NOT DEAD YET

A suspicious plane crash on the Peloponnese is merely the tip of a criminal iceberg.

The nefarious Dimitris Onofrio, missing for a week and declared dead, is actually very much alive, having stumbled away from the wreckage of his private plane. He’s found on a remote Ionian beach, weeping over the body of his wife, Alexandra Boutsis. Athens-based Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis’ feelings about the news are dominated by concern for the safety of his own wife, Lila Vardi, whose history with “Greece’s kingpin for international drug-smuggling operations” is long and tangled. Multiple murders are just some of Onofrio’s alleged crimes. An extended cat-and-mouse game follows, as Andreas unsuccessfully tries to interview Onofrio and government agencies attempt to investigate the crash. Siger gets some comic mileage out of Andreas’ frustration with Greece’s investigative bureaucracy, but for the most part Andreas’ 14th case is a bit of a departure, less drolly focused on him and his amiable ragtag team and more on forensics. Flashbacks fill in the details of Onofrio’s criminal career, his storied romance with Alexandra, and his menacing history with Lila and her philanthropist father. Multiple inconsistencies about the crash lead investigators down various rabbit holes as the plot caroms like a pinball from one surprising discovery to the next. Murder and attempted murder further complicate the case. Not until Andreas finally gets to interview Onofrio face-to-face do the pieces of the complex puzzle come into sharp relief.

A knotty tale of Greek organized crime and brutal punishment.