Fiction Review

Michael Barson recently interviewed Jeffrey Siger for Bookreporter.com, and he allowed me to share that interview here. Here’s the link if you’d like to check out the article, and the site itself. https://bit.ly/3Ek4CKb. But, with Michael’s permission, here’s the interview with Siger, author of One Last Chance.

ONE LAST CHANCE is the 12th installment in Jeffrey Siger‘s mystery series starring Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis. It’s set upon the mountainous rugged Greek island of Ikaria, against its storied past of exploitation, exiles and lives spent in hiding from conquerors, slavers and pirates, and its current worldwide reputation for the longevity of its people. In this interview conducted by Michael Barson, Senior Publicity Executive at Melville House, Siger explains why he chose Ikaria as the setting for his latest book, names the one character whose development throughout the course of the series has been the most unexpected for him, and discusses his latest project, which is a huge departure from his Kaldis novels.

Question: I must admit that I had never heard of Ikaria before reading ONE LAST CHANCE, and the colorful history you provide about it (and its population of 8,500) explains why this Aegean isle is relatively obscure. Did you made an expedition there in the recent past for the purpose of researching the fascinating details in this book?

Jeffrey Siger: I’ve been to Ikaria on several occasions, always with locals, and generally ended up in remote places that were charged with wild natural beauty and steeped in Ikaria’s millennia-long history of successfully enduring and overcoming the most brutal of times. When I thought about writing Kaldis mystery/thriller #12, the world was in the raging throes of the pandemic. I wanted a storyline that neither ignored nor emphasized the effects of the pandemic, yet at its core was enmeshed in its consequences. To achieve that, I needed to find the ideal setting.

That’s when the writing gods smacked me upside my head and pointed their collective fingers at Ikaria. With its unique history of persevering through punishing, impoverishing challenges and its modern-day international fame for the longevity of its people — described by theNew York Times as “the place where people forget to die” — I realized I’d found the perfect setting for ONE LAST CHANCE.

Q: In the years that have gone by since the Inspector Kaldis series debuted, who would you select as the character whose development over that time has come to surprise you the most?

JS: What never fails to surprise me is how many of my characters have their own dedicated fan base, each demanding more storyline play for its favorite! In ONCE LAST CHANCE, I gave fan-favorite Maggie a lead role; after so many years of dedicated public service and endless repartee with Andreas, I thought she deserved it. But as Andreas’ administrative assistant, Maggie has also developed in ways I never anticipated. She’s led me to discover the inestimable value of her many hidden strengths, deeply held faith and loyal corps of front-line bureaucratic staffers.

Q: This is the 12th entry in this acclaimed series. If I am correct, Ikaria is the 11th part of Greece to receive the spotlight treatment, with your second home of Mykonos being featured twice. How many more locations around Greece are available for you to feature in future novels?

JS: I’ve set a trilogy on Mykonos, the first, fifth and 10th novels, and in some books the central locale (such as Patmos) shares the spotlight with another (Mount Athos). Though that’s whittled away at my available venues — with approximately 2,000 islands in Greece, of which 170 are inhabited — plus the storied mainland, I’d say I have a pretty good inventory left to work with.

Q: Kaldis heads the Special Crimes Unit of GADA, the Athens-based General Police Headquarters of Greece. How does an American such as yourself get the inside information needed to portray the workings of GADA accurately?

JS: To protect the innocent (and some of the guilty), let’s just say it’s all fiction. Having said that, any time I need to verify potential facts or settings, there’s a cadre of in-the-know Greek officials and friends ready, willing and able to help me get and keep things straight.

Q: I’ve always seen your Kaldis series as a more exotic version of Ed McBain’s legendary 87th Precinct series, which debuted way back in the 1950s. Can you recall who the biggest influences on you were among crime writers before you began writing your own books?

