Death at the Olive Press

Rating:
Summary: Hospital companion
Review: Death at the Olive Press was my companion in the hospital. I read it every waking minute. It not only kept my mind off my surgery, it transported me to another country. My appreciation to the author for an engrossing story and for making Greece come alive to me - just when I needed it.

Josephine Stuart

Rating:
Summary: It's Greek to me!
Review: Fly away to Greece, immerse yourself in the warmth of a budding romance, then get tangled up in murder and intrigue. It's all there in "Death at the Olive Press," Ellen Boneparth's new mystery. Best of all, enjoy delving into the mind of a real woman's heroine, Alexis, who brings brains as well as beauty to her part. Set against the backdrop of the beautiful Greek countryside, peopled by authentic characters, this yarn provides action, thrills, and a heroine you'll want to meet again.

Rating:
Summary: It's Greek to me!
Review: Fly away to Greece, immerse yourself in the warmth of a budding romance, then get tangled up in murder and intrigue. It's all there in "Death at the Olive Press," Ellen Boneparth's new mystery. Best of all, enjoy delving into the mind of a real woman's heroine, Alexis, who brings brains as well as beauty to her part. Set against the backdrop of the beautiful Greek countryside, peopled by authentic characters, this yarn provides action, thrills, and a heroine you'll want to meet again.

Rating:
Summary: 3 in One: Love Story, Tale of Modern Greece, Mystery Novel
Review: I usually don't care for murder mysteries but I couldn't put this one down. There was something about Alexis, the young American woman who built her home out of an old olive press on a Greek island, that grabbed me right away. The novel is her love story and it's also a tale of all the tensions of modern Greek life and at the same time it's a mystery with a lot of twists and turns. That's the brew that kept me turning the pages until the end and then made me wish it went on longer. I hope Boneparth will write a sequel about her quirky and intrepid heroine.

Rating:
Summary: Death at the Olive Press Entertains and Informs
Review: This first novel of murder and intrigue from Boneparth builds on the author's intimate knowledge of rural Greece, its people, and their customs. Boneparth weaves strong character development and scene-setting with a sturdy plot line to keep the reader moving right along. Alexis Davidov is an ex-pat. American hoping to make a quiet life for herself on a tiny Greek island. We meet her and her beloved olive press-home under attack from brush/forest fire and her perilous state continues as she's detained in a Greek jail cell as a suspect in the apparent murder of a noxious neighbor who has equally nasty relatives. This introduction allows us to follow Alexis back through time to learn how she has come to this sorry state of affairs, forward to see how she takes her fate in her own capable hands, ultimately clearing herself, and through the action involved in solving the deeper mystery. There is more than meets the eye to this slender volume. Boneparth has an obvious sympathy for the people of Greece and a sharp eye and ear for their customs and habits. Very subtly she educates the reader about some of the mores and customs that dictate commercial, social, and personal relations in that country. This education greatly adds to the rich texture that serves as the medium for the action involved in the story. I liked this book as much for the change of scenery and the informed insight into present-day Greek culture as I did for its intrigue and plot. Either would do, both in one book is a real treat.

Rating:
Summary: Misdeeds on a Greek Island
Review: This story will prove very satisfactory to a lot of people, and for a lot of different reasons. It has something for nearly everyone.

When her evil neighbor's body is found with his skull smashed in very close to the ancient olive press she is restoring as her home, Alexis is jailed ... on suspicion ... and spends five days in a Piraius cell, dark, dank, dirty and dour, where the matrons (with one exception) are sadistic monsters. Alexis has of course been framed, but on her release another can of slimy worms plops open involving art thieves, crooked government ministers, and a few sleazy characters out to make a fast buck by exploiting the system and each other.

Alexis has the choice of withdrawing from all this and leaving well enough alone but her innate sense of decency leads her to investigate all leads, and this brings her into situations of risk and danger from assorted domestic and international criminals as she exposes malfeasance at several social and political levels. Not that she is a gangbusting superwoman. Her moments of self doubt and moral reasoning make fascinating reading. In her brushes with danger and moments of vacilation she finds comfort and support in her growing love for Theo, the surprisingly well educated Albanian migrant worker.

But she also protects Theo, mostly by withholding crucial information about his whereabouts at specific times from police investigators.

Extremely good is this story's handling of such specific social issues of Greek life as the status of migrant workers. Interesting also is its deftness in unfolding two narrative sequences at one without having recourse to the ... flashback ... technique.

The author clearly has a healthy respect for the Greeks and their civilization. She also seems to know a lot of individual Greeks both men and women, whom she loves as friends. But she is no wide-eyed romantic. She brings out plenty of faults and foibles in the Greek character, which is, after all, human character.

Rating:
Summary: Death at The Olive Press brings Greece to Life
Review: With the mystery genre mostly confined to US cities, what an unexpected pleasure to discover Boneparth's sizzling novel set on the Greek islands. She pulls it off with aplomb: unpredictable twists of intrigue and cruelty woven into a "can't put this book down" story of personal courage and triumph. Her zesty character Alexi finds her hard-edge, toughing out unbearable danger and prevailing with brio. I read this book because I'm leaving for Greece this week-- and now I can hardly wait to set foot in Athens, get a bottle of Ouzo and head for the cryptic allure of the islands. Boneparth knows Greek life and deftly delivers the mystical allure of its islands. If you read Paretsky, Muller and Grafton, this book is for you-- it's a trip you'll never forget.