Everyone wants to build a dream house. What could be better than restoring a picturesque, century-old olive press on a captivating Greek island?
Alexis Davidov, teacher at an American school in Athens, soon discovers the trials of house restoration when crude and greedy neighbors harass her in ingenious ways to force her to buy their land. The feud with her neighbors becomes lethal when one of them turns up dead -- his corpse planted near her home to frame her for murder.
In jail, Alexis makes up her mind to figure out who's behind the vicious plot. Once freed from jail, she pursues a crime trail that lands her in the clutches of menacing smugglers. She must outwit both the petty criminals who do the dirty work and the powerful Athenian mastermind
Desperately needing help in unraveling the conspiracy against her, Alexis turns to Theo Argiros, her Greek Albanian stonemason. Her collaborator on the restoration, Theo evolves from workman to lover. The relationship of Alexis, a foreigner, and Theo, an immigrant, meets with disapproval from many elements of Greek society. That doesn't stop Alexis, who follows her heart to get to the bottom of the story and to make a connection to an unusual human being.
Here's what authors have said about Death at the Olive Press:
"Ellen Boneparth has written an intelligent, thrilling story with guts, but without gratuitous violence. Her unconventional characters and exotic settings expand the genre of the murder mystery."
Alexis Masters, The Giuliana Legacy
"A philhellene but without blinders, Ellen Boneparth reveals her intimate knowledge and deep love of Greece on every page."
Eleni Fourtouni, Greek Women in Resistance
"I was drawn to Alexis Davidov because of her passion, intelligence and integrity. Ellen Boneparth's depiction of Greek life is vivid and deeply satisfying.
Dr. Mara Keller
Director, Women's Spirituality Program, CIIS
REVIEWS
From THE SONOMA COUNTY INDEPENDENT, September 14-20, 2000
Death at the Olive Press
Ellen Boneparth is a former U.S. diplomat to Greece. Now a part-time
resident of Santa Rosa, Boneparth spends her summers on a small Greek
island, where her home is...an olive press. An ancient edifice that has
been fully restored, the olive press has now become her inspiration.
DEATH AT THE OLIVE PRESS is not the Agatha Christie knockoff the title
suggests. With simple, uncluttered prose and authentic sounding
dialogue, the author weaves a tale of Alexis Davidoff, an expatriate
American who attempts to restore an old olive press while enduring
harassment from a handful of unfriendly locals. When she is framed for
murder, Alexis fights to save her own life and keep her adopted home. --
D.T.
From KATHEMERINI -- ARTS & LEISURE
ATHENS, Thursday, September 14, 2000
Love and death at the olive press
Author and habitue of Greece, Ellen Boneparth launches a romantic
thriller
of treachery and
intrigue
Wordsmith. Author Ellen Boneparth inside the renovated olive
press
on the Greek
island she has made her second home.
By Jena Woodhouse
Kathimerini English Edition
For many foreigners whose travels lead them to Greece, this country comes
to represent an elusive but
persistent dream. Seduced by its physical beauty and the aura of an ideal
(though perhaps id