JS: Being compared to Ed McBain is quite an honor. Thank you for that.  Among crime writers, I’d say (in alphabetical order) Tom Clancy, K.C. Constantine, Arthur Conan Doyle, Frederick Forsyth, Dick Francis and Cormac McCarthy (if you count him as a crime writer). But in truth, I believe playwrights, such as August Wilson, in their use of dialogue had a greater influence on my writing.

Q: The Kaldis series is celebrated by the media in Greece on a whole other level than it has been here in the States. Has anyone from the Greek film and/or television industry ever approached you about wanting to produce a dramatization of your books?

JS: I regularly receive overtures from Greece and elsewhere to dramatize my work. Interest at times has led to contractual arrangements, but not as yet to production. Stay tuned.

Q: A number of mystery authors have a second series alternating with their original one. Has that possibility ever tempted you, or at least crossed your mind? Or does Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis take up all of your creative powers?

JS: Funny you should ask. I recently completed the first book in a new series, a story I’ve been meaning to write for years. It’s based in New York City and features an eccentric protagonist resembling a unique composite of George Smiley, Sherlock Holmes and the Equalizer. I’m currently ruminating on which publishing house might be the right home for it.

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Here’s the summary of One Last Chance. Signed copies are available through The Poisoned Pen’s Web Store. https://bit.ly/3uaPUSh

When Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis’s longtime assistant, Maggie, returns to her ancestral home on Ikaria for her 104-year-old grandmother’s funeral, she quickly realizes not only was Yiayia likely murdered, but that a series of other long-lived Ikariots had recently died under the same suspicious circumstances. Back in Athens, Andreas and his chief detective Yianni pursue a smuggling and protection ring embedded in the Greek DEA, and its possible involvement in the assassination of an undercover cop.

But then Maggie and Yianni uncover a connection between their respective leads in the elder-killings on Ikaria and the DEA corruption case, and they realize that there are international intrigues far more dangerous at play than anyone had imagined.

I’m going to agree with John Charles from The Poisoned Pen that Kim Fay’s Love & Saffron was a wonderful book. Charles had the chance to talk with the author at the bookstore with a live audience. There are signed copies of the book available in the Web Store. https://tinyurl.com/antbc2kz

Here’s the description of Love & Saffron.

The Instant National Bestseller and #1 Indie Next Pick

In the vein of the classic 84, Charing Cross Road, this witty and tender novel follows two women in 1960s America as they discover that food really does connect us all, and that friendship and laughter are the best medicine.

When twenty-seven-year-old Joan Bergstrom sends a fan letter–as well as a gift of saffron–to fifty-nine-year-old Imogen Fortier, a life-changing friendship begins. Joan lives in Los Angeles and is just starting out as a writer for the newspaper food pages. Imogen lives on Camano Island outside Seattle, writing a monthly column for a Pacific Northwest magazine, and while she can hunt elk and dig for clams, she’s never tasted fresh garlic–exotic fare in the Northwest of the sixties. As the two women commune through their letters, they build a closeness that sustains them through the Cuban Missile Crisis, the assassination of President Kennedy, and the unexpected in their own lives.

Food and a good life—they can’t be separated. It is a discovery the women share, not only with each other, but with the men in their lives. Because of her correspondence with Joan, Imogen’s decades-long marriage blossoms into something new and exciting, and in turn, Joan learns that true love does not always come in the form we expect it to. Into this beautiful, intimate world comes the ultimate test of Joan and Imogen’s friendship—a test that summons their unconditional trust in each other.

A brief respite from our chaotic world, Love & Saffron is a gem of a novel, a reminder that food and friendship are the antidote to most any heartache, and that human connection will always be worth creating.

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Born in Seattle and raised throughout the Pacific Northwest, Kim Fay lived in Vietnam for four years and still travels to Southeast Asia frequently. A former bookseller, she is the author of Communion: A Culinary Journey Through Vietnam, winner of the World Gourmand Cookbook Awards’ Best Asian Cuisine Book in the United States, and The Map of Lost Memories,an Edgar Award finalist for Best First Novel. She is also the creator/editor of a series of guidebooks on Southeast Asia. Fay now lives in Los Angeles.

