Independent Bookstore Day and Moi

Saturday–Jeff

Today, April 26, 2025, is Independent Bookstore Day, a national event celebrated annually on the last Saturday of April. It is a day for putting aside your electronics and heading off to your local bookstore for a first-hand experience with the printed word! 

Since I can’t personally accompany each of you to your favorite local bookseller, I’ve fallen back on what I consider to be the next best thing I can do on that score. To wit, offer you this sort of script of what you would have heard had you attended any of my back-and-forth-across-the-country April bookstore events for my latest book.

I love “pressing the flesh” and this script reflects much of what I tried to articulate at my live events–though what I actually said and how it was delivered, depended upon how I “read the room.” In other words, were my adlib jokes and observations flying high or falling flat.

For better or verse, here’s what you would have heard:

 

I can’t believe NOT DEAD YET is book #14 in my Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis Series, and that two thirds of my books have received starred reviews from Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, and Booklist. Once upon a time, any of that seemed unimaginable to me. Today, I wonder what’s left for me to say that I haven’t said at other events. I thought to patch together bits from past presentations or simply read from my book. But you, my supporters, deserve a greater effort. So, I decided to read a story: the tale of how my life led me to this moment.

Fourteen books is not a record, but in retrospect it certainly validates the depth of a desire that lingered unrequited within me for at least a half a century. It was with me when as a child I found myself at sleep-away camp making up plays that challenged what the counsellors wanted us to perform.

And it was there with me in high school when as a freshman I thought I could make it as a writer … until a football teammate showed himself more gifted as a writer than I could ever hope to be.  That revelation led me to focus on finding another way to make a living—leading me to become a lawyer.

Serendipitously, that decision to practice law played a huge role in my emergence as a creative writer. And by that I don’t mean that my many years as a litigator taught me to be creative with the facts.  Rather, those years and experiences developed my style, my voice, taught me how to write clearly, concisely and convincingly – and to do so quickly.

The practice of law also taught me how to graciously accept and channel criticism from collaborators, adversaries, judges and clients. 

That’s a vital skill for one to develop if as a writer you wish to survive well-intended suggestions from your peers, critical analyses of your work by your editors, slings and arrows of outrageous critics and reviewers, and most importantly the not always complimentary reactions of your readers.

Having said all that, and prescinding from any discussion of how making a living as a writer compares to that of practicing law, I never imagined I’d find something that’s brought as much fun and joy to my life –aside from Barbara of course– as does the time I spend with Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis and his crew seeking to  further entertain all the wonderful friends we’ve made through the writing life.

So, here I am, more than 20 years into my writing gig, celebrating my 14^th book in a series that’s brought plaudits for my work from so many I deeply respect in the mystery writing world.  All of that truly has me feeling blessed that the dream of the young boy I once was to someday become a writer came true.

WHEW.

My having said all that might lead one to think they’re hearing a retirement speech…and with the title of #14 being NOT DEAD YET, it’s understandable how one could gain that impression. 

So, allow me to assure you that ain’t so.

Not only am I working on Kaldis #15, but I have a new book in an entirely different series coming out in February 2026. And the folks with an option on film rights to my Kaldis series say they’re close to making it all come together.

And did I mention the planned re-release of my entire backlist? 

In other words, I’ve got a lot of irons in the fire. Which keeps me happily truckin’ on down a road that’s led me from the Pittsburgh of my roots to a NYC legal career, and onto an ever-evolving love affair with Greece.

On that note, I think it’s time for me to tell you something about NOT DEAD YET, a book that critics are calling my best book yet…which is always better to hear than, “Hey, Jeffrey, what’s happened to you?”

First, a brief sketch of the plotline, followed by a bit of blatant self-promotion quoting what some of the most respected reviewers of crime fiction have to say not just about NOT DEAD YET, but about my entire series. And then we’ll move on to your questions.

Set largely along Greece’s southwestern Peloponnesian coastline with the Ionian Sea, the plot moves north from where Greek mythology places the entrance to Hades, to search for clues along the coastal perimeter of the historically and agriculturally rich Messinian Bay region. From there it’s on to Navarino where Greeks fought the most important sea battle of their 1821 War for Independence and today is home to Costa Navarino, one of the world’s most luxurious and celebrated golf resorts.

Against that backdrop, we have wealthy Greek businessman Dimitris Onofrio who’s known to be corrupt to the core, but police have never been able to make his crimes stick. Powerful, influential and extremely dangerous, he’s not a man to cross, and every witness prepared to come forward against him has died before they could.

So, when Onofrio’s private jet crashes in the deepest part of the Mediterranean Sea, with no apparent survivors, the police breathe a sigh of relief–quickly replaced by horror when Onofrio is found alive but catatonic on a remote Ionian beach, beside the body of his beloved wife.

Was the crash an accident… or sabotage? Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis, head of Athens’ Special Crimes Unit, knows that unless he can discover the truth before Onofrio recovers, the tycoon will be out for bloody revenge on all involved. Including Kaldis’ own beloved wife, who’s more mixed up in the accident than one would ever have suspected . . .

Out of that maelstrom emerges a host of new, well-developed characters—some villains, some heroes –– but all contributing to the rave reviews #14 has received, including a starred review from Booklist saying “Buckle up for Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis’ most complex case yet … truly ingenious. This series gets better with every book.”

Reader’s Digest: “Jeff is one of our new favorite authors.”

Bolo Books: “Jeffrey Siger’s mysteries comprise one of the most consistently strong series in our genre.”

The National Herald, America’s Greek newspaper of record: “It is always a pleasure to read and share the latest book in a beloved series.”

George Easter, publisher of the highly regarded Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine lists my series as 8^th on his list of “Top Favorite 25 Current Police Procedural Series.”

Michael Barson, long a cherished voice in the book industry calls it, “One of the top crime series of the past 15 years, no question.”

And of course, The New York Times: “Thoughtful police procedurals set in picturesque but not untroubled Greek locales.”

But of all that wondrous praise what best epitomizes my pride in what I’ve achieved as a writer, is what one of the genres most respected reviewers has to say: “Not Dead Yet is my favorite of Siger’s recent books…If you’re looking for a police procedural series with solid characters, gorgeous Greek settings, and fascinating politics, you’re in luck. You have fourteen books waiting for you.”

On that august praise, I drop the mike, thank you for your courteous attention, and open the floor for questions.

–Jeff

 

Jeff’s Events

2025

All Live Events

 

Sunday, May 4, 2:00 p.m. ET
Sparta Public Library
Author Speaking and Signing
Sparta, NJ

Thursday, May 15, 2:40 p.m.

CrimeFest Panel

Panelist, Murder is Everywhere: Evil Crimes in Foreign Climes, with Heidi Amsinck, Michael Ridpath, Ovidia Yu, and Stanley Trollip (moderator)

Mercure Bristol Grand Hotel
Bristol, UK

 

Saturday, May 17, 1:40 p.m.
CrimeFest Panel
Moderator, Not All 999: Police Procedurals Across Time and Place, with panelists Tara Collins, Mark Ellis, Solveig Palsdottir and Stanley Trollip of Michael Stanley
Mercure Bristol Grand Hotel
Bristol, UK

 

Wednesday, September 3 – Sunday, September 7
Bouchercon
Author Panels yet to be assigned
New Orleans, LA