cover image The Doctor of Thessaly: 
A Seven Deadly Sins Mystery

The Doctor of Thessaly: A Seven Deadly Sins Mystery

Anne Zoroudi. Little, Brown/Reagan Arthur, $24.99 (256p) ISBN 978-0-316-21787-3

Sophisticated classic mystery fans will welcome Zoroudi’s third Deadly Sins mystery (after 2011’s The Whispers of Nemesis). Her Poirot-like sleuth, Hermes Diaktoros, whose exact employers remain obscure, arrives in the small Greek village of Morfi at a delicate time. Town doctor Louis Chabrol, a Frenchman, has stood up his bride-to-be, Chrissa Kaligi, but an innocent if horrific explanation is soon forthcoming. Someone has thrown a caustic chemical into Chabrol’s face after luring him to a remote spot, blinding him. Diaktoros, an easy-going gourmand who’s very particular about his appearance, subtly insinuates himself into the village’s life in an effort to identify Chabrol’s assailant. Apart from her empathic lead, Zoroudi’s evocative prose is a plus (“When the wind blew, the corrugated iron roof—lashed down with rope and weighted with rocks—sang like the haunting dead, rattling its own percussion”). (Dec.)