Lane is book two

Deadland is book three

Grave's End is the fourth book

There are currently five books in this series.

I've been a fan of Kate Ellis's Wesley Peterson mysteries for years. She writes a marvelous series with two timelines. One set in the past and one in the present day. The area around Dartmouth plays a role in these books in both the present and the past. I can't begin to tell you how much I've learned about England's past by reading these enjoyable stories.

The Merchant's House is the first book

The Armada Boy is the second

An Unhallowed Grave is the third

The Funeral Boat is the fourth

This series currently has twenty-four books. There are no links to reviews for the first four because I started reading them long before I began blogging, but you can check out my review for the later Dead Man's Lane to get an idea of what I'm talking about.

Finland

James Thompson wrote a police procedural series set in Finland featuring Kari Vaara, who began as a police chief in Lapland and later moved to Helsinki as a detective. The series was cut short by Thompson's untimely death. This American-Finnish writer taught me a lot about the people and landscape of Finland in his hard-hitting mysteries.

Snow Angels is the first book

Lucifer's Tears is the second

Helsinki White is the third

Helsinki Blood is the fourth

 

There are only four books in this series.

 

 

France

 

It's a little-known fact that I began my college career as a French major; therefore, when I read mysteries set in France where the setting is so good that I begin thinking in French, I know they're good. There are two series set in France that have that effect on me.

 

If you want to feel as though you're in Paris, all you have to do is read Cara Black's Aimée Leduc series. Aimée is a private investigator who knows how to accessorize, and she'll take you through the mean streets of Paris, one arrondissement at a time. 

Murder in the Marais is the first book

Murder in Belleville is the second

Murder in the Sentier is the third

Murder in the Bastille is the fourth

There are currently nineteen books in this series. I've jumped around in my reading which is why there are no links to reviews for Sentier and Bastille.

Anyone who's been reading my blog for a long time knew that Martin Walker's Bruno Chief of Police series would definitely be on this list. I fell completely in love with the very first book. Of all the mysteries with a strong sense of place, I think Walker takes the cake. I've learned so much about the Périgord, its history, its people, the culture, and the food! I've learned the hard way that it's not a good idea to be hungry when I pick up a Bruno mystery. Yikes!

Bruno Chief of Police is the first book

The Dark Vineyard is the second

Black Diamond the third

The Crowded Grave is the fourth

There are currently thirteen books in the series.

Greece

When I think of mysteries set in Greece, two authors immediately spring to mind. If I want to be transported to ancient Greece, I definitely want Australian author Gary Corby to be my tour guide. I've had a front-row seat at the Olympic Games, and I've narrowly escaped death at sea in a trireme. Not only does Corby have me walking the mean streets with his two sleuths, his sense of humor can keep me laughing, too.

The Pericles Commission is the first book

The Ionia Sanction is the second

Number three is Sacred Games

The Singer from Memphis is the sixth.

There are currently seven books in the series, and I hope there will be more.

When I want to travel to modern Greece, the silver-tongued devil himself, Jeffrey Siger, is my preferred guide. From politics to food to history to gorgeous landscapes to the merest facial expressions, I've learned so much about the Greece of today while enjoying the investigations conducted by Andreas Kaldis and his crack team.

 

 Murder in Mykonos is the first book

Assassins of Athens is the second

Prey on Patmos is the third

Target: Tinos is the fourth

There are currently eleven books in the series.

Iceland

Longtime readers will also know that I sing the praises of Ragnar Jónasson regularly. Jónasson has taught me quite a bit about that amazing country, especially the remoter regions, and-- you know me-- the remoter the better I always say. Jónasson has written some standalones as well as a fantastic trilogy, but it's the series featuring Ari Thór Arason, the young police officer in the far north of Iceland who's probably taught me the most about his country: food customs, landscape, weather, winter darkness... It's an alien place to me which makes it all the more special to learn about it in this series.

