Death ex machina - bookrastinating.com

322 pages

English language

Published Dec. 7, 2015

ISBN:: 978-1-61695-519-9
OCLC Number:: 889523228

(1 review)

"It's the time of the Great Dionysia, the largest arts festival of the ancient world, held each year in honor of Dionysos, the god of wine. But there's a problem: A ghost is haunting Athens's grand theater. Nicolaos and his clever partner in sleuthing (and now in matrimony), the priestess Diotima, are hired to rid the theater of the ghost so that the festival can begin. With the help of Theokritos, the High Priest of Dionysos, they exorcise the ghost publicly, while secretly suspecting that a human saboteur is the actual culprit. Their efforts to protect the theater fall short when one of the actors is found hanged from the machine used to carry actors through the air when they play the part of gods. It's quite a theatrical murder. As Nico and Diotima dig into the actor's past, they discover all was not as it seemed. There are enough …

"It's the time of the Great Dionysia, the largest arts festival of the ancient world, held each year in honor of Dionysos, the god of wine. But there's a problem: A ghost is haunting Athens's grand theater. Nicolaos and his clever partner in sleuthing (and now in matrimony), the priestess Diotima, are hired to rid the theater of the ghost so that the festival can begin. With the help of Theokritos, the High Priest of Dionysos, they exorcise the ghost publicly, while secretly suspecting that a human saboteur is the actual culprit. Their efforts to protect the theater fall short when one of the actors is found hanged from the machine used to carry actors through the air when they play the part of gods. It's quite a theatrical murder. As Nico and Diotima dig into the actor's past, they discover all was not as it seemed. There are enough suspects to fill a theater. As the festival approaches and pressure mounts on all sides, can they hunt down the killer in time? Or will they simply have to hope for a deus ex machina?"--

3 editions

Allyson M W Dyar reviewed Death ex machina by Gary Corby (An Athenian mystery -- 5)

Review of 'Death ex machina' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

As I've mentioned previously, I really like mysteries set in the theater, so when I came across this book on sale, I was intrigued.

While I enjoy period pieces, this is the first mystery series I've read in ancient Athens, so I honestly didn't know what to expect.

I loved it. The dialogue was witty, the descriptions really fantastic, and it was a good mystery to boot.

As a medical historian (more medical nerd since I've never gotten paid for any of my medical history musings), I appreciated the fact that the author did his homework, so I am inclined to think that the rest of the book has some roots in actual history as well.

The plot is a simple one: our hero, a private detective in Athens and his wife, a high priestess of Athena are hired by a playwright during the great festival to get rid of …

As I've mentioned previously, I really like mysteries set in the theater, so when I came across this book on sale, I was intrigued.

While I enjoy period pieces, this is the first mystery series I've read in ancient Athens, so I honestly didn't know what to expect.

I loved it. The dialogue was witty, the descriptions really fantastic, and it was a good mystery to boot.

As a medical historian (more medical nerd since I've never gotten paid for any of my medical history musings), I appreciated the fact that the author did his homework, so I am inclined to think that the rest of the book has some roots in actual history as well.

The plot is a simple one: our hero, a private detective in Athens and his wife, a high priestess of Athena are hired by a playwright during the great festival to get rid of a ghost who is thwarting the rehearsals. While Nico is able to get rid of the "ghost," unfortunately, he has a murder to contend with and we are off to the races.

I did manage to pick up another book in the series at a very good price. Unfortunately, the publisher prices the books above what I consider reasonable for an electronic book, so unless I win the lottery, I don't think I'll be reading many of the books (unless they are on sale).

Well worth your time and eyes. While this is a long book, it's totally worth it and I give it 5 stars up! for a delightful story that had me laughing out loud at several points.

Subjects

Private investigators
Murder
Investigation
Nicolaos (Fictitious character : Corby)
History
Fiction

Places

Athens (Greece)
Greece