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Turn up the volume, and enjoy Kim Fay’s discussion of writing and Love & Saffron.

Anne Hillerman’s The Sacred Bridge is the current Hot Book of the Week at The Poisoned Pen. Hillerman appeared at the bookstore for the release of her seventh Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito novel. There are signed copies of The Sacred Bridge available in the Web Store. https://tinyurl.com/5n82w8np

Here’s the summary of The Sacred Bridge.

“A fine legacy series . . .  in the spirit of her late father, Tony.”—Booklist 

An ancient mystery resurfaces with ramifications for the present day in this gripping chapter in the Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito series from New York Times bestselling author Anne Hillerman.

Sergeant Jim Chee’s vacation to beautiful Antelope Canyon and Lake Powell has a deeper purpose. He’s on a quest to unravel a sacred mystery his mentor, the Legendary Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn, stumbled across decades earlier. 

Chee’s journey takes a deadly turn when, after a prayerful visit to the sacred Rainbow Bridge, he spots a body floating in the lake. The dead man, a Navajo with a passion for the canyon’s ancient rock art, lived a life filled with many secrets. Discovering why he died and who was responsible involves Chee in an investigation that puts his own life at risk. 

Back in Shiprock, Officer Bernadette Manuelito is driving home when she witnesses an expensive sedan purposely kill a hitchhiker. The search to find the killer leads her to uncover a dangerous chain of interconnected revelations involving a Navajo Nation cannabis enterprise. 

But the evil that is unleashed jeopardizes her mother and sister Darleen, and puts Bernie in the deadliest situation of her law enforcement career. 

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ANNE HILLERMAN is the bestselling author of the Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito series. The Sacred Bridge is her seventh novel in the series, which was created by her father, Tony Hillerman. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she is at work on her next novel.

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Enjoy Anne HIllerman’s conversation with Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen.

The Echoes is the fourth book in Jess Montgomery’s Kinship series, set in the 1920s in Ohio. She recently appeared for a virtual event to discuss the book with Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen. You can order a signed copy through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3JbAilH

Here’s the summary of The Echoes.

The fourth in Jess Montgomery’s evocative Kinship series, The Echoes combines exquisite storytelling with extraordinary crime plotting.

“A beautifully written tour de force.” —Linda Castillo on The Stills

As July 4, 1928 approaches, Sheriff Lily Ross and her family look forward to the opening of an amusement park in a nearby town, created by Chalmer Fitzpatrick—a veteran and lumber mill owner. When Lily is alerted to the possible drowning of a girl, she goes to investigate, and discovers schisms going back several generations, in an ongoing dispute over the land on which Fitzpatrick has built the park.

Lily’s family life is soon rattled, too, with the revelation that before he died, her brother had a daughter, Esme, with a woman in France, and arrangements have been made for Esme to immigrate to the U.S. to live with them. But Esme never makes it to Kinship, and soon Lily discovers that she has been kidnapped. Not only that, but a young woman is indeed found murdered in the fishing pond on Fitzpatrick’s property, at the same time that a baby is left on his doorstep.

As the two crimes interweave, Lily must confront the question of what makes family: can we trust those we love? And what do we share, and what do we keep secret?

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JESS MONTGOMERY writes a Writer’s Digest magazine column, “Level Up Your Writing (Life)” and was formerly the “Literary Life” columnist for the Dayton Daily News. Based on early chapters of the first book in the Kinship Series, The Widows, Jess was awarded an Ohio Arts Council individual artist’s grant for literary arts and named the John E. Nance Writer-in-Residence at Thurber House in Columbus. She also hosts the podcast, “Tea with Jess: Chatting with Authors & Artists.” Jess lives in her native state of Ohio.

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Here’s the virtual event in which Jess Montgomery talks about her books, including The Echoes.

