Prey on Patmos

November 15, 2010

Who hated a venerable monk enough to kill him?

Inspector Andreas Kaldis and his sidekick Yianni Kouros are dispatched from Athens to the little island of Patmos, where a local monk named Kalogeros Vassilis has been found dead in the town square, apparently murdered. Twenty such monasteries dot the mountainous landscape, making Patmos the hub of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Eager local police sergeant Mavros explains that the body has already been moved to prepare it for the funeral, laying the groundwork for the first of many wrangles between Andreas and local officials. He learns more from chatty café owner Dmitri than from either Patmos police or Abbot Christodoulos, who portrays Vassilis as a universally revered figure. Dimitri describes a complicated plot by Russians to get the island's key monasteries moved to Russia. A top-secret meeting between Andreas and a well-protected figure identified only as "Your Holiness" confirms Dmitri's gossip and identifies Vassilis as a target in the plot. The complex case comes at an inopportune time for Andreas, whose lover Lila Vardi is pregnant with their first child. In addition, he begins to have dreams about his father, a policeman framed for corruption who committed suicide when Andreas was 8. Fortunately, Andreas' bantering relationship with Kouros adds warmth and humor to his life, and he catches a break when he finds a key piece of evidence hidden inside a cross that the victim is clutching.

The third case for the appealing Andreas (Assassins in Athens, 2009, etc.) will immerse readers in a fascinating culture.

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December 1, 2010

When a monk from a 1000-year-old monastery is murdered in a town square on the Aegean island of Patmos, Andreas Kaldis (Murder in Mykonos), the head of Greece's Special Crimes Division, is sent to investigate. It is Easter week, and the monasteries (there are 20 of them on the island) are very busy and inaccessible. Kaldis, dealing with the imminent birth of his first child and the vagaries of Greek politics, must solve the crime to avert an international incident. VERDICT Using the Greek Orthodox Church as the linchpin for his story, Siger proves that Greece is fertile new ground for the mystery genre. Sure to appeal to fans of mysteries with exotic locations.

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2010
In Siger's less than engaging follow-up to Assassins of Athens (2009), the violent, inexplicable murder of a beloved monk, Kalogeros Vassilis, takes Chief Insp. Andreas Kaldis to the Greek island of Patmos, a sacred site where St. John is reputed to have written the Book of Revelation. There Kaldis encounters international political currents swirling around himself, the late Vassilis, and the victim's monastic community. A strange document with apocalyptic writing and cryptic images suggests danger to eminent religious leaders and upheaval in the Orthodox church from Istanbul to Russia. Though readers may enjoy spending time with Kaldis's colorful team of investigators and other associates such as his very pregnant significant other and a gossipy spy turned Patmos restaurant owner, the lack of a climax and the tendency of characters to talk about actions that have occurred offstage rather than directly involving them lend the tale a passive air.