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Johnston, Paul - 'The Green Lady'
Hardback: 256 pages (Oct. 2012) Publisher: Creme de la Crime ISBN: 1780290349

Athens, Greece in 2004 the home Olympics are underway. Private investigator Alex Mavros has finished his relationship with his girlfriend Andhroniki Glezou, known as Niki. He is staying with his friend Yiorgos Pandazopoulos aka "the fat man". Alex is approached by the wife of a powerful and rich man, Paschos Poulos, whose companies include construction, shipping, minerals and consumer goods. As well as this he is a leading member of the Olympic Committee.

Poulos's wife Angela was born in England and they have one teenage daughter who has gone missing. Poulos does not want any publicity and is working secretly with the Athens police to try and locate her. Angela employs Alex but tells him he cannot let her husband find out.

Alex talks with a journalist friend Lambis Bitsos and gets a lead to the villages of Paradheisos and Kypseli where one of Poulos's excavation company's is based. He gets to know the local deputy commissioner of police - Telemachos Xanthakos as well as a young couple who run a protest group known as "The Ecologists for a better Viotia" based in Kypseli.

Whist Alex is trying to help Angela he becomes aware of several murders where the people have been tortured. These murders bear the trademark of a vicious murderer known as the Son. Alex has come up against this Father and Son before and knows they will kill him if they get the chance. Who is the Son working for and to what end? Is Angela's daughter still alive and can Alex discover what has happened?

This is the fifth book in the Alex Mavros series, the author has written two other series - the Quintilian Dalrymple series set in a future Edinburgh and the Matt Wells series set in modern-day London. This book transports you to a hot Greek summer full of fascinating Greek mythology and superstition including the 'Lady' of the title. You also get the feel as to why Greece is in such a financial plight. Recommended.

Geoff Jones, England
December 2012

Details of the author's other books with links to reviews can be found on the Books page.
More European crime fiction reviews can be found on the Reviews page.



last updated 15/12/2012 19:16