No Accident is Steven Havill’s 25th Posadas County mysteries. Havill recently appeared in person at The Poisoned Pen to talk about his latest book. There are signed copies of No Accident available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3uYL3Tn

Here’s the description of No Accident.

Good cops have no use for coincidence

When a driver slams his pickup truck—twice—into a tandem bike being ridden by Carlos Guzman and his fiancée, Tasha, in Briones, California, it’s more than a simple hit-and-run; the driver clearly intended to harm them. Undersheriff Estelle Reyes-Guzman gets the call with the news of her son’s accident and wastes no time racing to his side. She is greeted by Police Captain Eddie Mitchell, formerly of Posadas County, who allows Estelle to “consult” on the investigation—but only to a point.

While Carlos struggles with critical injuries, an employee at the bike shop where Carlos bought the tandem is found shot dead in a dumpster—the same man who had borrowed the truck that mowed down Carlos and Tasha. The local cops aren’t convinced there’s any connection between the two crimes. Not a believer in coincidence, Estelle pursues every possible angle with a cop’s determination to solve the case, and a mother’s resolve to keep her son safe at any cost.

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Steven F. Havill lives with his wife of fifty-three years, Kathleen, in New Mexico. He is the author of thirty-two novels, taught secondary schools for 25 years, and recently earned an AAS degree in gunsmithing.

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There is no sound for the first 4 minutes and 5 seconds of the virtual event. They do realize that after a few minutes, and they start over. So, hang in there with Steven F. Havill and Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen.

https://youtu.be/KZLKtdKAabk

Congratulations to the recipients of the 2022 Lefty Awards, presented this weekend at Left Coast Crime in Albuquerque. “The awards were voted on at the convention and presented at the banquet. LCC is delighted to announce the 2022 Lefty winners for books published in 2021.”

Check the Web Store for copies of the winners. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Lefty for Best Humorous Mystery Novel.

 “¢ Raquel V. Reyes, Mango, Mambo, and Murder (Crooked Lane Books)

Bill Gottfried Memorial Lefty for Best Historical Mystery Novel for books set before 1970.

 “¢ Naomi Hirahara, Clark and Division (Soho Crime)

Lefty for Best Debut Mystery Novel.

 “¢ Wanda M. Morris, All Her Little Secrets (William Morrow)

Lefty for Best Mystery Novel (not in other categories).
 
 “¢ William Kent Krueger, Lightning Strike (Atria Books)

There’s always a terrific slate of authors scheduled to appear for The Poisoned Pen. It’s time to share upcoming appearances in the next week. Check out the schedule, and check the Web Store for books by your favorite authors. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Here’s the list of this week’s authors.

There’s a theme of historical fiction running through the blog this week, so let’s continue with the current Hot Book of the Week, Captain Grey’s Gambit by J.H. Gelernter. You can order a signed copy through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3ud1oVd

Here’s the description of Captain Grey’s Gambit.

A taut historical thriller for fans of The Queen’s Gambit and James Bond.

December 1803: A French invasion fleet is poised to cross the Channel and storm the beaches of southern England. A member of Napoleon’s inner circle—disaffected by Napoleon’s creeping tyranny—contacts the British naval intelligence service in hopes of defecting to London. His escape plan calls for a rendezvous at an international chess tournament in Frankfurt—a rare opportunity for him to travel outside France. Naval intelligence sends its top man—and best chess player—Captain Thomas Grey, to orchestrate the Frenchman’s escape to England. But Grey’s mission changes dramatically when the defector demands that his pro-Napoleon daughter come with him—expecting Grey to act not just as escort but kidnapper.

The second novel in J. H. Gelernter’s already lauded Captain Grey series, Captain Grey’s Gambit continues a story that is “smart, fast, twisty, and dangerous” (Lee Child) in a “richly imagined early nineteenth-century world” (Richard Snow).