Snowblind is the first book

Blackout is the second

The third is Rupture

The fourth is Whiteout

There are six books in the series.

Italy

Andrea Camilleri's long-running series featuring irascible Inspector Salvo Montalbano has been a favorite of mine since the first book. This series is more than a police procedural. The humor is often laugh-out-loud funny, and Camilleri-- through Stephen Sartarelli's masterful translations-- has taught me so much about the landscape, food, customs, and politics of Sicily. 

 

The last book in this series, Riccardino, will be published in September, and it will be sad to see the series end. These books are treasures.

 

 The Shape of Water is the first book

The Terra-Cotta Dog is the second

Third is The Snack Thief

Fourth is Voice of the Violin

 

There are thirty books in this series, and how I wish there could be more. Thank you for so much enjoyment, Mr. Camilleri.

 

My blog was just four months old when I posted the review for Voice of the Violin. You can also read my review of a much later book, A Beam of Light, if you are so inclined.

Scotland

 

My ancestral roots run deep in the mountains and glens of the Scottish Highlands, so it's no surprise that I'm partial to a well-written Scottish mystery series or two (or three or...) When I think of mysteries with a strong sense of place that are set in Scotland, two authors spring automatically to mind.

Author Peter May has written a fantastic trilogy set on the islands of the Outer Hebrides, and he brings that stunning, brooding landscape to life.

The Blackhouse is the first book

The Lewis Man is the second

The Chessmen is the third

Aline Templeton is the second author who springs immediately to mind when I think of mysteries set in Scotland. Let's face it, the big cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow get most of the crime fiction attention, but authors like Peter May and Aline Templeton know that the lesser known corners of the country are no strangers to criminal deeds. Indeed, Val McDermid refers to Templeton as "the crime czar of the Scottish small town." 

One of my favorite series is Templeton's police procedural featuring Marjory "Big Marge" Fleming who is a detective inspector in Galloway, which is in southwestern Scotland. If you want to get a feel for that part of the country, you'll get it in these books, and from different perspectives, for example, as Marjory's husband is a farmer who lost most of his animals to mad cow disease.

Cold in the Earth is the first book

The Darkness and the Deep is the second

The third is Lying Dead

Number four is Lamb to the Slaughter

 

There are nine books in this series.

Templeton also writes a series featuring Kelso Strang, a detective inspector who finds himself traveling from one Scottish village to another solving crimes. The first book in this (currently) three-book series is Human Face.

Thus endeth my list of European mystery series that have a strong sense of place. Now it's your turn. When it comes to Europe, which mystery series transport you to another country-- its landscape, its customs, its food? You added to my Need to Read list last time, and I'm counting on you to do it again this time. Inquiring minds need to know!

Next up at a future date: Asia!

The Usual Santas: A Collection of Soho Crime Christmas Capers

From the Foreword by Peter Lovesey: I believe Christmas has inspired more short stories than any other theme.

There's nothing like a good mix of crime and Christmas to put you in the holiday spirit, and Soho Crime has come up with a winning collection of short stories for a wide range of reading preferences.

These eighteen stories are written by bestselling and award-winning authors. With crime and Christmas as their common themes, they range from laugh-filled to heartwarming to the most hardboiled of holiday noir. They're also set all over the world: Sweden, England, South Korea, Thailand, Cuba, Ireland, the United States-- and the list goes on.

These stories do run the gamut of styles, and some of the authors contributed something different from what their fans may be used to. For example, Gary Corby, who writes the wonderful Athenian mysteries set in ancient Greece, has a very different subject and setting this time. (I do enjoy it when my favorite authors "branch out" from time to time.)

There are so many gems in The Usual Santas, but I will at least mention the ones that shone the brightest for me: Helene Tursten's "An Elderly Lady Seeks Peace at Christmas Time," Mick Herron's "The Usual Santas," Ed Lin's "Martin," and Colin Cotterill's "There's Only One Father Christmas, Right?" And I feel guilty for not listing them all. 

