Assassins Of Athens: Number 2 in series (Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis Series)

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You want a first-rate mystery? Andreas Kaldis once read or heard somewhere that the chatter never stopped in Athens. The body of a teenage boy from one of Greece's most prominent families has turned up in a dumpster in one of Athens' worst neighborhoods. Since the boy's father is known for his tenacity and ruthlessness, Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis of the Greek Police's Special Crimes Division believes that the killer was sending a message. Kaldis' investigation takes him deep into Athens nightlife and high society, and he begins to understand that the roots of this murder lie deep in the age-old frictions between old money and new.

I loved that first book so much that I immediately got my hands on the next two books in the series and have since got my hands on the fourth. I don't do that very often, so you can see by that how much I enjoyed my first meeting with Kaldis.

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I've made a resolution that I would read more of the books languishing away on my shelves this year, and tops on my list was Assassins of Athens. Why, oh why did I wait so long???

There are times when reading a book that I sense that what I'm reading is exactly the way it is. The author has captured a place, a culture, a people, precisely the way they are, and that if I were ever to visit there, it would feel familiar to me-- just from reading that author's books. That's how I feel when I read Jeffrey Siger's novels. Siger's main character Andreas Kaldis isn't always politically correct, but he always insists on getting the job done right.

In Assassins of Athens he has help from socialite Lila Vardi, and their association adds spice to an already engrossing investigation that includes not only the rich and the lowlifes but students and revolutionaries as well. If you enjoy good characterization and truly involving mysteries, read Jeffrey Siger.

If you love crime fiction with all that and a superb sense of place and immediacy, then let me repeat myself: The first book dealt with the officer's adventures in Mykonos prior to his advancement in the ranks. There were a number of things I enjoyed about this book but it is not without its faults as well. This is the first crime fiction I have read set in Greece and I enjoyed the descriptions of the historical sites and neighborhoods, the metro stops and the alleyways.

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There was also just a touch of history without overdoing it, and there was enough about the Greek culture to recognize the pride that its citizens take in their ancestory, a people proud of their country yet scornful of their democratically elected leaders. The story has an interesting plot, about a family which has been informally banished and they don't seem "to get the message" until a terrible tragedy strikes. A lot of the story is about money, who has it and how it makes them different.

But too much of the plot was rather murky for me, too much innuendo and knowing glances; it made the story unnecessarily difficult to follow in parts.

Assassins of Athens

The pace was very good, everything moved along at a good clip, with occasional interuptions for romance, sex and some romantic sex. And the story ends with a rather provocative cliffhanger, a sentence many of us have heard before, but rarely as the last few words of a crime fiction novel. Will I read the next book? I can only add that I'm on the fence but that last sentence carries a very big hook with it. When I read the first book in this series, "Murder in Mykonos," last year, I enjoyed it so much that I was eager to see what the author would do next.

The story opens with the discovery of a young man's body in a dumpster -- turns out the young man has a rather unexpected background. Oh, how to describe how fine this plot is done without giving a spoiler??! Let's just say that it is a wonderful story of revenge, xenophobia, duplicity, and greed! And, the best recommendation of all: I was sure through most of the book that a certain surprise twist was coming, and it never happened! I wasn't able to correctly guess the outcome, yet it all made perfect sense.

I love Kaldis and have high hopes for future books! Feedback If you need help or have a question for Customer Service, contact us. Would you like to report poor quality or formatting in this book? Click here Would you like to report this content as inappropriate?

Click here Do you believe that this item violates a copyright? In Athens, Andreas begins his investigation of the murder of a young man, whose body had been placed in a dumpster. Unfortunately, that was only the beginning of the nightmare. What is happening runs so much deeper than parents losing their son. There are powerful and dark forces at work and they are intent on making certain that their message is received and clearly understood.

To get the answers he needs, he has to deal with both sides of the law. Sometimes, in order to catch the Devil, one has to pass through the gates of Hell and take him on in his house. Andreas Kaldis makes that journey whenever necessary, and never takes the time to knock. Can Andreas find a way to stop the impending collision of bad and worse before more lives are destroyed?

Characters, plotline, pacing--all critical components in any story. But, as in real estate, another three critical aspects are location, location, and location. The location is Greece, with all its old-world beauty and new-world intrigue. The author lives in Greece, and he knows whereof he speaks. The descriptions of islands, restaurants, hotels, side streets…all rich and colorful. You can picture every street corner, every shop window, every passer-by. You feel as if you are shadowing each character throughout their journey and you can feel the rain, smell and taste the food, and shudder with their fear.

With such vivid depictions of settings, people and events, when you reach the end, you want to go back and experience it all over again. Aug 10, Beth rated it really liked it. The boy is the son of Zanni Kostopoulos, one of the most influential men in the country. Kostopoulos is nouveau riche, a description that makes him anathema to the established Greek families who dominate the peak of society.

He has returned from family exile in one of the countries that had made up the Soviet bloc and, upon his return, has made a considerable fortune in Greece. Old money fears new money and the newly wealthy have little to lose in going up against the establishment. Zanni decides he needs to make the Kostopoulos name one to be reckoned with so he decides to gain control of The Athenian, the most prominent newspaper in the city. The Linardos family has controlled the paper for generations and Zanni does everything in his power to destroy the Linardos family to get what he wants.

