The Assassin’s Village
The Assassin’s Village
Faith Mortimer (author)
Product Description
The Assassins’ Village by the acclaimed author, Faith Mortimer, introduces, Diana Rivers, writer, sometime actor and amateur sleuth.
When an expatriate theatrical group gather to discuss their next play there will be murder. A blackmailer stalks their picturesque Cypriot village.
The group is riven with jealousies, rivalry, sexual tension and illicit affairs. Unbeknown to each other they all attempt to find solutions to their problems. Some believe it lies in murder. Can they find the blackmailer? And can they find that all important ‘little black book’ – the chronicle of their misdeeds.
A body is discovered and Diana turns detective to draw up a suspects list. After the police get involved one of the suspects is found hanged – is it another murder or suicide?
A visit to a villager’s home uncovers an ancient assassin’s device. Could this be the murder weapon? Is it possible that an assassin lives at the heart of this formerly peaceful and idyllic village?
Love, hate, murder and high drama all feature in this classic historical detective story. With a long list of suspects, some dramatic twists and the odd red herring, the reader is left guessing until the final curtain.
Product Details
Ebook
File Size: 536 KB
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Language: English
ASIN: B004XWF4WU
Available at Amazon.com, Amazon.uk and Smashwords.
Paperback
348 pages
Publisher: Topsails Charter (June 8, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0956931804
ISBN-13: 978-0956931801
Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces
Available at Amazon.com and Amazon.uk.
Review
Excellent psychological mystery turned tragedy, August 18, 2011
By Katherine Holmes
Faith Morimer’s Assassin’s Village is the kind of mystery I love to read, psychological and delving beneath mere motives to the twisted and eventful stories about people involved with a local murder. I kept looking at the cover because masks are employed throughout and that intensifies the mystery. The murder scene, because of the suave Leslie’s many sordid offenses, is attended by discreet spectators. These and other affected neighbors are each portrayed with pasts that bring many of them to the small village in Cyprus. The individual stories are taken up and told to a present where the confrontations with other characters inhibit the truth. And that’s where a character’s mask takes over, meeting another mask so that the dialogue perplexes.
This is the stage that the newcomer, Diana, attempts to penetrate as she struggles to write a novel. Although the rehearsals of MacBeth are stalled amongst the British ex-patriotics, the role of Lady MacBeth might be stealthily executed by one of four women. That, while Mediterranean and other male vendettas creep into play.
The history of the British on Cyprus extends this mystery, meting out their relationships with the local Cypriots. All of the characters are fascinating; their habits and quirks in this setting held me rapt. I was reminded of Doris Lessing and Muriel Sparks’ stories about ex-patriot British people in Africa.
Assassin’s Village begins as mystery but halfway through, it becomes a tangle of tragedy, mounting until it has revealed the inner grief of the woman most damaged. Throughout, the scenes and the characters are held in lively balance, keeping tragedy underneath and delighting the reader’s senses.
