An Aegean April

November 20, 2017
Siger’s ripped-from-the-headlines ninth mystery featuring Chief Insp. Andreas Kaldis (after 2016’s Santorini Caesars) combines a convincing police procedural with lurid thriller elements. When an elderly Greek philanthropist is sliced in half with a sword on Lesvos, the police grab Ali Sera, who works at a refugee-aid NGO on the island, as a handy scapegoat. Dana McLaughlin, Ali’s feisty boss, isn’t convinced. Neither are Kaldis and his tough Athens-based team of cops, who begin a tortuous investigation that must not only deal with physical evidence but also work around government corruption and the distrust between Greece and Turkey. Meanwhile, a crazed but clever assassin, who calls himself Aryan, has decided he wants to take over the refugee-smuggling racket in the eastern Mediterranean and is eliminating the Turkish gangsters who stand in his way. When Aryan returns to Greece to get rid of Dana, Kaldis and the other police struggle to stay ahead of the madman. Vivid local color, agreeable central characters, and exciting action scenes make this a winner.

December 1, 2017
Turkish refugees have been landing on the shores of Lesvos in droves, and some of the Greek island's most prominent citizens have joined the relief effort. But when one of them is murdered outside the mansion of a wealthy shipping patriarch, police suspect one of the refugees. After agreeing to aid in the investigation, Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis from Athens discovers that Turkish smugglers had a lot to lose if their pipeline to Lesvos were to be cut off. Siger's ninth Kaldis mystery (after Santorini Caesars, 2016) continues its tour through modern-day Greece. This latest outing also offers a perspective on the Balkan Peninsula and the thorny issue of asylum seekers. A fast-paced international series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)

October 15, 2017
Brutal murder stains the idyllic Greek island of Lesvos. Is organized crime attempting to gain a foothold in paradise, or is this the work of refugees? After a brief period of rampant tourism, the Aegean island of Lesvos has settled back into a sleepy, idyllic existence except for the droves of refugees, now unemployed, who came to serve the visitors. When influential Mihalis Volandes is violently killed, cut literally in half, local police arrest refugee Ali Sera, who's been found spattered with blood, and workers' advocate Dana McLaughlin comes forward to ask Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis, based in Athens, to intervene. As Andreas shrewdly observes, the blood found on Sera is far less than it should be given the crime's brutality. Sending his longtime sidekick, Yianni, to Lesvos to examine the crime scene, Andreas determines that this was a professional hit, staged to incriminate the young immigrant. Meanwhile, the powerful man who ordered the murder, presented to the reader anonymously, plots to derail this probe, with force if necessary, via Aryan, his hired assassin. Andreas and his team investigate methodically; his supersized detective Tassos, whose relationship with police secretary Maggie is blossoming, gains evidence by busting heads. When the trail leads to local government officials, the risk factor amps up considerably and the assassin on the loose becomes an unpredictable wild card. The ninth case for Siger's Greek detective (Santorini Caesars, 2016, etc.), brimming with suspense and a distinct sense of place, continues to deepen the back story of its band of heroes.

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Starred review from January 1, 2018

Mihalis Volandes had a practical plan to deal humanely with the refugees passing through the Greek island of Lesvos (also known as Lesbos), but the human traffickers who profit from the business have other plans. Even a member of the Greek elite can be killed, and Volandes's murder is blamed on a refugee-turned-aid worker. When Ali Sera is arrested, his American colleague Dana McLaughlin reaches out to CI Andreas Kaldis, head of the Special Crimes Unit. When Kaldis's team doesn't move fast enough over the Easter holiday, Dana holds a press conference that causes a flurry of activity by the hired killer, the traffickers, and the police. Kaldis's shrewd scheme to catch the culprit leads to a dramatic confrontation at a monastery on Lesvos. Siger's ninth atmospheric mystery (after Santorini Caesars) vividly depicts the political and economic issues involved in the European refugee crisis. VERDICT Fans of Adrian McKinty's Sean Duffy books and other police procedurals that handle violence and political issues with black humor will welcome this outstanding crime novel.--Lesa Holstine, Evansville Vanderburgh P.L., IN

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