The Taint of Midas

May 16, 2011
In Zouroudi's lyrical second Seven Deadly Sins mystery (after 2010's The Messenger of Athens), cheap bungalows for foreigners are replacing olive groves on the island of Arcadia, much to the dismay of self-styled detective Hermes Diaktoros (aka "the fat man"). Soon after one of Hermes's oldest friends, elderly Gabrilis Kaloyeros, is tricked into signing over his land to developers, the detective finds Gabrilis's dead body on the side of a road, the victim of a hit-and-run. Like his mythological namesake, Hermes brings messages from the gods, as it were, and has an "arsenal of weapons at his disposal" that aren't available to the police, who at first suspect him of killing Gabrilis. Thus armed, the portly Hermes goes around Arcadia as a moral force, offering advice to all and sundry. In the end, a deus ex machina more than sleuthing resolves the crime in this lovely paean to the Greek islands. 

July 1, 2011

A starchy police chief and a bearlike everyman both investigate a violent murder.

On the idyllic Greek island of Arcadia, melon seller Gabrilis Kaloyeros tries to go about his usual business calmly, while noisy earth movers all around him foretell the imminent destruction of his bucolic life. Not long after his sad decision to sell his property, his corpse is found on a rural road. Police Sergeant Thanos Gazis, a take-charge type from the mainland, comes to investigate, paired with sleazy young local cop Petridis. The body was discovered by Hermes Diaktoros, identified hereafter by the author as "the fat man," large and loud and claiming to be Gabrilis' best friend. Superficial evidence points to a hit-and-run, but the fat man's outsized personality and persistence in protesting his innocence cause Gazis to peg him as the prime suspect. Now that the police are involved, customers at Delfini's restaurant, along with owner Aris Paliakis, speculate freely on motives and suspects. The story follows various villagers, the mismatched police duo, who proceed methodically enough, and primarily the fat man in his seemingly aimless rambles about the island. He checks Gabrilis' colony of bees, talks to local fishermen and follows a trail of gossip in what appears to be a random and slightly hedonistic way. But in actuality...

Zouroudi's 21st-century Zorba anchors her second mystery (The Messenger of Athens, 2010), whose chief pleasures lie in the author's affection for Greece and her sleuth's Columbo-like detours with the locals. 

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May 1, 2011

The old beekeeper didn't deserve to die in a hit-and-run, and his friend Hermes Diaktoros vows to find his killer. Our hero, Hermes (The Messenger of Athens), better known as the fat man, returns in a leisurely paced contemporary steeped in Greek mythology. In this case, a lovely little island is suffering from developers' greed and folks who have zero respect for history. Conducting his investigation surreptitiously, with the help of two sympathetic cops, Hermes upends guilty parties and reestablishes justice. Not content to focus solely on the case at hand, Hermes delves deeper and acts as an informal therapist to several individuals along the way. VERDICT With its wonderful premise for a mystery series, this entry captivates. Hermes is a fastidious philosopher, making this perfect book group material. Highly recommended, particularly for Alexander McCall Smith fans and perhaps the Nero Wolfe set as well.

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.