Marathon Conspiracy

Corby’s fourth novel set in Ancient Greece finds Athens inquiry agent Nicolaos investigating two murders—the 30-year-old death of the democratic city’s final dictator, Hippias, and the recent, savage mauling of a teenage girl who discovered the skeleton of the hated tyrant in a cave. Actor Davies provides the 21-year-old Nico, the book’s narrator, with a voice that’s smart and glib, with more than a hint of youthful sarcasm. His partner in life and criminal investigation, Diotima, sounds spirited and every bit his equal in intelligence and confidence. The other characters, which are also given on-the-mark interpretations by Davies, include fast-talking politicians eager to profit in the upcoming elections, and an assortment of priestesses at the murdered girl’s school. There’s also a bloviating used-donkey-cart salesman whose voice is as much a testament to Corby’s playful view of ancient Athens as it is to Davies’s talent for narration. A Soho Crime hardcover. (May)