A Special Meaning Behind SONS OF SPARTA

I know you’re all expecting whistles, brass bands, and a few other surprises here today to announce Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis #6, SONS OF SPARTA, coming Tuesday, October 7^th.

But guess what, I’m not feeling up to it.  Don’t misunderstand me, I love the book—perhaps my best ever—and I’m as excited as any author at the impending launch, but I just don’t have the urge to scream, “Buy me!” though you can through my website.

Maybe it’s because I return to the US tomorrow after six months on Mykonos?

Maybe.

But on a conscious level I think there is a deeper reason. Before I get to that, let me at least pass along this bit of a description about the newest addition to my Greece-based mystery series.

Many say the ancient warrior Spartans simply vanished from the earth without a trace, the same as did their city, but others say they found sanctuary at the very tip of Greece’s southernmost mountainous Peloponnese in a stark, unforgiving region known as the Mani. 

There, roots run deep and great pride is taken in pirate, highwayman, and warrior ancestors, and in neighbors fighting ferociously alongside neighbors to defeat every foreign force foolish enough to attempt to occupy their part of Greece. Not so often mentioned is these same neighbors killing one another in savage, vendetta-crazed attacks driven by a strict code of honor valuing loyalty to family above all else.

When Special Crimes Division Detective Yiannis Kouros is summoned to the Mani by his uncle on what he will only describe as “a family matter,” Kouros fears his loyalty to his boss, Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis, is about be to be tested, because that uncle once headed Mani’s most significant criminal enterprise.

What Kouros learns instead is that he’s about to become rich—until an accident occurs that’s actually a murder, an ancient vendetta seems back in play, and his family draws him into its search for vengeance. But Kouros locates the killer and solves the crime eliminating the call for family retribution.  Or so it seems, until Andreas’ investigation into deeply entrenched government corruption leads straight back to the Mani and Kouros’ family amid a host of unexpected twists, unforgettable characters, unanswered questions, and more yet to die.

Publishers Weekly, in a starred review, kindly wrote, “Siger's perfectly plotted sixth mystery set in Greece...paints travelogue-worthy pictures of a breathtakingly beautiful—if politically corrupt—Greece.”

Thank you PW.

So, what is it that has me in this mood?

Perhaps simply that it’s number six. 

That may not seem like a lot to those who are fans of Georges Simenon with his 200, Sue Grafton with her alphabet, or my colleagues here at MIE such as Cara who’s about to run out of arrondissements.  But hitting a half-dozen has a special meaning to me because of a very special fellow who saw number six as a big deal.

He didn’t think an author was truly an author until he’d published five books.  Whether or not one agrees with that, it was his thinking. And to him number six meant you were no longer counting how many books you’d published, just doing what it took to write them.

So, my friend, this book is for you. Not just in spirit, but in dedication.

“In memory of Leighton Gage, a true friend, dedicated mentor, and gifted writer.”

God rest your soul, big guy.

And on this day of Yom Kippur, may we all be inscribed in the Book of Life.

Jeff—Saturday