Death on Delos

Death on Delos is the 7th Athenian Mystery by Gary Corby.  I was on a waiting list for 3 months to get it at my public library and finally picked it up this week.

The story opens with a heavily pregnant Diotima, priestess of Artemis, and her husband Nicolaos arriving on the Island of Delos so that Diotima can dedicate the annual offerings from Athens to Delos. There are 2 laws on Delos.  It is illegal to die there and it is illegal to be born there.  Violating these laws results in the entire island and everything on it needing to be resanctified for it is a holy place.

When the couple arrive they are accompanied by many warships.  The Persians are not far away and Athens believes the Delian Treasury is at risk.  Athens wants to temporarily remove the Treasury to Athens for safety.  However, the Delians feel betrayed by this plan and prefer to rely on their faith in their gods Artemis and Apollo to protect them. A Delian crowd gathers near the coast preventing the Athenians from moving forward without a fight. One Delian, Geros, gives a convincing speech to the crowd and gets them aroused against the Athenians and Pericles, their leader.  A day later, Geros is found dead of multiple stab wounds. It will now take weeks, maybe months, to sanctify the island for Diotima to be able to make her sacred offering.

Diotima and Nicolaos are known for their sleuthing skills and are asked by the Delians to determine who killed Geros.  I am always pleased when a murder mystery begins with the murder early in the plot.  Here, the murder took place on page 47 so we have the rest of the book to enjoy  figuring out whodunit.

Another plus is the common English language that the author has the characters speaking.  This is an ancient Greek mystery but aside from the character names, they are speaking English which makes the book a quick read. While the language is English, there is a ton of historical fact woven into the story which makes the book an authentic historical mystery.

Some of the historical facts are that the land on Delos has never been able to grow food.  That is why for centuries Delians relied on gifts to their deities from other Greek islands in order to survive.  Men used to urinate on vegetables in order to make them grow! This strategy did not work though. When a resident was about to die they were put in a boat and sent to another island. Pregnant woman were sent to Mykonos.

I have read all of Corby's Athenian Mysteries and loved them all.  I believe they are getting easier to read.  I remember stumbling over names and words in the first 2 books and don't know if I just got used to the series or if the author made some changes.  Of course, he could be a better writer with 7 books under his belt now.

I highly recommend this series to both mystery and historical fiction fans.