So Dear To Wicked Men [Hardcover]

Takis Iakovou (Author), Judy Iakovou (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 15, 1996 | Series: So Dear to Wicked Men (Book 1)

When one of Nick and Julia Lambros's customers keels over in his coffee, Nick and Julia are accused of poisoning the man, and to save themselves and their restaurant, Nick, Julia and their cousin Spiros set out to uncover the real killer.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Talk about unusual opening gambits: this mystery begins when the heroes serve poisoned food to the murder victim. Julia Lambros and her Greek immigrant husband, Nick, knock off Glenn Bohannon?accidentally?who was a breakfast customer at their restaurant in Delphi, Ga. The immigrant-bashing sheriff suspects Julia and Nick, but the real killer must have been one of the Buffaloes, local businessmen who had morning coffee with Bohannon and had ample opportunity to poison his food. When the cafe's new cook, Spiro Papavasilakis, rents a ramshackle house, his neighbors are several nervous Hispanics who claim to be studying at the local university. The rental agent, beautiful Connie Santos, was more than friends with Bohannon and with another Buffalo, bank president Morgan Fox. This gives Julia and Nick their first clue to the murder motive, but learning more requires breaking and entering, wringing information from a wronged wife and posing as mill workers. Although Spiro's choice of rental housing is a bit too convenient, Julia and Nick are believable innocents caught in a murder plot, and their food-service skills are surprisingly handy (they pick locks with souvlaki skewers). Nick and Julia engage in some middling repartee and own a sparkplug of a little dog, but they haven't developed the charm of Nick and Nora Charles.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This title sits pretty well as first novels go, despite its reliance on stock situations. Julia and Nick Lambros own a small but increasingly successful restaurant in Delphi, Georgia. Murder threatens their livelihood, though, when a customer is poisoned and the rabidly racist sheriff wants to pin the deed on Nick, who still carries a green card. Nick and Julia retaliate by sleuthing-with some assistance from a feisty dog, an overgrown Cretan cook, and a retired school teacher. A moderately involving plot for larger collections.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; 1st edition (October 15, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312147406
• ISBN-13: 978-0312147402
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,017,433 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A really nice surprise!, June 13, 2001

By 

Anthony P Perrotta - See all my reviews

This review is from: So Dear To Wicked Men (Paperback)

I picked up this book through a used bookseller and am so glad I did!(as it's out-of-print currently) I was eager to read the Nick and Julia Lambros mysteries in order (anal as I am) and this is the first in the series.

I had expected something fairly interesting, but I was honestly hooked by the first page (and that doesn't happen to me frequently!)...

Nick and Julia are the owners of the Oracle Diner in Delphi, Georgia (get it?) but business is a bit slow and they're down on their luck. When murder stops by in the form of a loyal patron having a heart attack during breakfast, the Lambros' are suspect since the autopsy shows poison! Yes, you've all heard this one before, but the characters are so pleasant and the mystery so juicy, that I had long overlooked this overused setup.

Needless to say, it's up to Nick and Julia to figure out exactly which one of their patrons is the killer, and they end up getting involved in an illegal immigrant smuggling scheme along their way.

Nick and Julia are terrific protagonists and I can only imagine the authors are both very much in love as it shows quite evidently in the relationship between our two main characters.

Dealing with being shunned as a murderer, Greek emigrant Nick has his green card taken away by the local sheriff as more people in the town display their ethnocentricity for the 'outsider' since he's a murder suspect.It just gets better and better from there!

The mystery wraps up so well, I was surprised that this was really the first attempt from the authors to create a cogent and well thought-out mystery that was both so entertaining and so readable! (not to mention that you'll learn a word or 2 of Greek before you're done!).... Looking forward to the next in the series! (yes-I already bought it the day I finished this one!)...

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WONDERFUL! Fresh, witty, and outstanding, December 11, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: So Dear To Wicked Men (Hardcover)

I LOVED this book. (I ordered the second in the series, and can't wait for more to be published.) It was very fresh, witty (but definitely not cutesy), innovative, and entertaining. Highly recommended.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delightful debut, September 8, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: So Dear To Wicked Men (Hardcover)

Restaurateurs, Nick and Julie Lambros, are very proud that the long hard work has turned the Oracle Cafe in Delphi, Georgia, into a smashing success. However, the world takes a quick downturn when a relative newcomer, Glenn Bohannon, who is sitting with the restaurant's regulars, several local businessmen, suddenly collapses and dies from food poisoning. Sheriff Cal Taylor firmly believes that the Lambros murdered a potential rival (Glenn was thinking of opening up a Tex-Mex restaurant).

Realizing that not only is their business now in trouble, but they are the prime suspects, the Lambros begin to investigate Glenn's background. As they get closer to identifying who set them up to take the fall, the Lambros begin to receive threats and attacks on their lives. These dastardly deeds propel the couple into illegally breaking and entering, and stealing records that uncover the truth behind Glenn's death and a subsequent second murder.

SO DEAR TO WICKED MEN is a fabulous debut novel that is highlighted by a charming pair of amateur sleuths and a wonderful group of supporting players. The who-done-it is interesting and cleverly developed, but it is Nick and Julie (not Nora) who ultimately turn Takis and Judy Iakovou's novel into the beginning of, what is hopefully, a long term series.

Harriet Klausner