The Gold of Thrace

Aileen G. Baron
Poisoned Pen Press (2007)
ISBN 1590584309
Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (4/07)

The adventure begins in Turkey, when a member of an archaeological evacuation team is murdered.  Tamar Saticoy is a co-director of this evacuation team at Tepe Hazarfen.  Just prior to the murder she was ecstatic to discover a beautiful mosaic tile floor.  Before she even has a chance to photograph it, it is stolen.  She fears that someone on her team involved with the theft, and of other thefts that have been occurring around the same time.  Now she has lost a valued team member.

Her co-director, Andrew Chatham gets involved with a man and woman who present themselves as siblings.  Irena Kostantinova and her brother Dimitar, from Bulgaria, want Chatham to help them sell a hoard of Thracian gold that they reportedly found on land where they grew up.  Then Chatham is murdered, the gold is stolen.  Tamar encounters Irena and Dimitar while she is trying to track down the mosaic floor. 

Tamar had approached an antiquity dealer, Gilberto Dela Barcolo, with a disreputable reputation to see if he had the floor.  She presents herself as someone who wants to purchase it.  He is intrigued by her beauty.  His friend Enzio Egidio, does not seem to be the person that he presents himself to be.  Her first impression is that he helps Gilberto in his dealings with stolen antiquities.

She discovers that another member of her team, who was assisting her in tracking down the stolen items, has been murdered.  She now finds her own life in danger.  She is determined not to give up until she finds out the truth.  Along the way she discovers that in addition to the thefts, there is a great deal of forgery occurring.

I found “The Gold of Thrace” to be a fascinating story.  The author, Aileen G. Baron, has a PhD in Archaeology and has had extensive experience working in this field.  She uses her knowledge to write an incredibly good mystery.  Her passion for anthropology is evident in the beautiful descriptions that she gives of the artifacts.  In reading her story, the reader also learns quite a bit about ancient history from this area.  It was also interesting to learn about how forgeries are detected.  Enjoy this adventure! 

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