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Idyllic but remote, the Greek island of Thiminos seems untouched and untroubled by the modern world. So when the battered body of a young woman is discovered at the foot of a cliff, the local police - governed more by archaic rules of honor than by the law - are quick to close the case, dismissing her death as an accident.
Then a stranger arrives, uninvited, from Athens, announcing his intention to investigate further into the crime he believes has been committed. Refusing to accept the woman's death as an accident or suicide, Hermes Diaktoros sets out to uncover the truths that skulk beneath this small community's exterior.
Hermes's methods of investigation are unorthodox, and his message to the islanders is plain - tell the truth or face the consequences. Before long, he's uncovering a tale of passion, corruption and murder that entangles many of the island's residents. But Hermes brings his own mystery into the web of dark secrets and lies - and as he travels the rugged island landscape to investigate, questions and suspicions arise amongst the locals. Who has sent him to Thiminos, and on whose authority is he acting? And how does he know of dramas played out decades ago?
Rich in images of Greece's beautiful islands and evoking a life unknown to most outsiders, this wonderful novel leads the reader into a world where the myths of the past are not forgotten and forbidden passion still has dangerous consequences.
"Quirky crime gains an appealing new detective in this soulful, affectionate series debut." - Kirkus Reviews
"Zouroudi writes well, but this leisurely tale is more likely to appeal to armchair travelers interested in Greece than mystery buffs." - Publishers Weekly
"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." - Library Journal
"Anne Zouroudi writes beautifully - her books have all the sparkle and light of the island landscapes in which she sets them." - Alexander McCall Smith
"Hermes 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 other-worldly, Marlowesque incorruptibility as he waddles through the mean olive groves. 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 as the nights draw in." - The Guardian (UK)
"This powerfully atmospheric mystery embraces Mediterranean passion, mythic meddling and patriarchal persecution." - Independent (UK)
"Absorbing and beautifully written...reveals the savage, superstitious reality behind the pretty facade that is all that most of us know of any Greek island." - Literary Review
This information about The Messenger of Athens was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Photo: Anne Zouroudi
Born in rural Lincolnshire in 1959, Anne moved to South Yorkshire at the age of two. Following her education at Sheffield High School for Girls, she went into the IT industry, a career which took her to both New York's Wall Street and Denver, Colorado. In America she began to take seriously her ambition to write fiction, and bought a typewriter for her first short stories.
On returning to the UK, she booked a summer holiday with her sister. The location they chose was a tiny island in southern Greece.
"We arrived at night; there was nothing to see," she recalls. "But the next morning, I opened the shutters of our rented house, and bam! Love at first sight. The brilliant blue sea, the scent of herbs on the breeze, the timelessness of the place… It was the first moment ...
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