The Taint of Midas by Anne Zouroudi

First Line: Blind eyes bear no witness.

Gabrilis Kaloyeros is an old man with lots to do. He's a beekeeper on the beautiful Greek island of Arcadia. He grows watermelons and sells them in the market in the village, and the ruined Temple of Apollo has been under his care and protection for decades. But unscrupulous developers have taken over the island, and the prices for land have skyrocketed. Gabrilis is persuaded to sign away his interest, and hours later, he meets a violent, lonely death.

When detective Hermes Diaktoros finds his friend's battered body by the side of a dusty road, local police are quick to assume he's the prime suspect. Hermes vows to avenge his old friend and find the real murderer.

I've been going through my to-be-read shelves and finding the next books in series that I've started and unintentionally abandoned. This second book in Anne Zouroudi's Seven Deadly Sins series set in Greece certainly fits that criteria. The first book, The Messenger of Athens, introduced me to Hermes Diaktoros, who is far from being your usual detective. Someone has described him as "half Poirot, half deus ex machina," and it's true. He's a character to enjoy, from the way he investigates crimes to keeping those white shoes of his absolutely spotless to finding out the next thing he's going to pull out of his bag of tricks. Hermes also waxes philosophical at times: "He was considering the tangled threads of life; why was it sometimes so, he thought, that the righting of a wrong did not settle the scales, but created only crueler injustices?" This is something I've pondered in many of the mysteries I've read.

The mystery has two main threads: the primary one being who killed Gabrilis Kaloyeros, which is intertwined nicely with the story of two policemen, the veteran Gazis and the rookie Petridis. This cozy-with-a-twist not only gives readers an intriguing main character and a strong mystery to solve but it also gives a real feel for Greece-- the changes being made to lure the tourist dollar as well as how ancient myths can intersect with contemporary life.

This is definitely a series that I should not have neglected. I'm looking forward to following Hermes Diaktoros to his next case.

The Taint of Midas by Anne Zouroudi

ISBN: 9780316076296

Reagan Arthur Books © 2011

Hardcover, 304 pages

Cozy Mystery, #2 Seven Deadly Sins mystery

Rating: B+

Source: Purchased from Book Outlet.

 

The Messenger of Athens by Anne Zouroudi

Title: The Messenger of Athens
Author: Anne Zouroudi
ISBN: 9780316075428
Publisher: Reagan Arthur Books, 2010
Hardcover, 336 pages
Genre: Private Investigator, #1 Hermes Diaktoros mystery
Rating: A
Source: Purchased from Bookcloseouts.

First Line: It was the spring of the year; the air was light and bright, the alpines were in bloom. 

The Greek island of Thiminos is beautiful and remote, untouched and untroubled by the modern world. When the body of a young woman is found at the base of a cliff, the police-- guided more by the ancient rules of honor than by law-- are quick to rule it an accident and close the case. What they didn't count on was the unwelcome appearance of Hermes Diaktoros from Athens.

Diaktoros first stops at the police station where he announces that he intends to investigate the woman's death because he doesn't think it was an accident or a suicide. He believes it was murder, and he's going to prove it. Diaktoros's investigative methods are unorthodox. He seems to have information that no one else knows, and as he talks to the villagers, his message to them is plain: tell the truth or face the consequences. In no time at all, Diaktoros has uncovered a tale of passion, corruption, and murder that involves several of the residents of Thiminos.

As he travels the island to investigate, he raises as many suspicions as he does answers to his questions. Who has sent him to Thiminos? On whose authority is he here? How does he know of secrets that were buried decades ago?

Zouroudi has created a world and a main character that held me captive from first page to last. Her portrait of the tiny island is fully realized and evocative, and I love the way she accomplishes it-- not through passages describing the natural beauty of Thiminos, but through many small, telling details of the inhabitants' conversations and behaviors. It's a simple thing to search for photographs of the Greek islands; Zouroudi brings the life upon them into crisp focus, and the setting is all the more real for it.

Hermes Diaktoros is a fascinating character. His behavior and his personal habits are quirky, he has a good sense of humor, and he can be quite kind. But if someone is trying to hide the truth from him, he pulls no punches. He has no time for lies and evasions. Diaktoros is also the type of character who has his own secrets, and they are the type of secrets that can only be revealed over time and (hopefully) many books.

Zouroudi uses flashbacks to let the murdered woman tell her own story, and although she has made mistakes, she is a person deserving of sympathy and of justice. When Diaktoros unearths the truth about her death, I was stunned and a bit sickened; however, in one way or another, the wrongdoers of Thiminos are brought to justice.

I most definitely look forward to more investigations conducted by the mysterious Hermes Diaktoros.