A Dead Man in Athens

by Michael Pearce

Overview

Athens, 1913, the capital of a country on the brink of war. The new Greek prime minister, Venizelos, tired of the Ottoman overlords, has what he calls the Great Idea - a vision of a new Greece that unites all the Greek people scattered around the Mediterranean. Not such a great idea, in the view of other countries, among them Britain, which believes in letting sleeping dogs lie. And cats. Including the one recently poisoned in Athens and which belonged to the exiled former Sultan.

Unfortunately, as is the way with the Balkans, rumours start flying around; one being that this was a sighting shot for the ex-Sultan himself. This, in the Balkans, could start a war and so Britain has to sit up and take notice. Something has to be done. Fast. And - please, urge the diplomats - low-key. The lowest key of all is to send out a police officer from Scotland Yard to investigate, and, as it happens, the Foreign Office has a person in mind: Seymour, of the CID, who has had some experience of this sort of thing before . . .

Praise for Michael Pearce's A Dead Man in . . . series

'The steady pace, atmospheric design, and detailed description re-create a complicated city. A recommended historical series' Library Journal

'Sheer fun' The Times

'His sympathetic portrayal of an unfamiliar culture, impeccable historical detail and entertaining dialogue make enjoyable reading' Sunday Telegraph

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781780336213
Publisher:	Little, Brown Book Group
Publication date:	10/11/2011
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	300
File size:	754 KB

About the Author

Michael Pearce was raised in Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, where his fascination for language began. He later trained as a Russian interpreter but moved away from languages to follow an academic career, first as a lecturer in English and the History of Ideas, and then as an administrator. He has a strong interest in human rights and in languages, both of which feature indirectly in his new series. Michael Pearce now lives in South-West London.

Editorial Reviews

Pearce hits his stride with his third mystery (after 2005's A Dead Man in Istanbul) to chronicle the international exploits of Sandor Seymour, a polyglot Scotland Yard detective who's just as engaging as Owen Gareth, the hero of Pearce's Mamur Zapt series set in early 20th-century Egypt. In 1912, Seymour leaves London's East End for Athens to investigate the poisoning of the cat of the Sultan of Turkey, who has been exiled to Greece. Given the perpetually strained relations between the Greeks and Ottomans and the broader political turmoil on the eve of WWI, the authorities fear the cat's death may presage an attempt on the sultan himself. Sure enough, a human death follows, and Seymour's mission gathers momentum and urgency. By effectively wedding prewar intrigue to an often humorous plot, Pearce should retain the loyalty of fans and attract new readers. (Oct.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

A sultan's pet cat is poisoned. Not everyone loved poor pussy. One wife did, another didn't, and the rest of the sultan's harem was neutral. The sultan, however, adored the creature, possibly because there's so little else in his life to like. He's been exiled from Turkey, forced into less-than-palatial digs in Greece and left with a handful of wives. And several Balkan countries think it would be nice if he perished. Was the cat a first strike? Scotland Yard sends Special Branch Officer Seymour to investigate. He's soon embroiled in Balkan politics of 1913 and cat-fighting on the domestic front. Lady Samira wishes to be First Wife; Lady Irina would do anything to escape the harem, the eunuchs who oversee it and the sundry Viziers and Acting Viziers. Along the way, a rudimentary aeroplane is sabotaged, an additive is drizzled into goat's milk, chocolates are tinkered with and the sultan turns out to be a hypochondriac. Nonetheless, Seymour wends his way through the troublemakers to assign blame, then head back to England for what he hopes will be a spot of tranquility. Pearce brings a lighter, droller touch to the Seymour series (A Dead Man in Trieste, 2004) than to his tales of Egypt's Mamur Zapt. But he still excels at documenting early-20th-century politics and attitudes.

Kirkus Reviews

As always, Pearce's dialogue sparkles and the period background has a strong feeling of authenticity, making for a very enjoyable read.—Sunday Telegraph

The steady pace, atmospheric design, and detailed description re-create a complicated city. A recommended historical series.—Library Journal

Sheer fun—The Times

From the Publisher