Review Rating
With the October 2004 review, we began rating the books on the basis of one to four trowels;
one trowel= don’t bother, to four trowels= run right out to your local book store and buy the hard cover!
Golden Oldies - reviewing previously unreviewed books by previously reviewed “greatest hits” authors!
As we approach nearly twenty-five years of the MVAC reviews of archaeological fiction, I thought it would be fun to re-visit six of the authors whose works have been reviewed in the past. Three of these authors have sadly passed away since I first reviewed them (Margot Arnold, Lynn Hamilton, and Elizabeth Peters); two have “retired” their archaeologist protagonists, Gideon Oliver (Aaron Elkins), and Emma Fielding (Dana Cameron); and one, (Kate Ellis) continues to put DI Wesley Peterson and his friend, archaeologist Neil Watson, in harm’s way as solve contemporary crimes that have their roots in the distant past. While these authors have been reviewed previously, these books have not.
The Secrets of Stelida by Vanessa Gordon
Reviewed on: May 1, 2026
Pomeg Books: Thatcham UK
2026 (PB)
Vanessa Gordon’s seventh entry in the Naxos mysteries, featuring archaeologist Martin Day, builds on the strengths of the previous novels—portraying the idyllic lifestyle of the Greek Islands, introducing an interesting and multi-dimensional cast of new and recurring characters, and creating a complex mystery for the protagonists to solve. It is this latter element that makes The Secrets of Stelida such an outstanding read.
Secrets of Stelida opens with Martin’s wife, Helen Aitchison, in England, tending to the last days of Fiona, her dying mother, and hoping to re-connect with her stepbrother, Joe Murray, who has cared for her in her declining years. When Fiona passes away, Helen urges Joe, a 30-year-old musician, to join her and Martin on Naxos. He agrees but insists on renting a room of his own in Vivlos, a traditional village in southwestern Naxos where he can study traditional Greek music.
Day, meanwhile, has stayed back in their Naxos home near the village of Filoti, listlessly working on his study of Attic vases from Greece’s Classical period—a book that has been “in progress” for nearly a decade—as he awaits Helen’s return. He breaks out of his funk by agreeing to lead a group of students as they tour several archaeology sites in the Cyclades archipelago. The group includes 18-year-old Nesto Kiloziglou, the son of a friend, who is trying to decide on a career between law (his father’s preference) and archaeology (his personal passion.)
Almost literally out of the blue, Day receives a call from Tim Lovejoy, an old friend from his university days when they studied archaeology at Cambridge. Tim had been involved in a number of important excavations, including Catalhoyuk in Turkey, and was now on Naxos, leading an important dig at Stelida, on the northwest coast of Naxos. The site had been surveyed and tested in the past by both French and Greek archaeologists, but unbeknownst to Martin, his old schoolmate had been excavating Stelida for several years. The site stretched far back into the Middle Paleolithic—some 200,000 years ago—and was visited by Neanderthals before the invasion of homo sapiens. The site teased signs of the earliest examples of intentional seafaring in the Cyclades. Tim urges Martin’s involvement in the excavation, particularly because the team has come upon a possible Late Bronze Age (Mycenaean Greece, 1750-1050 BC) peak sanctuary, and Martin’s expertise would be invaluable. Historic disturbances to the site made excavation and analysis difficult, which made Martin’s involvement even more essential. Martin agrees and brings with him young Nesto, who is certain to find the experience a thrilling undertaking that will tip the scales away from law school!
Tim also introduces Day to Michael Johnson, an elderly artist of some reputation, who had established himself on an estate adjacent to Stelida that he named the House of Theseus. This was most certainly a reference to the mythical king of Athens, who with the aid of Ariadne, the beautiful daughter of King Minos of Crete, defeated the monstrous Minotaur. Theseus then, in rather ungallant fashion, abandoned Ariadne on the island of Naxos. It would seem that Michael Johnson saw the untimely death of his wife Linda as the playing out of the tragedy of Theseus and Ariadne. While his health is failing—in fact, Michael Johnson will shortly leave the House of Theseus and seek medical attention in Kalamata, a city in the southern Peloponnese where he owns a second home—he nonetheless pays great attention to the excavations at Stelida.
But those excavations take a decidedly unanticipated turn when Tim’s crew exposes what would appear to be modern skeletal remains and are then identified by a forensic specialist as the bones of a young woman, who very likely died in the 1960s. The investigation suggests that a tragedy occurred on that Greek promontory more than a half-century earlier and that someone was very much invested in keeping it a secret. A jewelry box discovered by Martin yields clues that may lend answers to the mystery of the young woman buried at the Bronze Age peak sanctuary.
As if the burial at Stelida was not enough of a challenge to Martin, he and Helen find themselves facing off with the Greek mafia as stepbrother Joe, in an heroic effort to protect the girl he loves from human traffickers, attracts stone cold killers to the tranquil and idyllic shores of Naxos! This is more than any mild-mannered archaeologist and “media presenter” should have to deal with!
It is also noteworthy that Ms. Gordon received permission from Professor Tristan Carter, Chair of the Department of Anthropology at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, to base her novel on his excavations at Stelida, Naxos—a most gracious offer!
Four trowels for yet another outstanding Martin Day mystery!