There's also an added bonus to reading a short story collection like this. Have you wondered if you'd like these authors' books? Then this collection is an excellent starting point for you. Don't be surprised if you find yourself heading to the bookstore or library with a long list of new authors after reading The Usual Santas. Oh, the wonderful reading you have in store!

The Usual Santas: A Collection of Soho Crime Christmas Capers

ISBN: 9781616957759

Soho Crime © 2017

Hardcover, 416 pages

Short Story Collection

Rating: A

Source: the publisher

Death on Delos by Gary Corby

First Lines: It is illegal to die on the sacred isle of Delos. It is also illegal to give birth there.

As the birthplace of the divine twins Apollo and Artemis, the sacred isle of Delos has been a pilgrimage site for centuries. It's also home to the money held by the Delian League, an alliance of city-states that defend Greece against the Persians-- a vast treasury protected by a minuscule armed guard and the priests and priestesses of the tiny island. 

When Pericles arrives with a small army (and private agent Nicolaos and Nico's very pregnant wife Diotima in tow) to take the treasury back to Athens, the priests resist. Pericles sends Nicolaos to bribe the most resistant priest, but before he can get very far in the negotiations, Nico ends up with a murder on his hands.

Thanks to the wrangling over money, the first blasphemy has been committed (someone has died on the sacred island). Can Nico solve the murder and get Diotima off Delos before they accidentally commit the second?

I love this series even though I've never been a fan of ancient Greece. (Merely an admirer from afar.) Gary Corby has the knack of combining history, humor, and untimely death in a way that's so entertaining readers may never realize that they're learning something. When a man like Corby reads that no one was allowed to die or give birth on Delos, there's only one thing he can do: tell a story in which both may-- or may not-- happen.

Since the plot of Death on Delos involves banks and boatloads of money, all sorts of skullduggery take place. All that cash is just too tempting. Nicolaos and Diotima are an excellent investigative team, but even they need a bit of time to unravel everything. However, with Diotima's due date looming ever closer, time is the one commodity they don't have.

Like all the other books in the series, Death on Delos tells a fast-moving story involving the Nick and Nora Charles of ancient Athens. I love the humor, I love the mystery, and I love the history. I also enjoy the cast of characters, the glossary, and the Author's Note that are always included in each book. You can read the book without them, but you'll be missing out on some of the delightful humor. And... if you're like me and want to know just how much of the story is actually true, that Author's Note comes in very handy.

If you haven't picked up one of Gary Corby's Athenian mysteries because you think reading about ancient Greece is too boring and stuffy for words, think again. You will be very pleasantly surprised to find out how fresh and lively those old Athenians were! You may even wind up eagerly awaiting the next book in the series-- like me!

Death on Delos by Gary Corby

ISBN: 9781616958213

Soho Crime © 2017

Hardcover, 352 pages

Historical Mystery, #7 Athenian mystery

Rating: A

Source: the publisher

July 2017 New Mystery Releases!

The one time of year that always goes too fast for my liking is summer. I've always been this way, probably because I suffer from SAD, and the brilliant sunlight and lack of clouds here in the desert go a long way to unburden me of that tiresome disorder.

With my enjoyment of my pool, wildlife watching, and reading, I can go through about seventy-five books over the summer, and that means that I have to keep my eyes peeled for new books constantly, greedy soul that I am.

The following are my picks of the new crime fiction being released during the month of July. They are grouped by release date and contain information that will help you add them to your Must Read lists. Book covers and synopses are courtesy of Amazon. 

Let's get started!

=== July 1 ===

Title: The Cleaner

Author: Elisabeth Herrmann

Translated from the German.

Standalone Thriller set in present-day Germany.