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J. H. Gelernter lives in Connecticut. He is the author of the Captain Grey novels, Hold Fast and Captain Grey’s Gambit.

When Blood Lies is the seventeenth Sebastian St. Cyr novel by C.S. Harris. Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, has read all the books, and she spoke with Harris about the individual mysteries and larger issues in Sebastian St. Cyr’s life and family. You can catch up with the books by ordering a signed copy of When Blood Lies through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3JsG42J

Here’s the description of When Blood Lies.

Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, has spent years unraveling his family’s tragic history. But the secrets of his past will come to light in this gripping new historical mystery from the USA Today bestselling author of What the Devil Knows.

March, 1815. The Bourbon King Louis XVIII has been restored to the throne of France, Napoleon is in exile on the isle of Elba, and Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, and his wife, Hero, have traveled to Paris in hopes of tracing his long-lost mother, Sophie, the errant Countess of Hendon. But his search ends in tragedy when he comes upon the dying Countess in the wasteland at the tip of the ÃŽle de la Cité. Stabbed—apparently with a stiletto—and thrown from the bastions of the island’s ancient stone bridge, Sophie dies without naming her murderer.

Sophie had been living in Paris under an assumed name as the mistress of Maréchal Alexandre McClellan, the scion of a noble Scottish Jacobite family that took refuge in France after the Forty-Five Rebellion. Once one of Napoleon’s most trusted and successful generals, McClellan has now sworn allegiance to the Bourbons and is serving in the delegation negotiating on behalf of France at the Congress of Vienna. It doesn’t take Sebastian long to realize that the French authorities have no interest in involving themselves in the murder of a notorious Englishwoman at such a delicate time. And so, grieving and shattered by his mother’s death, Sebastian takes it upon himself to hunt down her killer. But what he learns will not only shock him but could upend a hard-won world peace.

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C. S. Harris is the USA Today bestselling author of more than twenty-five novels, including the Sebastian St. Cyr Mysteries; as C. S. Graham, a thriller series coauthored by former intelligence officer Steven Harris; and seven award-winning historical romances written under the name Candice Proctor.

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Enjoy the conversation with C.S. Harris and Barbara Peters.

One Last Chance is Jeffrey Siger’s twelfth book in the Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis series. The book is available from The Poisoned Pen as a paperback with signed bookplates, or as a hardcover, with limited signed editions. You can find copies through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3uaPUSh

Jeffrey Siger talks about the location of his latest mystery, Ikaria, with Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen. Here’s the description of One Last Chance.

When Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis’s longtime assistant, Maggie, returns to her ancestral home on Ikaria for her 104-year-old grandmother’s funeral, she quickly realizes not only was Yiayia likely murdered, but that a series of other long-lived Ikariots had recently died under the same suspicious circumstances. Back in Athens, Andreas and his chief detective Yianni pursue a smuggling and protection ring embedded in the Greek DEA, and its possible involvement in the assassination of an undercover cop.

But then Maggie and Yianni uncover a connection between their respective leads in the elder-killings on Ikaria and the DEA corruption case, and they realize that there are international intrigues far more dangerous at play than anyone had imagined.

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Jeffrey Siger was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, practiced law at a major Wall Street law firm, and later established his own New York City law firm where he continued as one of its name partners until giving it all up to write full-time among the people, life, and politics of his beloved Mykonos. The Mykonos Mob is the tenth novel in his internationally best-selling and award nominated Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis series, following up on An Aegean April, Santorini Caesars, Devil in Delphi, Sons of Sparta, Mykonos After Midnight, Target: Tinos, Prey on Patmos, Assassins of Athens, and Murder in Mykonos.

The New York Times described Jeffrey Siger’s novels as “thoughtful police procedurals set in picturesque but not untroubled Greek locales,” and named him as Greece’s thriller writer of record. 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.” He now lives in Greece.

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If you’re a fan of the series, or, if you’re interested in Greece, you’ll enjoy this conversation.