Did the warriors of ancient Sparta simply vanish without a trace along with their city, or did they find sanctuary at the tip of the mountainous Peloponnese? That stark, unforgiving region's roots today run deep with a history of pirates, highwaymen, and neighbors ferociously repelling any foreigner foolishly bent on occupying this part of Greece. Less well recorded are the Mani's families' strict code of honor and their history of endless vendettas with neighbors and with their own relatives. No wonder their farms look like fortresses.
When Special Crimes Division Detective Yiannis Kouros is
summoned from Athens to the Mani by his uncle, Kouros fears his loyalty to his
boss, Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis, is about be to be tested by family
pressure on the detective to act in some new vendetta, for this uncle once headed
the Mani's most significant criminal enterprise. Instead, Kouros learns the
family is about to become rich through the sale of its property --until the
uncle is killed, and thus the deal. Acting swiftly to head off a new cycle of
violence, Kouros satisfactorily solves the murder. Or so it seems until, back
in Athens, Kaldis' probe into deeply entrenched government corruption leads
straight back to the Mani. Both cops now confront a host of unexpected twists,
unanticipated players, unanswered questions --and people yet to die.
The New York Times
described Jeffrey Siger's novels as “thoughtful police procedurals set in
picturesque but not untroubled Greek locales,” the Greek Press called his work
“prophetic,” Eurocrime described him as a “very gifted American author...on a
par with other American authors such as Joseph Wambaugh or Ed McBain,” and the
City of San Francisco awarded him its Certificate of Honor citing that his
“acclaimed books have not only explored modern Greek society and its ancient
roots but have inspired political change in Greece.” Sons of Sparta is the sixth novel in his highly praised Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis series.
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