460 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "Judith Kepler has seen it all. She is a crime scene specialist. She turns crime scenes back into habitable spaces. She is a cleaner. It is at the home of a woman who has been brutally murdered that she is suddenly confronted with her own past. The murder victim knew Judith's secret: as a child Judith was sent to an orphanage under mysterious circumstances—parentage unknown. And the East German secret police were always there, in the background. When Judith begins to ask questions, she becomes the target of some powerful enemies. And nothing will ever be the same again." 

=== July 4 ===

Title: City of Masks

Author: S.D. Sykes

Series: #3 in the historical Oswald de Lacy series set in plague-stricken mid-fourteenth century England.

336 pages

Synopsis: "It’s 1358, and young Oswald de Lacy, Lord Somershill, is delayed in Venice as he awaits a pilgrim ship to the Holy Land. While the city is besieged by the King of Hungary, Oswald stays at the house of an English merchant, and soon comes under the spell of this decadent and dazzling island state that sits on the edge of Europe―where East meets West.

But Oswald has secrets. He is running away from something in England―a shadow that still haunts him, no matter how much he consoles himself with the delights of Venice. When he finds a dead man at the carnival, he is dragged into a murder investigation that draws him deep into the intrigues of this paranoid, mysterious city.

From the dungeons of the Doge’s Palace to the convent-brothel of Santa Lucia, Oswald must search for a murderer in this bewildering maze of alleys and canals. When he comes up against the feared Signori di Notte, the secret police, Oswald learns that he is not the only one with something to hide. Everyone is watching (or trailing) someone else, and nobody in Venice is who they appear to be. Masks, it seems, are not only for the carnival."

Title: Dead Storage

Author: Mary Feliz

Series: #3 in the Maggie McDonald cozy series set in Silicon Valley, California.

216 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "As a professional organizer, Maggie McDonald brings order to messy situations. But when a good friend becomes a murder suspect, surviving the chaos is one tall task . . .

Despite a looming deadline, Maggie thinks she has what it takes to help friends Jason and Stephen unclutter their large Victorian in time for its scheduled renovation. But before she can fill a single bin with unused junk, Jason leaves for Texas on an emergency business trip, Stephen's injured mastiff limps home and Stephen himself lands in jail for murder. Someone killed the owner of a local Chinese restaurant and stuffed him in the freezer. Stephen, caught at the crime scene covered in blood, is the number one suspect. Now Maggie must devise a strategy to sort through secrets and set him free before she's tossed into permanent storage next . . ."

=== July 6 ===

Title: Watching You

Author: Arne Dahl

Translated from the Swedish.

Standalone thriller set in Sweden.

400 pages

UK Release

Synopsis: "At each abandoned crime scene there's a hidden clue: a tiny metal cog, almost invisible to the naked eye. Someone is sending Detective Sam Berger a message, someone who knows that only he will understand the cryptic trail.

When another teenage girl disappears without a trace, Sam must convince his superiors that they’re dealing with a serial killer. As the police continue the hunt to find the latest victim, Sam is forced to unearth long-buried personal demons. He has no choice if he is to understand the killer's darkly personal message before time runs out." 

=== July 8 ===

Title: Penhale Wood

Author: Julia Thomas

Standalone suspense set in Cornwall, England.

312 pages

Synopsis: "On a cold December night in Cornwall, nanny Karen Peterson disappeared with three-year-old Sophie Flynn. The next day, the child’s body was found on a riverbank in Penhale Wood.

A year later, Sophie’s mother, Iris Flynn, appears on the doorstep of investigating officer Rob McIntyre, determined to make him reopen her daughter’s case. McIntyre has his own personal demons, but Iris hijacks his life in order to find the woman she thinks is responsible for Sophie’s death. Following the slimmest of leads, they are soon confronting ghosts from the past and a chameleon-like killer who will do anything to stay hidden." 

=== July 11 ===

Title: 30 Second Death

Author: Laura Bradford

Series: #2 in the Tobi Tobias cozy series set in Missouri.

