From the Devil’s Farm: A Greek Islands Mystery

Set on the island of Sifnos, Serafim’s timely third Greek Islands mystery (after 2015’s When the Devil’s Idle) centers on the murder of an unidentified boy who appears to be seven or eight. Lydia Pappas, a Greek-American ceramicist, found the blood-drained, trussed body of the likely refugee suspended over a fire pit near the shrine ruins of Thanatos. The crime scene offers few clues, and the inhabitants of the island’s refugee camp, who live in tents and hovels, are mistrustful of the police and handicapped by the language barrier. Chief Officer Yiannis Patronas interviews Lydia (with whom he becomes smitten), as well as maverick American professor Richard Svenson and his three students from the U.S. Partonas also visits the refugee camp, where he meets a Syrian woman who says she’s the victim’s aunt. Serafim grounds her tale in Greek history, ancient and present, and provides a brutal and effective resolution to the case that will surprise most readers. Agent: Jeannie Loiacono, Loiacono Literary Agency. (Feb.)