Don't read this one on an empty stomach! The extensive descriptions of various food and drink items will leave you wanting some. This was the last of the author's Seven Deadly Sins Mysteries--and covers the sin of gluttony. I had no idea how Zouroudi would construct a mystery based on gluttony, but she's delivered us a gastronomic delight. Hermes Diaktoros from Athens, aka the fat man, is back in top form, with his white tennis shoes and his capacious hold-all. He is visiting the Greek country town of Dendra on a festival day, with loads of mouth-watering delicacies. He stays and investigates several mysteries; it was a joy to see how supposedly unconnected events all come together. A young boy jumping a bonfire is badly burned through either being pushed into the fire or slipping. Also a feud between two olive oil producing families and the death of a patriarch of one of them, the poisoning of several townspeople supposedly at the local ice-cream shop which has resulted in the near-collapse of the owner's business, and a lady vintner and her special wine all fit together to create an absorbing mystery. The author leaves clues all through the story, but she doesn't quite lead us by the hand.

Hermes is his usual gentle, probing, possibly other-worldly self, solving the mystery and dispensing justice by relying on peoples' consciences. We see his half-brother Dino, a rather debauched, hippie-ish character. The townspeople are all well-drawn. The author makes me feel the loveliness and brightness of the Greek countryside. On my copy I saw the series title has been changed to "The Mysteries of the Greek Detective", so I hope this means she will be writing more stories about Hermes.

Very highly recommended. ( )

Like Anne Zouroudi's other Mysteries of the Greek Detective, this title was greatly enjoyed. Somehow I felt that it became a novel of two halves. The first half very clearly all the happenings around the town of Dendra, and the second the way in which the fat man dealt with those who had been involved in these happenings. The fat man's uncovery of the truth of what had gone on, seemed more deliberate and less detective but I guess that is what a detective does.

The fat man turns out to be a rich benefactor in this novel and puts up the money for treatment for Dimitris in Switzerland. His brother Dino is also a constant feature of this story although he doesn't contribute to its plot but does add to our picture of the fat man's family with him having to shell out all the time to pay Dino's debts.

The author does not shy away from treating more modern themes such as the role gay people might or do play in the community as well as the traditional vendetta type relationships between families.

Lest it be thought that the fat man puts everything to rights, he fails with Meni the owner of the vineyard. I guess it is the mark of a good detective writer that readers don't guess who did what, and in this case I was surprised. It is an irony when one re-reads on p.141 that Meni intends to leave a legacy of her trees.

Her descriptions of the Greek village environment seem true to what I have seen - for example her descriptions of the park on pp.121-2. And characterisations are real. Xavier (perhaps an un-Greek name) - the protestor, seems sufficiently vague that unlike the rest of the town he still patronises the gelateria which everyone else has boycotted.

Having read the book on the Mani (Patrick Leigh Fermor) I really appreciated the descriptions of the vineyard tower p.138.

Once again I appreciated the Greek glossary in the front, the sketchmap of the town and region and the list of Dramatis Personae. ( )

Hermes Diaktoros investigates the seventh deadly sin, greed. A chance encounter with his half-brother leads them to Dendra and the festival celebrating the end of the olive harvest. But a day of feasting ends in tragedy when a young man is badly burned as he tries to leap a burning bonfire. Later Hermes learns that there are allegations that the young man didn't fall but was tripped, the latest incident in a long-running and bitter feud between two local families. Then the patriarch of one of the families dies suddenly and Hermes becomes involved in a complex investigation to discover if he was murdered and, if so, why.

As the series has, up until now, used one of the seven deadly sins as its inspiration this is potentially the last book in the series, which I really hope it isn't, Maybe Ms Zourodi could extend the series by using other figures from Greek Mythology like the Erinyes (Furies), unless they are part of the mysterious Authorities that empower Diaktoros to mete out a wild form of justice. Many of the reviews and blurbs reference Diaktoros as being a Greek Poirot, and yes there are similarities, a rotundity of form and a fastidiousness of dress immediately spring to mind, but for me Diaktoros has more in common with another Christie creation, Harley Quinn, who is another otherworldly dispenser of justice.

I do hope that this isn't the last we see of Diaktoros as I really enjoyed this book - just don't read it if you're dieting as the descriptions of the various local delicacies will cause you break your diet on the spot and you may have to follow Hermes' example and visit your local tailor to get your waistband loosened. Superb. ( )