The Messenger of Athens

May 24, 2010
At the start of Zouroudi's intriguing first in a series based on the seven deadly sins, self-styled investigator Hermes Diaktoros (aka "the fat man") arrives from Athens on the island of Thiminos to look into the death of Irini Asimakopoulos, a young woman whose body was found at the foot of a high cliff. Irini's sad story unfolds slowly as Hermes, who can ask questions gently or demand answers gruffly, talks to a number of people involved, including Irini's husband, Andreas; her putative lover, Theo Hatzistratis; Theo's wife, Elpida; and the island's police chief, Panayiotis Zafiridis, who officially deemed her death an accident but privately believes it was suicide. The secrets the locals keep or share can't be hidden from Hermes, who weighs the evidence and, in the end, rewards or punishes in ways that have little to do with written laws. Zouroudi writes well, but this leisurely tale is more likely to appeal to armchair travelers interested in Greece than mystery buffs.

May 15, 2010
A fat detective arrives from Athens—or maybe somewhere loftier—to investigate the death of a restless wife within a small, sad Greek island community.

If Poirot has his trademark mustache, Hermes Diaktoros's calling card is his footwear, a pair of flawlessly maintained white sneakers which might be a modern version of the trusty winged sandals worn by that other Hermes, messenger of the Gods. The unusual mystery certainly suggests there's more to the investigator than meets the eye as he arrives on the island of Thiminos in search of the truth about Irini Asimakopoulos's death. The sleazy local police chief claims it was suicide, but Irini's passion for Theo Hatzistratis had upset many people, including her heartbroken husband Andreas the Fish. In an unspoiled landscape, among a traditional community with protective, tribal instincts, Hermes encounters the innocent and the unscrupulous, the lecherous and the likable. Alongside the pursuit of his inquiries he dispenses advice, remedies and uncanny wisdom while a sequence of lengthy flashbacks supplies the emotional hinterland to Irini's story of disappointed dreams. Not only does the fat man solve the riddle of her death but he leaves Thiminos a cleaner, fairer, more honest place than he found it.

Quirky crime gains an appealing new detective in this soulful, affectionate series debut.

(COPYRIGHT (2010) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

Starred review from July 1, 2010
When the young wife of a fisherman is found murdered, the villagers on the Greek island of Thiminos believe justice was meted out, as she was suspected of having an affair with another man. Then a stranger, Hermes Diaktoros, arrives and begins to ask questions about her death. All assume he has been sent by the Athens police, but who he is and what his motivation is remain shrouded in mystery. VERDICTZouroudi was born in England but has lived on the Greek islands she describes so well in this atmospheric series debut. She vividly depicts a patriarchal culture in which women are only useful for childbearing and waiting on men. Male characters play out their roles in this Greek drama, but the focus is on women who are abused, married off, and treated as servants yet become the upholders and enforcers of the culture that demeans them. In the hands of a lesser writer, this would be standard fare, but Zouroudi has a deft way with words and an uncanny ability to create a sense of place.

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.