In his fourth Istanbul mystery Lawrence Goodman moves into the murky world of antiquities theft. Two corpses found in an island cave-one unidentified and the other a seemingly motiveless murder-baffle local authorities. Meanwhile a Greco-Roman statue of Aphrodite discovered in the same cave repeatedly disappears and reappears frustrating its many pursuers from a spunky young island girl to self-important government officials as well as many of the colorful characters familiar to Goodman's readers. As the story unfolds Aphrodite's lure unleashes unexpected results and we find that not everyone is what he or she seems to be. All this is wrapped in a rollicking comedy peppered with literary allusions and unexpected twists and turns.
Praise for the Princes' Islands mystery series: "Evocative lighthearted completely entertaining"; Cornucopia
"Comic arcane and captivating"; Today's Zaman
"Tinged with nostalgia for a better more elegantmore stylish way of life"; Turkish Area Studies Review
"Beautifully written and wickedly funny"; John Freely author of Istanbul: The Imperial City