These books make reference to the beauty of the Greek landscape and the delights of the good life there. But they spend even more time describing claustrophobic village societies; the sights and smells of poverty; and sexist assumptions about women's lives. I appreciate the ambivalence although sometimes I wish for less mildew.
Hermes Diaktoros is quite an appealing force outside of Christianity, conventional society or the law. ( )

(Fiction, Mystery, Series #3)

I wasn’t sure what to expect of my first meeting with Hermes Diaktoros, but I was eager to make his acquaintance so when Netgalley offered these first three in the series, I jumped.

The series is set in Greece at an undetermined time – but in very real settings that make little or no use of modern technology. That could be mid-20th century, or it could be present day in an isolated rural area that is not up to date. To further confuse things, Hermes’ methods are very old-fashioned and a little bit unorthodox, and there is the tiniest bit of magical realism.

This series has everything: a setting that the reader longs to be part of, a likeable inscrutable protagonist, and good mysteries. There are seven books in this series, each dealing with one of the traditional seven deadly sins.

All of these books were excellent, although it is the story in this third one that has stayed with me three years later. There’s always justice in Zouroudi’s books although not always in the form you might expect.

I’m glad to be reminded to return to this series.

5 stars ( )

Reading a series in order, I’ve decided, is too normal. Or at least that’s the best excuse I can come up with for starting the Hermes Diaktoros series at book number three - THE DOCTOR OF THESSALY.

Set in a tiny Greek village, a crying jilted bride, leads quickly to the discovery of the groom, and local doctor, horribly scarred and blinded by an attack on the morning of his wedding. Surprisingly almost sanguine about the attack, the doctor is rushed off to hospital, refusing to see his intended bride, as the village slips back into its day to day activities of sniping at the new young mayor and wait for something to happen to jolt it out of economic malaise.

Into this intrigue meanders Hermes Diaktoros, another of those cerebral private investigators who spends a lot of time in this book struggling with the dreadful food and lodgings provided to him by the only option in the village, wrestling with the vagaries of the car he’s borrowed for the purposes of getting here in the first place, and ensuring that his white tennis shoes remain pristine.

Needless to say a fair dollop of eccentricity in the central character, the village identities, the plot line and the investigation techniques.

There’s something wonderfully Greek about this book, and all of the characters in it, with a good plot that resolves itself neatly and not completely unexpectedly, with a slightly more shocking reason behind it all than you’d imagine possible from something that reads as gently and lightly as THE DOCTOR OF THESSALY.

Definitely a series I’d like to read more of (she says knowing that the house is already groaning under the weight of Mt TBR).

http://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/review-doctor-thessaly-anne-zouroudi ( )

I'm still as intrigued by the character and origins of the central character in this series, Hermes Diaktoros as I was when I read the first in this series a couple of years ago. He introduces himself as coming from Athens, not a policeman, but responsible to "higher authorities". He shares characteristics with Agatha Christie's Mr Harley Quin as he seems to mysteriously appear from nowhere to see that justice is done. But he also reminds me both of Hercule Poirot of the immaculate patent leather shoes, and Shamini Flint's Inspector Singh who also wears rather incongruous white sandshoes.

It is easy to accept Hermes Diaktoros, always referred to as "the fat man", as a messenger of the gods. He arrives on Thessaly driving his cousin's immaculately kept vintage car, and he interferes willy nilly in the machinations of local politicians who want to bring the downfall of the newly elected young Mayor. The sort of justice he brings to bear would not be found acceptable by the police and yet it seems what the perpetrators deserve. His methods of investigation involve him listening and observing the locals.

If you are looking for a cosy that is just a little different this may be just the trick. It may also set you hunting for others in the series. ( )

Third outing for Hermes Diaktoros - Anne Zouroudi's Greek detective. Gentle & observant story telling & good read for Grecophiles ( )