Kostopoulos is determined to destroy the Linardos family so Sarantis, the patriarch, turns to friends to guarantee that it will be Kostopoulos who will be destroyed. This is the background to a story that brings into play wealth, position, long-held grudges, jealousy, murder, and the practices of ancient Athens, seemingly lost in time.

There is kidnapping, murder, exploitation, and the willingness of people to uses whatever means money can buy to destroy an enemy. And there is a woman who is of particular interest to Kaldis. As he investigates, Kaldis discovers that Sotiros Kostopoulos is not the first member of a prominent family to die. Other wealthy Greek families have left the country, banished as was the practice in ancient Greece. Their enemies have no respect for age so it is the young, the children, who are their target. Athens, the cradle of democracy, is being assassinated by powerful people who want a return to oligarchy, government by the few, the wealthy and powerful, to the detriment of the many.

Feb 28, Cathy Cole rated it really liked it. Andreas Kaldis once read or heard somewhere that the chatter never stopped in Athens. The body of a teenage boy from one of Greece's most prominent families has turned up in a dumpster in one of Athens' worst neighborhoods. Since the boy's father is known for his tenacity and ruthlessness, Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis of the Greek Police's Special Crimes Division believes that the killer was sending a message.

Kaldis' investigation t First Line: Kaldis' investigation takes him deep into Athens nightlife and high society, and he begins to understand that the roots of this murder lie deep in the age-old frictions between old money and new. I loved that first book so much that I immediately got my hands on the next two books in the series and have since got my hands on the fourth.

I don't do that very often, so you can see by that how much I enjoyed my first meeting with Kaldis. I've made a resolution that I would read more of the books languishing away on my shelves this year, and tops on my list was Assassins of Athens. Why, oh why did I wait so long??? There are times when reading a book that I sense that what I'm reading is exactly the way it is.

The author has captured a place, a culture, a people, precisely the way they are, and that if I were ever to visit there, it would feel familiar to me-- just from reading that author's books. That's how I feel when I read Jeffrey Siger's novels. Siger's main character Andreas Kaldis isn't always politically correct, but he always insists on getting the job done right.

In Assassins of Athens he has help from socialite Lila Vardi, and their association adds spice to an already engrossing investigation that includes not only the rich and the lowlifes but students and revolutionaries as well. If you enjoy good characterization and truly involving mysteries, read Jeffrey Siger. If you love crime fiction with all that and a superb sense of place and immediacy, then let me repeat myself: Jul 21, Carolyn Mck rated it it was ok.

Greece has been much in the news of late, with bankruptcy and expulsion from the Eurozone saved by yet another last minute bailout. Fo Greece has been much in the news of late, with bankruptcy and expulsion from the Eurozone saved by yet another last minute bailout. The character of Andreas Kaldis, the Chief Inspector — now returned from Mykonos to Athens — did not develop in any interesting way and I found his relationship with the wealthy Lila as unlikely as the rest of the plot.

There were moments when the tension picked up and the book carried me along, but generally this was a disappointment. It also lacked the strong sense of place that I enjoyed in the first novel.

Assassins of Athens (Andreas Kaldis, #2) by Jeffrey Siger

Jun 21, Scilla rated it really liked it. Kaldis is called when the body of a teenaged boy is found in a garbage can near a bar in the wrong part of Athens. They find it is the son of a very wealthy man who has been trying to buy out the most exclusive news paper. The police are certain the murder is sending a message. They soon find one of the suspects is Demosthenes Mavrakis, who had belonged to high society until his father died and his brother took over the business.

Kaldis finds out from a newsman that several newly rich have been Kaldis is called when the body of a teenaged boy is found in a garbage can near a bar in the wrong part of Athens. Kaldis finds out from a newsman that several newly rich have been ostracized and forced to leave Athens.

He manages to meet a wealthy woman, Lila Vardi, and soon the two are falling in love as Lila helps Kaldis. Things get very tense as Demosthenes becomes anxious and hires a killer for the ostracized family as well as Lila. As the title suggests, there are a lot of assassins trying to do their thing! Its a good police procedural set in Athens. I'll continue with the series. May 04, Doreen Richards rated it really liked it. Love the glimpses of history that we get about Greece. And who doesnt love a romance.

Aug 15, Karren rated it really liked it Shelves: I liked the tie to archeology with the ceramic shard. The underbelly of Greece Really interesting view of Athens and a cop who really goes for the bad guys. Great to have the romantic bit in there as well. Jan 11, Mary Rankin rated it liked it. Another interesting entry in this series. Sep 15, Alex K.

Rudnicki goes to the top of my fav male narrators list with this second installment of the Andreas Kaldis murder mystery series. While Koullis Kyriacou was good in the first book, Murder in Mykonos , it is Rudnicki's performance that has gotten me hooked on the Andreas Kaldis series Even though I was raised in a former British colonial country and did my tertiary education in London, when it comes to my fiction, I became far more comfortable with the American accent in the last 2 decades.

