Devil of Delphi

Jeffrey Siger’s novels seem to be getting darker and darker as he probes beneath the tourist veneer of Greece to reveal the tacky underworld below. In this novel he deals with the problem of ‘bomba’ – producing counterfeit alcohol contaminated with lethal substances. This is big money and consequently Andreas Kaldis is after the big players. Eastern European mafia and corruption closer to home mean that this is a risky business. We also meet ‘The Teacher’ who was introduced to us in ‘Mykonos after midnight’ and loner Kharon, who also becomes embroiled in the quest to hunt down the perpetrators but for a different reason. Wonderfully told, this is a totally different ballgame to the usual stories set in Greece. If you like dark mystery, murder and some fantastically deranged characters who seem quite believable then this book will have you hooked as it did me.

Fans of Donna Leon and Martin Walker will be equally enthralled by Jeffrey Siger's Inspector Andreas Kaldis, head of Athens Special Crimes Division. In his seventh outing he is investigating the spread of bomba, counterfeit liquor, which has become a major problem for Greece's wine industry. The counterfeits are professionally done and distribution is well organized, leading Kaldis and his team to Tank, whose family is politically well-connected. However, Tank is only one member of a large organization run by a ruthless woman known as Teacher. She has hired an enforcer called Kharon, appropriately named after the ferryman who transported the dead across the River Styx. The investigation takes some unexpected turns, leading up to a deadly confrontation and a most satisfying conclusion.