Devil of Delphi: A Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis Mystery

Captivating villains elevate Siger’s seventh mystery featuring Chief Insp. Andreas Kaldis (after 2014’s Sons of Sparta), a by-the-numbers procedural in which Kaldis, head of Greece’s special crimes division, works to stem the flow of counterfeit liquor. As the counterfeit alcohol’s poisonous formula claims its first victims, a mysterious cult leader and businesswoman known only as Teacher hires reclusive assassin Kharon as part of her plan to control Greece’s wine smugglers. Though the pair’s clashing ethical systems constantly threaten to tear them apart, their partnership, built around respect and dangerous necessity, makes them nearly unstoppable. Unfortunately, in comparison to their brutally inventive adversaries, the detectives come across as pedestrian and bumbling. The many investigators under Kaldis’s command are not nearly as well characterized as Kharon and Teacher, and quickly begin to blend together. Readers may find themselves racing through the detectives’ investigation, hoping to land on another section exploring Kharon and Teacher’s dark friendship. (Oct.)