Book Review - Target: Tinos

Target: Tinos: An Inspector Kaldis Mystery

By: Jeffrey Siger
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Publishing Date: June 2012
ISBN: 978-1-59058-976-2
Reviewed by: Mary Lignor
Review Date: June 2012

This book is the forth for this author’s books about the Cyclades Islands in the Aegean Sea, featuring Andreas Kaldis, the head of the Greek Special Crimes Division.

The Inspector is called to the Island of Tinos to investigate the remains of two bodies burned beyond recognition, found chained together in a van. They were wrapped in a Greek Flag and a message was left saying “Freedom or Death.” It’s a weird place for anything like this to happen. The Inspector is also in a bind as he is getting married in a few days and wants to sew this crime up so he can concentrate on the big day. When the victims are identified as gypsies, known as Rom in Greece, that seems to be the end of the investigation. These Rom are noted for being criminals and the theories of the crime, according to Greek authorities, is that this might be a war between criminal families or a hate crime. Andreas’ boss, Greece Minister of Order, Spiros Renatis, and his pals let the investigation slide and tell Andreas to close it as the people involved are not high on his list of people the Greek Government care about.

Andreas and his sidekicks, Yianni, Kouras and Tassos decide to look into the crime anyway and take the trip to Tinos again to check up on the victims' whereabouts before they were incinerated. The team of detectives gets almost no cooperation from the locals so they have to figure it all out for themselves. There are a couple more murders and some meetings in Athens with the criminal element from Albania who seem to be hip deep in this whole operation. There is a large festival coming up in the town and the detectives feel that there may be a robbery at the Church of Panagia Evangelistria as they have an icon of the Virgin Mary there that many people pray to and leave money and jewels. But the case still drags out. Andreas’ will not give up and it is left up to him and his men to find the killers, find out where the robbery is going to take place and last, but certainly not least, GET MARRIED!!

Quill Says: This book is a definite keeper. The descriptive passages about Greece and the Greek Isles had me fascinated as I really am a history buff and this author definitely knows his subject. This book is a gem and is an exciting read.