Sons of Sparta

Starred review from August 11, 2014
For Chief Insp. Andreas Kaldis, interacting with known crime boss Orestes is just another day at the office in Siger’s perfectly plotted sixth mystery set in Greece (after 2013’s Mykonos After Midnight). But for Special Crimes Division detective Yianni Kouros things get a little too personal when a beloved relative, Uncle, drives his car off a cliff on the road to Cape Tenaro. This fatal “accident” appears directly or indirectly connected to Orestes. Even though Uncle had “retired” from running his own crime syndicate for a decade, he was knee-deep in a land deal that’s beginning to smell fishier than a net full of sunbaked sea bass. Of course, Uncle’s demise puts the kibosh on that deal, and the intrepid detectives must figure out who benefits from the old man’s death before Kouros’s cousins revive ancient family feuds. Siger’s paints travelogue-worthy pictures of a breathtakingly beautiful—if politically corrupt—Greece.

October 15, 2014
A rugged region of Greece harbors rough and vengeful crime syndicates. Is veteran Inspector Kaldis tough enough to break them? Detective Yianni Kouros is summoned by his uncle to the remote region of Mani in Southern Greece, where lawlessness is common and family bonds are tight. Uncle, who formerly ran a small criminal empire, is about to sell his land to a developer in light of a recent tourist boom that threatens to change the nature of the area drastically. Shortly after absorbing this remarkable news, Kouros gets a call in Athens from his cousin Mangas reporting that Uncle has died after his car ran off the road. Kouros is immediately worried that it's the start of a bloody clan war. "Time to speak to the chief"-that is, his boss, Andreas Kaldis. Not one to mince words or avoid confrontation, Kaldis, who heads the country's Special Crime Division, immediately confronts Orestes, Mani's criminal alpha dog, who makes a point of snubbing him. At Uncle's funeral, Kouros is shocked to see his grieving cousin Calliope challenge her brothers to seek vengeance via a bristling poem she delivers at her father's grave. Tassos Stamatos, chief homicide investigator for the Cyclades islands, recommends that Andreas steer clear of Orestes, but that's hardly his style; when he learns that Uncle was poisoned, his course is set. Kouros, meanwhile, seeks to befriend Uncle's mates in the local tavern and elsewhere. Both lawmen are surprised by the identity of the killer. Kaldis' sixth case (Mykonos After Midnight, 2013, etc.) offers a lively, gritty plot, an abundance of local color and two righteous heroes.

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October 15, 2014
Siger's Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis, head of Greece's Special Crimes Division, is heading an investigation into widespread government corruption. Meanwhile, his assistant, Yiannis Kouros, has been summoned to his Mani family homeland in the mountains of the Peloponnese, where family blood feuds, highway robbery, and hostility toward foreigners persist. Yiannis' uncle has come up with a plan that would make the family rich and end a long-standing vendetta. When this uncle dies suddenly, Yiannis becomes suspicious. His investigation leads back to corruption in Athens and threatens to compromise his relationship with Kaldis. Filled with local color, action, and humor, this story will give readers a taste of modern Greek culture and its ancient roots.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)