220 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "When Tobi Tobias opened her own advertising agency, Carter McDade was there for her every step of the way. A brilliant hairdresser, Carter has just landed his dream project: doing hair and makeup for a theatrical production of Rapunzel. But the dream turns into a nightmare when he runs into Fiona Renoir, a cruel, talentless starlet who won't let Carter touch a hair on her head.

To get Fiona out of Carter's hair, Tobi hires the difficult actress for a bit part in her latest commercial. But true to character, Fiona is a terror on set, and Tobi is starting to think she's made the biggest mistake of her life. But things get even worse when Fiona drops dead in the hairdresser's chair, and the only suspect is the man left holding the tainted hair dye, Carter McDade. And unless Tobi can prove his innocence, he'll never do hair in this town again." 

Title: Down a Dark Road

Author: Linda Castillo

Series: #9 in the Kate Burkholder police procedural series set in Ohio.

304 pages

Synopsis: "Two years ago, Joseph King was convicted of murdering his wife and sentenced to life in prison. He was a “fallen” Amish man and a known drug user with a violent temper. Now King has escaped, and he’s headed for Painters Mill.

News of a murderer on the loose travels like wildfire, putting Chief of Police Kate Burkholder and her team of officers on edge. But this is personal for Kate. She grew up with Joseph King. As a thirteen-year-old Amish girl, she’d worshiped the ground he walked on. She never could have imagined the nightmare scenario that becomes reality when King shows up with a gun and takes his five children hostage at their Amish uncle’s farm. Armed and desperate, he has nothing left to lose.

Fearing for the safety of the children, Kate makes contact with King only to find herself trapped with a killer. Or is he? All King asks of her is to help him prove his innocence―and he releases her unharmed. Kate is skeptical, but when the facts and the evidence don’t align, she begins to wonder who she should trust. Spurned by some of her fellow cops, she embarks on her own investigation only to unearth an unspeakable secret―and someone who is willing to commit murder to keep it buried."

Title: Death on Delos

Author: Gary Corby

Series: #7 in the historical Athenian series set in and around classical Greece.

352 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "Greece, 454 BC: The sacred isle of Delos, the birthplace of the divine twins Apollo and Artemis, has been a most holy pilgrimage site for centuries. Delos is also home to the military fund kept by the Delian League, the alliance of city-states that defended Greece against the Persians, and that vast treasury is protected only by the priests and priestesses of the tiny isle and a scant armed guard.

Then one day the charismatic Athenian statesman Pericles arrives at the head of a small army to forcibly take the treasury back to the safety of Athens. With him are Nico, the only private agent in ancient Athens, and his heavily pregnant wife and partner in sleuthing, the priestess Diotima. She has been selected to give this year’s annual offering to holy Artemis.

In the face of righteous resistance from the priests, Pericles assigns Nico to bribe their leader. But before he can get very far with this dubiously unholy task, Nico ends up with a murder on his hands.

It is a crime against the gods to die or be born on the sacred island. Thanks to the violence over the treasury, the first blasphemy has already been committed. Can Nico solve the murder and get Diotima off the island before they accidentally commit the second?" 

=== July 18 ===

Title: Collared

Author: David Rosenfelt

Series: #16 in the Andy Carpenter series set in Paterson, New Jersey.

336 pages

Synopsis: "Lawyer Andy Carpenter’s true passion is the Tara Foundation, the dog rescue organization he runs with his friend Willie Miller. All kinds of dogs make their way to the foundation, and it isn’t that surprising to find a dog abandoned at the shelter one morning, though it was accompanied by a mysterious anonymous note. But they are quite surprised when they scan the dog’s embedded chip and discover that they know this dog. He is the 'DNA dog.'

