The Mysteries of the Greek Detective
7 primary works
Book 1
After the battered body of a woman is found on the Greek island of Thiminos, Athenian investigator Hermes Diaktoros inexplicably shows up to prove that the death was not an accident and find the killer. But Hermes brings mysteries of his own to this tiny, remote island.
Book 2
For over half a century the beautiful, ruined Temple of Apollo has been in the care of the old beekeeper Gabrilis. But when the value of the land soars, he is persuaded through unscrupulous means to sign away his interests - and hours later he meets a violent, lonely death. When Hermes Diaktoros finds his friend's battered body by a dusty roadside, the police quickly make him the prime suspect. But with rapacious developers threatening Arcadia's most ancient sites, there are many who stand to gain from Gabrilis's death. Hermes resolves to avenge his old friend and find the true culprit, but his methods are, as ever, unorthodox Readers who were captivated by the Fat Man in The Messenger of Athens will be thrilled to rediscover him. Those new to the series will meet a detective who breaks the mould - a Greek Poirot, who keeps a number of unusual tools to hand to administer his unforgettable brand of justice.
Book 3
A jilted bride weeps on an empty beach. A local doctor is attacked in an isolated churchyard. Trouble arrives at a bad time to the backwater village of Morfi, just as the community is making headlines with a visit from a high-ranking government minister. Fortunately, where there's trouble, there's Hermes Diaktoros, the mysterious fat man whose tennis shoes are always pristine and whose investigative methods are always unorthodox. Hermes must investigate a brutal crime, thwart the petty machinations of the town's ex-mayor and his cronies, and try to settle the troubled waters of two sisters' relationship. But how can he unravel a mystery that not even the victim wants solved?
Book 4
As he drew closer still, he saw small, white fingers gripping onto the rocks. Then the fingers of one small hand loosed their grip, and the hand made a feeble attempt to wave; and, in that moment, the face's features made sense to him, and he know what he had found ...A painter is found dead at sea off the coast of a remote Greek island. For our enigmatic detective Hermes Diaktoros, the plot can only thicken: the painter's work, an icon of the Virgin long famed for its miraculous powers, has just been uncovered as a fake. But has the painter died of natural causes or by a wrathful hand? What secret is a dishonest gypsy keeping? And what haunts the ancient catacombs beneath the bishop's house? In the fourth Mystery of the Greek Detective, the inimitable Hermes must deal with forgery, betrayal and superstition, and the consequences of all-consuming rage.
Book 5
It is winter in the mountains of northern Greece and as the snow falls in the tiny village of Vrisi a coffin is unearthed and broken open. But to the astonishment of the mourners at the graveside, the remains inside the coffin have been transformed, and as news of the bizarre discovery spreads through the village like forest fire it sets tongues wagging and heads shaking.
Then, in the shadow of the shrine of St Fanourios (patron saint of lost things), a body is found, buried under the fallen snow - a body whose identity only deepens the mystery around the exhumed remains. There's talk of witchcraft, and the devil's work - but it seems the truth, behind both the body and the coffin, may be far stranger than the villagers' wildest imaginings. Hermes Diaktoros, drawn to the mountains by a wish to see an old and dear friend, finds himself embroiled in the mysteries of Vrisi, as well as the enigmatic last will and testament of Greece's most admired modern poet.
The Whispers of Nemesis is a story of desperate measures and long-kept secrets, of murder and immortality and of pride coming before the steepest of falls.
Then, in the shadow of the shrine of St Fanourios (patron saint of lost things), a body is found, buried under the fallen snow - a body whose identity only deepens the mystery around the exhumed remains. There's talk of witchcraft, and the devil's work - but it seems the truth, behind both the body and the coffin, may be far stranger than the villagers' wildest imaginings. Hermes Diaktoros, drawn to the mountains by a wish to see an old and dear friend, finds himself embroiled in the mysteries of Vrisi, as well as the enigmatic last will and testament of Greece's most admired modern poet.
The Whispers of Nemesis is a story of desperate measures and long-kept secrets, of murder and immortality and of pride coming before the steepest of falls.
Book 6
From the real life Shirley Valentine, Anne Zouroudi's sixth Greek mystery with the popular detective, Hermes Diaktoros.
Drawn to the sun-drenched island of Mithros by the myth of its fabled bull, the arrival of investigator Hermes Diaktoros coincides with a violent and troubling death. The death has echoes in Mithros's past, in a brutal unsolved crime from years ago which, it seems, is neither forgotten, nor forgiven. Hermes sets out to solve a complex puzzle where shadowy secrets and unspoken loyalties are intertwined. And before long it's clear that the fate of the mythical bull may be the least of the island's mysteries...
Drawn to the sun-drenched island of Mithros by the myth of its fabled bull, the arrival of investigator Hermes Diaktoros coincides with a violent and troubling death. The death has echoes in Mithros's past, in a brutal unsolved crime from years ago which, it seems, is neither forgotten, nor forgiven. Hermes sets out to solve a complex puzzle where shadowy secrets and unspoken loyalties are intertwined. And before long it's clear that the fate of the mythical bull may be the least of the island's mysteries...
Book 7
The olive harvest is drawing to a close in the town of Dendra, and when Hermes Diaktoros arrives for the celebratory festival he expects an indulgent day of food and wine. But as young men leap a blazing bonfire in feats of daring, one of them is badly burned. Did he fall, or was he pushed? Then, as Hermes learns of a deep-running feud between two families, one of their patriarchs dies. Determined to find out why, Hermes follows a bitter trail through the olive groves to reveal a motive for murder, and uncovers a dark deed brought to light by the sin of gluttony.