The Gold of Thrace: A Tamar Saticoy Mystery

An adventure in the dark side of archeology and ancient antiquities is to be enjoyed in Aileen G. Baron's new book The Gold of Thrace. Archeologist Tamar Saticoy is distressed to find that an ancient mosaic floor recently discovered at her dig site in Kilis, Turkey is missing. The overnight theft of the valuable mosaic is a reeling blow as it follows closely on the heels of the recent Ephesus murder of one of her staff members. Determined to recover the mosaic before it reappears as a collector's prize, Tamar traces the mosaic to Basel, Switzerland. Posing as a museum curator looking for new articles for the museum, Tamar soon finds herself in the company of antiquities dealer Gilberto Dela Barcolo. Meanwhile one of Tamar's British colleagues, Chatham, is hot on the trail of a horde of ancient Thracian gold. While traveling by train through Bulgaria he is approached by the gold's current owner and intrigued by images and pieces of the treasure. Leaving the train, Chatham spends several days cataloguing the beautiful treasure in order that it might be displayed on loan at the British Museum. Double crossed on his way to the museum, Chatham learns, too late, that all is not what it seems. When Chatham and one more staff member tracing the mosaic is murdered, Tamar also begins to realize that things and people are not always as they seem. The murderer soon sets his sites on Tamar. After several narrow escapes, it becomes apparent that she has entered a deadly game of cat and mouse where the huntress has now become the hunted. The Gold of Thrace is an entire novel of smoke and mirrors. Few characters other than the heroine herself are what and who they initially appear to be. Trying to unravel this mystery and its players is like following a single thread of a spider's web to it's origin. The Gold of Thrace flows along at a quick rate and its lightening fast climax does require careful reading if one does not want to be left scratching their head. Understanding who is who is critical at this point as all is revealed and the smoke and shadows are quickly removed. This fast paced adventure is one difficult to put down. Anyone with a passing interest in archeology and ancient history will enjoy this book and its long hard look at the black market of antiquities and the intrigue that surrounds it.

Archaeologist Tamar is drawn against her will into a modern-day murder investigation when a member of staff at a Turkish excavation is murdered and a mosaic floor vanishes overnight from her site. She follows the floor to Switzerland, where two men seem like charmers - or dangerous villains - and draw her further into a quest for the roots of theft, deceit and murder. A gripping, moving and well-done story line evolves.

In 1990 Turkey archeologist Tamar Saticoy and Orman Celibi lead the Tepe Hazarfen excavation near the village of Hazarfen. When Tamar and her student workers uncover a tessera small mosaic tile at a Roman house, she stops the dig as she anticipates what must be just below the dust. She and her student assistant Binali slowly complete the excavation so as not to ruin the incredible find. Tamar and Orman travel to report their findings to Department of Antiquities. The next day they return to the site only to find Binali dead and the mosaic floor gone. Her co-director Andrew Chatham leaves the dig site supposedly to visit his mother in Czechoslovakia. Although still under suspicion, Tamar is allowed to leave the country; she journeys to Switzerland where she expects the floor to surface on the black market. Soon others including Orman die while at the same time Chatham heads to Bulgaria chasing after THE GOLD OF THRACE. This is an exciting archeological whodunit in which the insight into Roman findings is cleverly interwoven into the exciting story line. There are actually two prime subplots as each of the directors goes their own way throughout most of the novel. This leaves some reader bewilderment re what is going on until the climax when all is revealed tying the two seemingly separate tales together. Still readers will dig Aileen G. Baron's fun mystery. Harriet Klausner

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!