I no longer buy Brit-based books unless they are non-fiction and I don't like Brit narrators in fiction, unless it's a Regency romance. That said, there is nothing wrong with Kyriacou's narration in Murder in Mykonos.

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It's purely personal preference. Again, the murder investigation of Sotiris Kostopoulos, son of a powerful Greek family, is surrounded by a rich tapestry of Greek politics, culture and customs. It's becoming apparent to me that the author has a deep love for Mykonos because, though this book is set in Athens, we do revisit Mykonos where the author currently resides , and in Book 5 Mykonos After Midnight , we get another story based in the island. Like the first book, AoA isn't one of those heart-pounding, freaking-me-out type of murder thrillers. I see them more like a contemporary Agatha Christie-type of cozy mystery - something Josh Lanyon would write but with a gay Andreas Kaldis Yum.

I love the working relationship Kaldis has with his loyal sidekick, Kouros, and Maggie. Maggie Sikestis is the police secretary who now reports to the new chief but has been in the force so long she's forgotten her lowly status and treats Kaldis as if she were his mother.

Think Greek mother of a hottie son and you'll understand her actions re. Lila Vardi, Kaldis' love interest. The chief inspector gets a love interest but Lila will become a permanent partner and, eventually, the spouse of Siger's MC - unlike Stuart Woods' Stone Barrington , who changes bed partners more often than a baby, his diapers. I still found the investigations overwhelmed by the discussion of politics and other issues, and felt derailed, at times.

I would like the story flow to be more focused on the murder and suspects but, giving the benefit of the doubt to the author, perhaps there's no avoiding the ins and outs of Greek customs ancient and modern when it comes to a murder that's linked to Ostrakismos I enjoyed this installation much more than the first and am already started on Book 3, Prey on Patmos. Mar 08, Avid Series Reader rated it liked it Shelves: Assassins of Athens by Jeffrey Siger is the second book of the Andreas Kaldis mystery series set in contemporary Greece.

Together with his trusted partner, Yianni Kouros, Kaldis investigates the murder of Sotiris Kostopoulos, the son of wealthy and powerful Zanni Kostopoulos. The ancient Greek practice ostrakizmos was a procedure conducted by secret ballot for the protection of Athenian society.

Once a year, citizens o Assassins of Athens by Jeffrey Siger is the second book of the Andreas Kaldis mystery series set in contemporary Greece. Once a year, citizens of Athens decided whether to hold a vote ostracizing one of their fellow citizens considered dangerous to Athens and democracy for these reasons: For those who didn't accept ostracism, the penalty was death.

In a secret meeting with a high-visibility media celebrity, Kaldis learns the history of ostracism as well as the celebrity's conviction that it still takes place in modern Greece. Kaldis is skeptical, but he follows up with a high-society contact, Lila Vardis, and becomes convinced of the practice, as well as infatuated with Lila.

As in most thrillers, point of view shifts between "the good guys" and "the bad guys". At first, we know of one killer, working for an unknown all-powerful man. Soon, after contract kidnappings and killings go awry, there are several sets of good guys vs. City streets mentioned in detail as the case progresses undoubtedly make the story vividly real for those familiar with Athens. The plot begins slowly with the introduction of so many characters with conflicting objectives, but once Kaldis' new love interest is in mortal danger, suspense builds rapidly to an unexpected and violent scene in which justice is done.

Jun 29, Dom Perry dom the book thief rated it it was ok Shelves: I feel bad for giving this book such few stars. The plot was interesting, and Siger's writing isn't horrible at all. In fact, it is good. I thought some points were extremely boring and I couldn't wait for them to move along. Andreas also came off as unlikeable in the beginning, although to Siger's defense the the more I read, the more I ende I feel bad for giving this book such few stars.

Andreas also came off as unlikeable in the beginning, although to Siger's defense the the more I read, the more I ended up liking Andreas. Another factor that made me give the book so few little stars is that I just wasn't into the politics and the Siger didn't explain them well. He lost me at many political points and j had to reread them multiple times. The thing I wasn't too fond of the most was the ending.

Part of me said, "That was it? I'm sure this is a book many people would adore, but it just wasn't for me. My copy had many typos so I'm assuming others will too. I love Greece, so of course I enjoyed reading this mystery set in Athens and a bit in Mykonos. It would be a straight-forward police procedural, but nothing is quite that straight-forward in Greece.

Jeffrey Siger In Assassins of Athens , Siger captures the passion of Greek people, their tendency to only observe those laws and rules that benefit them, and some of their everyday life. He reveals the dark underbelly of the city of glorious ruins that tourists see, and he does it with unblinking ho I love Greece, so of course I enjoyed reading this mystery set in Athens and a bit in Mykonos. He reveals the dark underbelly of the city of glorious ruins that tourists see, and he does it with unblinking honesty.

Other than the fact that you may not be familiar with the culture of Greece, there is nothing particularly novel about this action-packed mystery as it unfolds the way that most books of its genre do. But it is plotted with skill and has satisfactory twists, so that I am looking forward to reading more of his series.

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