Two and a half years ago, Jill Hickman was a single mother of an adopted baby. Her baby and dog were kidnapped in broad daylight in Eastside Park, and they haven’t been seen since. A tip came in that ID’d a former boyfriend of Hickman’s, Keith Wachtel, as the kidnapper. A search of his house showed no sign of the child but did uncover more incriminating evidence, and the clincher that generated Wachtel’s arrest was some dog hair, notable since Wachtel did not have a dog. DNA tests showed conclusively that the hair belonged to Hickman’s dog. Wachtel was convicted of kidnapping, but the dog and baby were never found.

Now, with the reappearance of the dog, the case is brought back to light, and the search for the child renewed. Goaded by his wife’s desire to help a friend and fellow mother and Andy’s desire to make sure the real kidnapper is in jail, Andy and his team enter the case. But what they start to uncover is far more complicated and dangerous than they ever expected."

Title: The Late Show

Author: Michael Connelly

Series: #1 in the Renée Ballard police procedural series set in Los Angeles, California.

448 pages

Synopsis: "Renée Ballard works the night shift in Hollywood, beginning many investigations but finishing none, as each morning she turns everything over to the day shift. A once up-and-coming detective, she's been given this beat as punishment after filing a sexual harassment complaint against a supervisor.

But one night she catches two assignments she doesn't want to part with: the brutal beating of a prostitute left for dead in a parking lot and the killing of a young woman in a nightclub shooting. Ballard is determined not to give up at dawn. Against orders and her partner's wishes, she works both cases by day while maintaining her shift by night. As the investigations entwine, they pull her closer to her own demons and the reason she won't give up her job, no matter what the department throws at her."

Title: Arrowood

Author: Mick Finlay

Series: #1 Arrowood historical mystery set in Victorian London.

368 pages

Synopsis: "London is scared. A killer haunts the city's streets; the poor are hungry; crime bosses are taking control; the police force is stretched to the breaking point. 

The rich turn to Sherlock Holmes, but the celebrated private detective rarely visits the densely populated streets of South London, where the crimes are sleazier and the people are poorer. 

In the dark corner of Southwark, victims turn to a man who despises Holmes, his wealthy clientele, and his showy forensic approach to crime: Arrowood—self-taught psychologist, occasional drunkard, and private investigator. 

When a man mysteriously disappears and Arrowood's best lead is viciously stabbed before his eyes, he and his sidekick Barnett face their toughest quest yet: to capture the head of the most notorious gang in London…"

=== July 24 ===

Title: Bright Shiny Things

Author: Barbara Nadel

Series: #5 in the Arnold and Hakim private investigator series set in present-day London.

352 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "Out of the blue, private investigator and ex-soldier Lee Arnold receives a visit from an old army mate. Abbas al’Barri worked as a translator with him during the Second Iraq War. Now living in Ilford with his family, Abbas is convinced that he’s had a message from his estranged son Fayyaad, who was radicalized and was last thought to be fighting for ISIL in Iraq. Does Fayyaad’s message indicate a change of heart? Abbas is desperate for Lee’s help in establishing some contact with him, a point with which Lee’s Muslim assistant Mumtaz might be able to help. From the bright lights of the Western world, to the murky online recruitment techniques of radical Islamism, Lee and Mumtaz have little to guide them in who to trust as they begin a journey into the belly of the beast." 

=== July 25 ===

Title: Deadfall

Author: Linda Fairstein

Series: #19 in the Alex Cooper legal thriller series set in New York City.

400 pages

Synopsis: "A wild heart beats within New York City. Amid concrete and skyscrapers, the Wildlife Conservation Society works to preserve and protect the animal kingdom both within and beyond the borders of the five boroughs. But dangerous creatures don't always have claws and fangs, as Assistant DA Alexandra Cooper and NYPD detectives Mike Chapman and Mercer Wallace know all too well. Predators lurk close to home, and in the aftermath of the shocking assassination of an iconic public figure—someone Alex has worked with for years—the trio must unravel the motive behind the shooting to discover who is the bigger snake: the killer or the victim.

