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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.



About the Author

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 of a love affair which has lasted twenty years. 'Anne spent a number of years living in the islands; she married a Greek, and her son was born there. Returning again to the UK, she was still writing, but the short stories had grown into novels. Anne??I wrote three, and whilst I was getting interest in my writing, those novels didn't find publishers, though a northern-based thriller came close,' she says. ??Then I decided to write a novel set in Greece, based on a character who'd come to my mind whilst I was living there. He became Hermes Diaktoros. I sent the manuscript to an agent, and went off to spend some time in Greece. When I returned, I got the call I'd been waiting for. I'd written the right book at last. '



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