The Athenian Murders [Hardcover]

A brilliantly sketched historical mystery, The Athenian Murders is a marvellous literary conundrum that evokes such other delights as Imberto Eco's The Name of the Rose and Arturo Perez-Reverte' s The Dumas Club. The novel revolves around two intertwined riddles and is the first to be translated into English by an award winning Cuban author, now resident in Spain.

In Athens, a pupil of Plato's Academy is found dead and his teacher suspects this was no accident. He asks Heracles, the "Decipherer of Enigmas", to investigate the case and the murky cult that surrounds it. The second plot unfolds in parallel through the footnotes of the translator of the original Greek text and soon leads the reader to suspect the author of the tale has something to hide too. Plot within plot, meaning inside meaning, the story develops in a fascinating manner that will enchant both mystery fans and scholars as reality is shown to be somewhat untrustworthy. This is a delight of intellectual prowess and sheer fun. --Maxim Jakubowski --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

In a highly original and literary approach to crime fiction, Spanish writer Somoza's gripping English-language debut interweaves text from an ancient Greek manuscript with an account of the growing anxieties of its modern translator. In the Greek text, Heracles Pontor, Decipherer of Enigmas, is called upon to solve the grisly killings of young men at Plato's Academy of Philosophy. Athenian tutor Diagoras, a sort of Watson to Pontor's Holmes, comes to ask the sage's help after the corpse of a handsome ephebe (adolescent) is discovered. It is thought at first that he was attacked by wolves, but neither of the ancient sleuths accepts this explanation, and their investigations lead to interviews with family members, mistresses and schoolmates of a mounting number of victims. Insidiously, the translator himself becomes a murder target in the unfolding plot. As he looks for secret messages in the story (left in accordance with a Greek literary technique called eidesis), he begins to notice inexplicable allusions to himself in the text: Someone is reading the scroll right now, deciphering our thoughts and actions.... Such references become more threatening near the suspenseful buildup to the final chapter, especially when he identifies a statue of himself in the studio of a rapacious sculptor rumored to be part of a sacrificial cult terrifying the city. Somoza relies on lengthy footnotes to convey his translator's insights and growing fears, sometimes causing the modern and the ancient narratives to trip over each another, but generally moving the tale along smoothly. Underlying the text are homoerotic and pagan themes, giving an unvarnished and compelling view of Greek life in 400 B.C.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

In his U.S. debut, ambitious Spanish novelist Somoza parallels a murder at Plato's Academy and the predicament of a contemporary translator, who finds that a text about the murder speaks to him in a direct and frightening way.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

A delightfully paranoic read on both ancient and modern planes with enough literary cunning to satisfy fans of Nabokov's PALE FIRE as well as THE NAME OF THE ROSE INDEPENDENT Extremely subtle and intelligent...totally absorbing EVENING STANDARD It works, superbly INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY This is both a riveting historical novel and a subtle, unpretentious investigation of what happens when writers write and readers read. SUNDAY TIMES --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

The English debut of one of Spain's most dazzling younger writers -- a postmodern murder mystery set in ancient Greece.

In this brilliant, highly entertaining, and intriguing novel, JosT Carlos Somoza intertwines two darkly compelling riddles, forcing us to confront the ways in which we interpret reality.

In ancient Athens, one of the pupils of Plato's Academy is found dead. His idealistic teacher Diagoras is convinced the pupil's death is not as accidental as it appears, and asks the famous Heracles Pontor, the "Decipherer of Enigmas," to investigate. As the death toll rises, the two men find themselves drawn into the dangerous underworld of the Athenian aristocracy, risking their own lives to solve the riddle of these young men's deaths. Simultaneously, a second plot unfolds: that of the modern-day translator of the ancient text, who, as he proceeds with his work, becomes convinced that the original author has hidden a second meaning in the text, one that can be interpreted through certain repeated words and images. As the story advances, however, the translator is alarmed to discover references to himself, which seem to address him personally in an increasingly menacing fashion.

An original and unsettling literary mystery, The Athenian Murders introduces a beguiling new talent to an American readership.

'He weaves suspense, gore, a particular corner of Plato’s philosophy and layer upon layer of tantalizing reflexivity with ease and obvious relish’ THE TIMES

'A delightfully paranoiac read on both ancient and modern planes, with enough literary cunning to satisfy fans of Nabakov’s PALE FIRE as well as THE NAME OF THE ROSE’ INDEPENDENT

‘Intriguing … an extremely subtle and intelligent work which is, at the same time, totally absorbing’ INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

JosT Carlos Somoza was born in Havana in 1959 and now lives in Madrid. A psychiatrist, he is the author of six novels. In 2000 he was shortlisted for the Nadal Prize, one of the most important literary prizes in Spain.