Tag Archives: murder mysteries

Zeus and Dionysus in Crete

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The Cretan Zeus is not quite the same as the Classical Greek version of the God. For one thing, the Cretan Zeus is more of a harvest God who is born again each spring and dies in the Fall. Since Classical Greeks thought all Gods and Goddesses should be immortal, they changed the attribute of the God whose name they’d taken and declared all Cretans are liars. They kept, however, the story of his upbringing in a cave after his father, Cronus in Classical Greek mythology, swallowed all his children.  A prophesy declared one would be his killer. To prevent that, Cronus swallowed them. But Rhea, to protect her remaining child, dressed a stone in swaddling clothes so Cronus swallowed the rock instead.

In both versions, Zeus was nursed by a nanny goat – or one of several other animals such as a pig. Take your pick. I’ve now read several variations. Zeus’s crying was masked by the Kouretes, a group of armed men who clashed their weapons together to hide the cries.

So what does this have to do with Dionysus? Well, the Cretan Zeus is more like Dionysus. A mortal harvest God followed by ecstatic worshippers.

When I was in Greece at Delphi I asked our tour guide why Dionysus was so different from the Classical Greek Gods. They do not embody the Dionysian wildness and several represent rationality. She didn’t know but I have the answer now. Dionysus is a very old God. He is named in the linear B tablets. And in many, if not most, of the other Middle Eastern Bronze Age religions there are other Gods like him.

These early beliefs were concentrated on fertility – not just human fertility although in Bronze Age Crete the High Priestess, as an earthly representation of the Goddess, represented that fertility. Ritual intercourse was practiced not only in the Mediterranean but as far away as Norway. For these early farmers, fertility among the livestock and of course a good harvest meant the difference between life and death. According to Joseph Campbell, in very early times the king of the land, (or the consort to the Priestess) was sacrificed so that his blood would nourish the land and promote that fertility. This practice evolved to a ritual sacrifice, using animals or other rites that stood in for the death of the king.

That is why the High Priestess had such power. Although we are not entirely sure how much, I imagined her as THE power, with her consort controlling the administration of the state. Bulls and other animals were sacrificed, but other rituals were also employed. I suggest that the consort is required to reestablish his strength by facing a bull in the ring.

Of course, as the Priestess comes to the end of her fertile years, she would be replaced with a younger woman.

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The Red Queen is the 26th entry in the Richard Jury series. And what a disappointment.

Tom Treadnor is shot through the window in a local pub, The Queen. When Jury investigates, he sees someone has edited the pub’s name to The Red Queen. When he begins investigating, he discovers everyone has a different opinion of the victim. Jury sends his friends Melrose Plant and Gerrard Gerrard to the Treadnor estate to do some undercover investigating. I was never sure why this section was included since it offered nothing to the mystery.

About halfway through, Jury’s sergeant suddenly leaves Scotland Yard to look for a sister that disappeared five years ago and has suddenly reappeared. (In past novels, the sister is believed dead.)

I’ve read almost all of the Grimes’ mysteries and yet I felt as though I’d gone to a party where I knew no one, but they knew each other. There was almost no back story to help put the reader in the know. There was, however, an awful lot of empty banter. And the murder mystery was not very good. But at least there was an ending, albeit not a very plausible one. Wiggins’ story feels half-finished with several unanswered questions.

Don’t waste your time. Not recommended.

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This past week I read Dachshund Through the Snow by David Rosenfelt. I love these books. They are funny and with good mysteries as well.

In this one, Andy Carpenter is persuaded by his wife and by a Christmas wish from a young boy, to bring his father home. But he doesn’t want to be found. He knows he is suspected of a murder that happened long ago, a murder he assures Carpenter he didn’t commit.

As he investigates, Carpenter begins to believe the young man is telling the truth. Especially after several people assigned to watch Carpenter are murdered. Then another man who was asking questions.

Sure enough, the case is way more complicated than it first appears. But Andy pursues it to the end and justice is served.

Recommended.

The Bull in Ancient Crete

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Bulls in Ancient Crete were sacred. We know that from the murals and the statuary that show how valuable the bull was. Rhytons, drinking cups, were even made in the shape of a horned bulls head. I’ve certainly discussed at length the ritual of bull leaping. Teenagers, little more than kids actually, ran at a charging bull, grabbing the horns, and flipping over the beast.

