Island of Dead Gods

Book excerpt: An island in the Mediterranean, a traveler's dream destination, and a nightmare for those involved in a deep-rooted crime. Philine, interpreter, single mother, and bankrupt, is forced to sell her one asset, her beloved cottage on Ibiza, when she runs into even more problems: her best friend has disappeared, a fire breaks out-and, on top of all, she is confronted with Adam, a man she, for good reason, never wanted to see again. He'd flown in from Texas to bury his sister, who supposedly committed suicide on the island, though he suspects she was murdered. When a connection between her death, Phil's disappeared friend, and more fatalities are revealed, the two ex-lovers reluctantly collaborate. "Verena Mahlow's Island of Dead Gods combines a meticulously constructed international thriller with her extensive personal exploration of Ibiza, long a magnet for bohemians, speculators and sybarites of all nationalities. Mahlow's intelligently devised, twisting plot includes much local color-cuisine, ancient sites, modern ambience-and diverse characters, an arcane coterie of goddess-worshipping proto-feminists and men treating themselves to easy, sleazy sex. Mahlow deftly moves these players toward an unexpected, explosive climax." Barbara Bamberger Scott, A Woman's Write