The murder investigation provides more questions than answers, as a tangled mess of secrets slowly comes to light. From street gangs to secret societies, from big-game hunting to the illegal animal trade, from New York City zoos to the highest offices in city government, Alex has her work cut out for her—especially since the task force handling the investigation, led by the US Attorney, seems to be more against her than with her. As tensions rise between Alex and the feds, she must determine just how far she is willing to go to uncover the truth—and uphold the integrity of the office she has so proudly served." 

Great lineup for July, isn't it? I'm looking forward to getting my hands on the newest S.D. Sykes mystery, and Michael Connelly's latest has really caught my eye, too. What about you? Which books made it to your own wishlists? Inquiring minds would love to know!

The Singer from Memphis by Gary Corby

First Line: "Master, there's a man at the door who wants to see you. He says his name is Herodotus."

Nicolaos believed helping an author with research for his book would be a pretty tame way to pay the bills. But Herodotus's research trip to Egypt isn't well timed. Egypt is in the midst of a rebellion to throw out its Persian Empire overlords. Pirates infest the sea. There are three different armies to contend with. You can't step foot in the river because of the crocodiles-- and there are hordes of secret agents on dry land. It's not long at all before Nicolaos wants to take his wife Diotima back home to Greece where he can get a decent cup of wine.

I fell for Gary Corby's grasp of history and his excellent storytelling the first time I picked up one of his Athenian mysteries. Nicolaos is the perfect sleuth, called upon to investigate all sorts of interesting situations by Athens' premier citizen, Pericles. Nico's wife Diotima (a former priestess) is quite talented at deduction herself, and even his younger brother Socrates (yes, that Socrates) can come up with a good question or two (dozen). 

Corby has created the perfect little time machine in which readers can visit ancient Greece and still feel at home. There are action sequences at sea and on dry land that will certainly keep the pages turning, and since there is no shortage of secret agents representing all the various factions in Egypt, readers will be kept guessing at the outcome. Traveling along with the world's first historian is yet another perk of reading this book.

One of the ways Corby makes readers feel so at home in this ancient world is with his use of humor. In this book, that humor begins with the title. How many of you thought of Elvis Presley when you saw "The Singer from Memphis"? I would imagine most of you did, unless you knew that Gary Corby writes mysteries set in ancient Greece and that there was a city in Egypt named-- you guessed it-- Memphis. But in this book, one of the characters is a young female who makes a living singing in a bar in Memphis, and the first time Nicolaos sees her, she's singing a song in Greek about suspicious minds. (Any Elvis fans smiling?) There's another instance of subtle humor when I was reminded of what happened when someone wore a red shirt in the original Star Trek series. Whether subtle or laugh-out-loud funny, Corby's humor brings his story to life and helps his readers make the transition to the ancient world. 

The Singer from Memphis has a wonderful setting and characters and an engrossing mystery with more than a hint of a treasure hunt to it. For those of you who are wavering because you think you'll be unable to pronounce words, know what some of the words are, or be lost in history, waver no more. Corby has included a short cast of characters complete with pronunciation, a brief historic timeline to set up the story (although you really don't need it), and a glossary to define any of the words you may not be familiar with. Rest assured that Corby does a marvelous job of placing you in the ancient world without the feeling that you're drowning in history. In addition, his Author's Note at the end should not be missed-- although he warns you not to read it first because it's full of spoilers. This section tells you what is true and what isn't in the story as well as several other fascinating facts. Is it necessary to read this series in order? No, but I can see you reading one and then going back for the others.

Gary Corby has prepared the feast, and it's sitting on the table, waiting for you. All you need to do is to sit down and begin enjoying yourself.
      

The Singer from Memphis by Gary Corby

ISBN: 9781616956684

Soho Crime © 2016

Hardcover, 352 pages

Historical Mystery, #6 Classical Athens mystery

Rating: A

Source: the publisher