More transported Agatha Christie here, this time to a Greek island setting with modern land-grabbing by unscrupulous developers. This is the second book in Zouroudi's Hermes Diaktoros series, and the subject is greed - the first, The Messenger of Athens, dealt with lust. It's good news for readers that there are five more sins to go, because Diaktoros is a delight. Half Poirot, half deus ex machina, but far more earth-bound than his first name suggests, the portly detective has an other-worldly, Marlowesque incorruptibility as he waddles through the mean olive groves. There is also a cracking plot, colourful local characters and descriptions of the hot, dry countryside so strong that you can almost see the heat haze and hear the cicadas - the perfect read to curl up with as the nights draw in.



http://snipurl.com/4ase0