These are not out modern bulls either. These were bulls that were especially fast. They are not extinct, a poacher killed the last one that was housed in a Polish zoo.

How do we know about this ritual? Well, anyone who knows the Theseus myth is familiar with the minotaur. Athens had to send 14 tributes to Knossos; 7 boys and 7 girls. In the myth, they face the minotaur in the labyrinth. Theseus, with the aid of a ball of string and a sword given him by the king’s daughter Ariadne, defeats the minotaur.Frescoes from Knossos show they teenagers leaping over a charging bull. Another member of the team caught the jumper. There seems to be no doubt this ritual occurred.

What is behind the veneration of the bull? I’ve read varying explanations. Is it because the Bull represented the male principle, even in a society with a Supreme Goddess? Is it because of the connection with Poseidon. also a God in this culture. (I have mentioned previously how much the Classical Greeks borrowed from the Minoans).

A stylized version of the bull’s horns, called the Horns of Consecration, were used everywhere. Examples have survived in Knossos.

Hatshepsut

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A Murder of Furies, the third in the Bronze Age Crete series, will be released January 31.

In this outing, Ancient Egypt plays a large role.

A minor prince seeks the hand of Hele, the High Priestess’s daughter. She has turned him down multiple times but he won’t take no for an answer. He arrives in Knossos to press his suit in person. While he is there, Martis discovers that the prince is allying himself with Khoranos, the High Priestess’s son, who is planning to take the throne.

And then the High Priestess is murdered! Martis suspects the Egyptians.

I don’t know if this could have happened but I thought it might be possible. Crete and Egypt were trading partners and some time after the time frame in which this story takes place, Ramses appealed to Crete for help in stopping the Sea Peoples, the pirates who attacked Egypt regularly. We know, therefore, that there was regular contact between the two.

When this mystery takes place, Hatshepsut, a woman, was the pharaoh of Egypt. Although women enjoyed a comparatively high status, there are very few women pharaohs. Hatshepsut was the daughter, the sister, and the wife of a king so her bloodline was impeccable.

The daughter of Thutmose I, she ruled jointly with her brother/husband, Thutmose III. She reigned for over 20 years and is generally regarded as a successful pharaoh.She reestablished trade networks that had been disrupted during a previous war and although was engaged in warfare in the early part of her reign, oversaw a long and prosperous era. She also embarked on many building projects.

She was almost lost to history since her cartouche was removed from her monuments. Her brother, Thutmose III, did not remove her cartouche until the end of his reign. Since by the little we know, the relationship between Thutmose and Hatshepsut was a good one, it is suggested that his son, Amenhotep II was the defacer.

Not much is known about her. She had one daughter and seems to have been a good ruler. A mummy believed to be hers has been discovered. An examination shows she had diabetes, cancer and bad teeth.

As even many layman know, the Egyptians married siblings, nieces, and daughters. The accepted explanation is that only another royal had the proper bloodline. Another theory is that this was an effort to keep the power concentrated in one family’s hands.. One suggestion I find particularly interesting is that, because of a woman’s connection to a Supreme Goddess, a holdover from the Goddess worship of earlier times, only a female member of the royal family could give legitimacy to the throne and to her relative’s rule.

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Our Lady of the Overlook, by R.L. Carpentier III is a police procedural.

Mike Ellis is a rookie cop, working under the shadow of his father. Charles Ellis had been the police chief in the little town for years.

Now it looks like history is repeating itself. Mike Ellis finds the body of a woman murdered, at the overlook, just like his father had forty years ago. Although Mike’s investigation takes a heavy toll on him, he pursues it to the end. Mike’s character evolves and changes as he faces truths that are, at best, uncomfortable.

The mystery takes a little while to get started but once it does, I couldn’t put the book down. I’m glad Carpentier has planned a trilogy as I have already ordered the second one in the series.

Recommended.

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I am a big fan of the Shetland mysteries (Vera and Jimmy Perez.)Several years have passed and Jimmy has settled into his new home in the Orkneys with his partner Willow Reeves.

