The Doctor of Thessaly

October 29, 2012
Sophisticated classic mystery fans will welcome Zoroudi’s third Deadly Sins mystery (after 2011’s The Whispers of Nemesis). Her Poirot-like sleuth, Hermes Diaktoros, whose exact employers remain obscure, arrives in the small Greek village of Morfi at a delicate time. Town doctor Louis Chabrol, a Frenchman, has stood up his bride-to-be, Chrissa Kaligi, but an innocent if horrific explanation is soon forthcoming. Someone has thrown a caustic chemical into Chabrol’s face after luring him to a remote spot, blinding him. Diaktoros, an easy-going gourmand who’s very particular about his appearance, subtly insinuates himself into the village’s life in an effort to identify Chabrol’s assailant. Apart from her empathic lead, Zoroudi’s evocative prose is a plus (“When the wind blew, the corrugated iron roof—lashed down with rope and weighted with rocks—sang like the haunting dead, rattling its own percussion”).

The village of Morfi, on the fictional Greek island of Arcadia, has experienced a series of violent incidents. Car trouble brings Hermes Diaktoros, the "Fat Man," to the village just as the local doctor has been viciously attacked, blinded, and beaten. Narrator Gildart Jackson enhances each of the many characters with precisely employed accents and varying tones. He's delightful as the seemingly mild Diaktoros, in his spotless tennis shoes, investigates the crime. Jackson portrays Diaktoros's charm as he fields villagers who are eager to tell him all. But the victim himself is strangely reluctant to have the crime solved. Zouroudi knows her way around a thrilling plot filled the complexities of human motivation. Jackson's performance makes this fascinating mystery an absorbing listening experience. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine