Read as part Z of the “Along the Library
Shelf” reading journey.
Chosen because
As to be expected the choice in the Z
section was small, but this novel seemed inoffensive enough – a Poirot-esque
detective, an idyllic Greek island setting, and not too thick.
The Review
Mithros is an obscure little Greek island
with its only claim to fame being the small ebony bull with gold horns,
recently discovered and more recently lost, with now only a replica available
for the tourists to see.
Around the time of the disappearance a violent
robbery and a tragic death occurred, and seventeen years later the victim of
the theft and the friends of the deceased remain on Mithros, now men of
standing and influence within the tight knit community.
Then two newcomers arrive. One is pitched
off a boat and has to swim ashore with nothing but his shorts; he wants to
leave but lacks the means, even ID, to do so. The other man has both a name –
Hermes Diaktoros – and transport – a smart yacht with a small crew to minister
to his sophisticated needs; but once he sniffs out a mystery he is in no hurry
to leave, preferring to investigate.
Despite his lack of credentials, he uses his
charm and urbanity to wheedle information out of the residents and his
sleuthing powers to work out the connections between current events, the
tragedy of seventeen years previous, and the disappearance of the ancient Bull
of Mithros.
The island characters are fleshed out nicely,
but Diaktoros remains an enigma, moving unhurriedly in the Mediterranean heat
to his conclusion. Similarly the book’s pace is slow but engaging, and would
make for a good holiday read for those with time to kill in a resort such as
Mithros.
Read another?
There are another six ‘mysteries of the Greek
detective’ out there somewhere, but I’ll not be looking out for them.
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