The Messenger of Athens: 2017 Revised Edition (Mysteries of the Greek Detective) - Softcover

Anne Zouroudi’s tales of the Greek Detective are ‘Gripping and tense, with an atmosphere which holds you in thrall’, says Susan Hill. ‘Essentially gloriously sunny escapism, the perfect holiday read’ (Daily Telegraph). Readers of Andrea Camilleri, Donna Leon, Alexander McCall-Smith and Neil Gaiman's American Gods will love the mysterious, enigmatic Greek detective Hermes Diaktoros, ‘half Poirot, half deus ex machina’ (Guardian). When the battered body of a young woman is discovered on a remote Greek island, the local police are quick to dismiss her death as an accident. Then a stranger arrives, uninvited, from Athens, announcing his intention to investigate further. His methods are unorthodox, and he brings his own mystery into the web of dark secrets and lies. Who has sent him, on whose authority is he acting, and how does he know of dramas played out decades ago? The Messenger of Athens is the first of eight books featuring Hermes Diaktoros, whose origins are as mysterious as the baffling cases he solves. First published to wide literary acclaim in 2007, this 2017 edition is a new 'Author's Cut', revised and in parts rewritten for its tenth anniversary. Anne Zouroudi is a past winner of the Coventry Book Award and has been shortlisted for the ITV3 Crime Thriller Awards and the Desmond Elliott Prize. REVIEWS Anne Zouroudi’s Greek mystery is full of ‘all the sparkle and light of the island landscapes in which she sets them . . . Lovely, delicious prose and plot – as tasty as one of those irresistible honey-soaked Greek confections’ (Alexander McCall Smith). ‘Gripping and tense with an atmosphere which holds you in thrall’ - Susan Hill ‘Firmly in the delicious subgenre of crime-cum-gastroporn pioneered by Andrea Camilleri . . . Essentially gloriously sunny escapism, the perfect holiday read’ - Daily Telegraph ‘Anne Zouroudi writes beautifully - her books have all the sparkle and light of the island landscapes in which she sets them’ - Alexander McCall Smith ‘Riveting’ - Wall Street Journal ‘This powerfully atmospheric mystery embraces Mediterranean passion, mythic meddling and patriarchal persecution. Anne Zouroudi proves a natural at the dark arts of writing Euro-crime’ - Independent ‘Not only charming and engrossing stories, but also shrewd and often bleak portraits of individual weakness and social fragility . . . rich in wonderfully compressed scenes, any one of which might have become a short story. But this is a mystery novel, and Zouroudi creates suspense as elegantly as she does atmosphere’ - Washington Post ‘I can’t get enough of Anne Zouroudi’s dapper and enigmatic Greek detective Hermes Diaktoros’ - The Australian ‘Diaktoros is a delight. Half Poirot, half deus ex machina, but far more earth-bound than his first name suggests, the portly detective has an otherworldly, Marlowesque incorruptibility. There is also a cracking plot, colourful local characters and descriptions of the hot, dry countryside so strong that you can almost see the heat haze and hear the cicadas – the perfect read to curl up with’ - Guardian ‘Anne Zouroudi writes about the nitty-gritty underbelly of life on the Greek islands but with much pathos and passion. Each one is a delicious delight to be savoured at your leisure’ - Top Ten Best Novels about Greece, Away with the Ferries ‘Greece so charmingly portrayed in Anne Zouroudi's novels’ - The Times