THE MODERN WORLD
TO
ANCIENT MYTH

Wassahatchka County — Annalee Sumpter’s Motel

A mysterious murder at her grandmother’s motel leads Midge and her partner Jake into an investigation of colorful local characters and the dangerous, seamy underside of life in a small Florida town.

Wassahatchka County — Indian Mound

The body of a site director is found in a trench dug into an old Indian mound, but no one seems to know how it got there. It’s up to Midge and Jake to sort through all the complexities of archaeological excavations to find the perpetrator.

Wassahatchka County — St. John’s Church

Three local figures are found dead, attached to crosses in front of a small local church. Investigating the murders takes Midge and Jake deep into the world of religious and political extremism.

Wassahatchka County — The Burger Barn

A discharged army veteran is found dead in an alleyway behind a local hamburger joint. Investigating the potential murder leads Midge and Jake into the world of homeless, unemployed veterans and the Wassahatchka County park system.

Wassahatchka County — Hardware Store

A chalk outline with no body appears outside a mom-and-pop hardware store. Inside, detectives Midge Sumpter and Jake Leon discover a severed ear in a plastic bag in the glue aisle. Soon, more body parts turn up — including one in the tailpipe of their own cruiser — leading them into a race against time and a search for a twisted killer who dismantles victims piece by piece.

Thrinacia

The Cyclops: A Love Story

Described by Odysseus as a man-devouring monster, Polyphenmus, the Cyclops of legend, was anything but. A huge man by any measure at seven and a half feet tall, he loses an eye in a terrible household accident. Then, banished from his native village on the island of Thrinacia because of his love for the beautiful Galatea, he lives alone on a small island offshore. Living in exile and fearing that Galatea will never be his, he nevertheless survives to make a home for himself and his future wife. Polyphemus survives not only banishment, but the predations of a savage Achaean pirate and raider named Odysseus. Through the love of the three women in his life - his mother, Thoosa, his little sister, Anastasia, and his lover, Galatea - he transcends all that has given him misery. It is a wonderful tale of passion, vulnerability, survival, love, and all that makes us the most human.
— Polyphemus

Crete (Knossos)

The Name of the Minotaur: Asterion—A Classical Romance

Asterion was the actual name of the character we know only as the Minotaur. Represented in myth as a man-devouring beast, half bull and half man, he was nothing of the sort. In fact, he was a young man suffering from hypertrichosis, a genetic anomaly which has left him with a coat of white hair over most of his body. His cruel father Minos, unable to see such a monstrosity as his own son, has his court architect Daedalus construct a labyrinthine prison to hold Asterion forever and keep him out of the glittering court of Knossos. While Asterion is banished to the labyrinth, Minos savagely sends him the young girls who are the victims of his boundless sexual aggression. Legend has it the Minotaur consumes them, but nothing of the sort is true. In fact, all of the girls Minos banishes there die of the wounds he inflicted—all except for one, Chloe. As she recovers with Asterion’s help, she and Asterion find themselves drawn to one another, and the love that ensues gives them both the strength to find a better life outside the labyrinthine prison. In the process, though, they must find a way to escape the brutal Athenian strongman Theseus, who has come to Crete solely for the purpose of killing the dreaded Minotaur. As a bonus, you will find out how Daedalus himself, and his son Icarus, escape the labyrinth!

Athens

Socrates’ Wife: The Memoirs of Xanthippe, History’s Most Famous Wife

A very real historical figure, Xanthippe was a remarkable woman who married Socrates even though he was 35 years older than she was. She survived the horrors of the nearly endless Peloponnesian war and managed to raise the two sons she had with Socrates, Lamprocles and Sophroniscus—this in spite of the fact that Socrates was a very poor provider. She met several of Socrates’ most famous students, including Plato, Xenophon and Antisthenes, and often bested them at their own philosophical debates. In this book, she tells the story of her own life from the time she met Socrates up until the time of his death by poisoning in 399 BCE. A woman of unusual strength, courage and high intelligence, she managed to leave a lasting mark on history despite the fact that in her own time, women were banned from participating in most of the public affairs of the city. She also tells of some parts of her life otherwise lost to history, for example, the fact that she spied on the Spartans for the Athenian general Thrasybulus, who eventually overthrew Spartan rule and returned Athens to self-governance. You will love her strength, her wit, and her assessment of some of history’s most famous men. And, as she was only 36 years old when Socrates died, her life’s story may have a sequel!

Sparta (Southern Peloponnesus) and Troy (Northeastern Turkey)

My Life and Times: The True Story of Helen of Troy, Told in Her Own Words

Probably the most famous beauty of myth, Helen was far, far more than a pretty face. In fact, she was a strong woman who fought her whole lifetime against the limitations placed on her by Achaean society and by the brutish man she married, the Spartan king Menelaus. Falling in love with the dashing Trojan prince Paris, she escapes to Troy, only to be part of the cause of the Trojan War. She manages to survive the war to be reunited with the man she loathes, Menelaus, but she outlives him as well. In the course of her life, she meets some of the most famous figures of myth, and you won’t want to miss her sometimes devastating evaluations of those characters, including the mighty Achilles and the scheming rogue Odysseus. She also describes two men she admires and loves, though neither could ever be her mate, King Priam of Troy and his son, the hero Hector. She also meets Cassandra, a remarkable woman whom Helen describes as the most brilliant intellect she has ever encountered, and the young war-prize Briseis, whom she teaches about cosmetics. To the end of her life she remains a woman with a clear-eyed perspective on the way things really are, and the capacity to change and grow regardless of what life throws at her.