The Oracle of the Dead The Nekromanteion is a dark and disturbing place, set on a windy hillside, surrounded by a landscape unchanged across centuries. If you understand basic Greek, you’ll...
Last month, I saw quinces growing in an orchard in Alonissos – I mistook them, at first, for pears, but pears are not lumpy, run-to-fat and matronly like quinces. Then, out driving the other...
It’s often said the Greek gods were no angels, and the myth of Zeus and Europa is perfect proof of the fact. The Greek myths are filled with stories of the gods’ trickery and...
Of all the Greek myths, one of the most enduring – and one of the most frightening – is of the Minotaur, the terrifying half-bull, half-man monster who stalked human prey through the...
As the first D-Day for the Coventry Book Awards approaches, I thought I might share some of the inspiration behind The Bull of Mithros, which is shortlisted in the Murder & Mayhem category...
One of the beauties of writing the Greek Detective mysteries is that, because of their mythical, magical elements, not all that happens between the covers of the books need be explained. I’m...
I was going to write a post today about the food of the gods in Greek mythology. In my Greek Detective books, I have, of course, taken my own view on what’s suitable food for Hermes, and...
Sparta is the stuff of legend both inside Greece and beyond her boundaries. The Spartans were renowned for their strength of spirit, for their bravery as warriors (celebrated in the 2007 film...
Here’s a guy who, although (almost) certainly dead, still manages to maintain a malevolent glint in his eye. This photo was taken at the market in Kalamata, one of the best markets in...
I was talking to my sister the other day about a recently released Hollywood blockbuster, Percy Jackson & the Sea of Monsters, follow-up to the hugely successful Percy Jackson & the Lightning...
