2016 Barry Awards nominee for Best Novel "Siger brings Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis some very big challenges in his seventh mystery set in troubled contemporary Greece...The final plot twist proves well worth the wait, but it won't take readers long to get there as they will be turning pages at a ferocious clip." ― Booklist STARRED review Delphi once stood at the center of the world, a mountainous, verdant home to the gods, where kings and warriors journeyed to hear its Oracle speak. The Oracle embodied the decree of the gods―or at least the word of Apollo. To disobey risked...everything. Young Athenian Kharon chooses modern Delphi to rebuild his life among its rolling hills and endless olive groves. But his dark past is too celebrated, and his assassin's skills so in demand, that his fate does not rest entirely in his own hands. Greece is being flooded with bomba, counterfeits of the most celebrated alcoholic beverages and wine brands. The legitimate annual trillion-dollar world market is in peril. So, too, are consumers―someone is not just counterfeiting booze, but adulterating it, often with poisonous substances. Who is masterminding this immensely lucrative conspiracy? Kharon learns who when the ruthless criminal gives him no choice but to serve her. Her decrees are as absolute as the Oracle's, and as fearsomely punished. Kharon agrees, but dictates his own payoff. And his own methods, which allow his targets some choice in the outcomes. When Kharon unexpectedly shoots a member of one of Greece's richest, most feared families, he draws Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis into the eye of a political and media firestorm threatening to bring down Greece's government. Think Breaking Bad , Greek-style. JEFFREY SIGER is an American living on the Aegean Greek island of Mykonos. A Pittsburgh native and former Wall Street lawyer, he gave up his career to write mystery thrillers that tell more than just a fast-paced story. His novels are aimed at exploring societal issues confronting modern day Greece. Visit him at jeffreysiger.com. Devil of Delphi A Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis Mystery By Jeffrey Siger Poisoned Pen Press Copyright © 2015 Jeffrey Siger All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-4642-0432-6 CHAPTER 1 He was born precisely one year after his mother's death. At least that's what the birth certificate read. His father wasn't around to notice the mistake, having vanished immediately after his fateful one-night stand. Nor did the orphanage pick up on the error; they simply treated him as the child of an unidentified itinerant mother, born on the day she died giving birth in one of Athens' worst public clinics. He learned of the mistake a dozen years ago, slightly shy of what he believed to be his fourteenth birthday. The surprise came in the form of a copy of his birth certificate shown to him just before his lawyer presented it to a court along with a citation to provisions of the Greek Criminal Code absolving a minor under thirteen from any criminal responsibility for his acts. He stood expressionless as a visibly angry judge ranted on and on before ordering him to spend his next five years in programs alongside other minors deemed in need of reformative measures. But he never spent a moment in confinement for the murders. * * * "I don't usually pick up hitchhikers, but I figured anyone out here in the middle of nowhere carrying a puppy in his arms must be local. Sorry, you probably don't understand a word I'm saying." "I live in the next village." "You understand English?" said the driver. "Wonderful. I'm new to this part of the world. Just passing through." The passenger nodded. "I'm headed back to Athens. Been down to Galaxidi on the Gulf of Corinth for a couple of days. Beautiful harbor, beautiful town, beautiful sea. I think I'll do a quick stop in Delphi. Mythology stuff isn't my thing, but at least I'll be able to tell my friends I saw the place. Ever been there? Of course you have. You live right next to it." Again the passenger nodded. "Gorgeous place, Greece, especially now in June. Maybe you can answer a question for me. Everywhere I go I see wide-open countryside. Makes me wonder why with so much beautiful, available space, almost half the country chooses to live jammed together in Athens?" The passenger stroked the puppy. "I wouldn't know. I haven't been to Athens. Matter of fact, I haven't been much farther away from my home than the place where you picked me up." "Really? A nice looking, well-built young man like you stuck here in the middle of nothing but olive groves all your life? Someone ought to take you to Athens and show you a good time. After all, it's only a couple of hours away." The driver shot a quick glance at the passenger. The passenger nodded and smiled. The man touched his right hand to the passenger's left thigh. "I'm from Georgia." The passenger took no notice of the touch. "I wouldn't have taken you for a former Soviet." The driver paused for a moment, laugh