One night, during a terrible storm, a close friend disappears and is found murdered. A Neolithic story stone is found next to his body. Jimmy is heartbroken. Archie Stout was as close as a brother. And Jimmy is too close: questioning Archie’s wife and family is difficult.

And rumors – about Archie’s relationship with a young artist, as well as concerns about a television star and his wife, swirl about the island. But Jimmy, assisted by Willow, preserves to the tragic solution.

Highly recommended,

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Amy Patricia Meade is becoming one of my favorite authors. In this outing, she offers us Rosie the Riveter.

Rosie has taken on the job at the Brooklyn shipyards, along with several other women, because of the pay. The more ‘ladylike’ jobs do not pay as well and Rosie is supporting her widowed sister and baby. The male riveters don’t want the women there but Rosie is managing.

When her foreman makes a pass at her, promising a promotion, she clocks him in the head with the telephone. The next day his body is discovered in a nearby alley. Rosie is the prime suspect. She begins to investigate, finding a surprise ally in the police lieutenant investigating the case.

Roșie discovers several people wanted the foreman dead. The solution rests in a very nice twist. I would love to read the sequel but unfortunately it is unavailable.

Highly Recommended.

I also read Million Dollar Baby by Meade. Marjorie, an attractive mystery writer, catches the eye of wealthy British heir, Creighton Ashcroft. The house he is renovating is the site of a suicide, a mysterious death, and a missing diamond. When Ashcroft invites Marjorie to tour the house, they find a body.

A handsome policeman arrives to investigate – and Marjorie is immediately interested. Ashcroft is jealous and annoyed, but the three must work together to solve the mystery.

Another winner!

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I finished the final two entries for the Wren Winters series, at least up to now.

In the second outing, Wren and her friends are thrilled at the invitation to appear on the podcast of a popular influencer. But Noelle collapses and by the time the police arrive, she is dead. Noelle, it becomes clear, was being threatened online. Further investigation turns up a jealous ex, a former business partner, and a sister determined to force Noelle offline.

Then Wren’s. pink haired librarian friend begins to display similar symptoms. Now Wren and her friends have to hurry before Esther follows Noelle to the grave.

Wren and her friends head off to a gaming con. Wren is reluctant, because this was the exact convention her beloved husband Marcus attended before his death. Wren soon realizes that the jealousies and rivalries between the members are dangerous and when two of the women are murdered, and then Wren herself is attacked, she realizes the case goes all the way back to Marcus and his death. Once declared an accident, it is obvious he too was murdered. Was it by the same person? And why?

I really enjoy these books. The gaming world is a fresh and original setting (and one I, a former D&D player revel in) and the mysteries are complicated and intriguing. I hope this is not the last we’ve seen of Wren Winters and her posse.

Recommended.

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The two books I read this past week couldn’t be more different.

Turkey Trot Murder takes place as Tinker’s Cove, Maine, is gearing up for Thanksgiving. But the community is rocked by the murder of a young college student, Allison Franklin. Her father, the wealthiest man in town, puts the blame squarely on the immigrants. He includes a restauranteur, although his family could trace their heritage pre-United States. Emotions run high and soon Allison’s father is also found murdered.

Who could be the murderer of both Franklins? The immigrants? Or the many other people in town, including Franklin’s estranged wife, with whom both battled?

I thought Turkey Trot Murder would be cozier than I usually read. And it did follow several of the cozy rules: the violence takes place mostly off scene and there are plenty of homey domestic touches throughout. But the depiction of the opioid crisis gave the story much more weight. I found this aspect very realistic and really more interesting than the mystery. In fact, the mystery ended up being overshadowed by the rest of the story.

Recommended with that caveat.

Wasp Trap couldn’t be more different.

In 1999, 6 students are chosen by a charismatic teacher to work on a special project, developing a test to discover psychopaths. But Sebastian shuts down the project very suddenly. No one knows why.

The six students, now adults in their forties, meet at a dinner party planned by two of the so-called revolutionaries. The visit quickly goes sideways when the six are isolated in the house by two genuine psychopaths and told to confess a secret from 1999. The situation rapidly spirals into murder.

I thought this book started slowly but once it picks up steam, it is unputdownable. There are several surprising twists before the secret is revealed and the psychopath is revealed. Recommended.