Assassins of Athens

October 5, 2009
Beware of Greeks bearing grudges, especially when they’re as rich, resourceful and ruthless as the killers who dog Athens Chief Insp. Andreas Kaldis in Siger’s speedboat-paced second mystery (after 2009’s Murder in Mykonos
). The case detonates with a sensational discovery: the body of golden boy Sotiris Kostopoulos, the teenage son of one of Greece’s wealthiest wheeler-dealers, dumped behind a seedy gay bar. Within days his family flees the country. As bodies start dropping from Mykonos to Sardinia, Kaldis finds it increasingly difficult to dismiss hints of a colossal conspiracy—one that might stretch to the loftiest levels of Athenian society as well as way back into its bloodstained past. Readers may not totally buy the book’s audacious premise or the spontaneous combustion between the straight-arrow inspector and a wealthy socialite, but that shouldn’t spoil this suspenseful trip through the rarely seen darker strata of complex, contemporary Greece.

November 1, 2009
The intricately planned murder of a wealthy young Greek has disturbing implications.

Andreas Kaldis (Murder in Mykonos, 2009), Chief Inspector of the Special Crimes Division, is called to a seedy quarter of Athens to examine a body in a dumpster. Ironically, it's Andreas' secretary Maggie who identifies the victim from police photos. Addicted, like everyone in the country but Andreas, to the tabloid press, she's spotted the victim's picture there. He's Sotiris, the adopted son of Zanni and Ginny Kostopoulos. The couple's tight-lipped reaction to the news of their only child's death puts Andreas' radar on alert. Nouveau riche publisher Zanni identifies the family of Sarantis Linardos as a nest of likely suspects—not exactly a disinterested suggestion, since Siger has already shown Zanni plotting to acquire the influential and respected daily The Athenian, crown jewel of the old-money Linardos empire. On the other side of the journalistic tracks, party boy Sotiris has been immortalized in a tabloid as part of a threesome with Sarantis' similarly wild granddaughter. Andreas' worst suspicions are confirmed by the first major break in the case. Sometime hooker Anna Panitz admits to luring Sotiris to an isolated place at the cash-fueled request of two strangers. Andreas' methodical probe stretches from Athens' tenderloin to the halls of the city's moneyed interests and all the way to the island of Sardinia.

Otherwise undistinguished, but greatly enhanced by Siger's intimate knowledge of Athens. Armchair travelers take note.

(COPYRIGHT (2009) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

November 1, 2009
Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis of the Greek Police's Special Crimes Division is back in Athens (after solving his first case in "Murder in Mykonos") to investigate the murder of the 17-year-old son of one of Greece's most wealthy families. Kaldis is a savvy policeman who dodges corruption and solves his case with professional aplomb. VERDICT With few mysteries set in Greece, the author, a longtime resident of Mykonos, vividly captures this unfamiliar terrain's people and culture. Mystery fans who like their police procedurals in exotic locales will welcome this one. [Also available in a large print edition, ISBN 978-1-59058-690-7.Ed.]

Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from November 15, 2009
Sigers Chief Inspector Kaldis returns in his second outing (following Murder in Mykonos, 2009). He is now head of Athens Special Crimes Division after his politically unfriendly investigative methods got him transferred. When a teenage boys body is found in a dumpster outside a gay bar in one of Athens seediest districts, Kaldis hopes it will turn out to be a simple, straightforward case. But this one is far from simple as the investigators soon realize: the body was dumped by the bar several hours after death, and the victim is the son of one of Athens prominent nouveaux riche families, whose members just happen to be feuding with one of Athens oldest families. Siger creates a heady mix of Greek politics and culture, drawing on the ancient practice of banishment, the countrys student revolutionaries, and its notoriously corrupt officials. Kaldis, assisted by fellow officer Kouris, super-secretary and gossip-fountain Maggie, and socialite and possible love interest Lila, must navigate these turbulent waters to solve the murder and save other victims from the same killer. This is international police procedural writing at its best and should be recommended, in particular, to readers who enjoy Leighton Gages Brazilian police stories (Buried Strangers, 2009) or Hakan Nessers Swedish inspector Van Veeteren (Borkmanns Point, 2006).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)