A Dead Man in Athens
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4.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $3.99
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- $3.99
Publisher Description
Athens, 1913, the capital of a country on the brink of war. The new Greek prime minister, Venizelos, tired of the Ottoman overlords, has what he calls the Great Idea - a vision of a new Greece that unites all the Greek people scattered around the Mediterranean. Not such a great idea, in the view of other countries, among them Britain, which believes in letting sleeping dogs lie. And cats. Including the one recently poisoned in Athens and which belonged to the exiled former Sultan.
Unfortunately, as is the way with the Balkans, rumours start flying around; one being that this was a sighting shot for the ex-Sultan himself. This, in the Balkans, could start a war and so Britain has to sit up and take notice. Something has to be done. Fast. And - please, urge the diplomats - low-key. The lowest key of all is to send out a police officer from Scotland Yard to investigate, and, as it happens, the Foreign Office has a person in mind: Seymour, of the CID, who has had some experience of this sort of thing before . . .
Praise for Michael Pearce's A Dead Man in . . . series
'The steady pace, atmospheric design, and detailed description re-create a complicated city. A recommended historical series' Library Journal
'Sheer fun' The Times
'His sympathetic portrayal of an unfamiliar culture, impeccable historical detail and entertaining dialogue make enjoyable reading' Sunday Telegraph
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Pearce hits his stride with his third mystery (after 2005's A Dead Man in Istanbul) to chronicle the international exploits of Sandor Seymour, a polyglot Scotland Yard detective who's just as engaging as Owen Gareth, the hero of Pearce's Mamur Zapt series set in early 20th-century Egypt. In 1912, Seymour leaves London's East End for Athens to investigate the poisoning of the cat of the Sultan of Turkey, who has been exiled to Greece. Given the perpetually strained relations between the Greeks and Ottomans and the broader political turmoil on the eve of WWI, the authorities fear the cat's death may presage an attempt on the sultan himself. Sure enough, a human death follows, and Seymour's mission gathers momentum and urgency. By effectively wedding prewar intrigue to an often humorous plot, Pearce should retain the loyalty of fans and attract new readers.
