Murderous Ovation

By Thomas Agrafiotis

In 1959, a series of horrifying murders shocks a provincial town. Themembers of an artistic theatrical community are wiped out one by one indifferent chilling ways, all connected to dramatized deaths taken fromthe heroic, folk plays of the traditional Shadow Puppet Theater. Theperpetrator of these murders seems to have perfect knowledge of theart's repertory, according to the testimony of Yakovakis, an experienced shadow puppeteer that lives in the area. The police investigationreaches a dead end until a 'ghost' from the past returns.
Who is this visitor from the past that is responsible for the murders?
What kinds of guilt do the victims hide within them?
What is the exact relationship between the plays and the murders?
What do they have to do with Greek history?
Could the presence of Yakovakis be the precursor of future troubles?
Should the Shadow Theater occasionally be renamed the Blood Theater?

An original detective novel from the mysterious East at the exact point where it meets the West.
The art of modern Greek shadow puppetry, at once timeless and ancient, isthe protagonist in a detective novel divided into seven parts, according to the plot of seven of its finest classic plays.
In the foreground, there is the search for the murderer.
In the background, the initiation to the hidden history of the horrific events surrounding the bas-relief shadow puppet.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Thomas Agrafiotis
• Release date: Nov 8, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463023877

Thomas Agrafiotis

Thomas Agrafiotis was born in Kozani in 1976. As a lecturer (Law 407/1980) he taught the module “Art of the Greek Shadow Theater as a Means of Children Education” at the Department of Preschool Education, School of Education, University of Western Macedonia (based in Florina) during the academic years 2009-10 and 2010-11. He is a puppeteer and teacher, as well as an elected member of the Artistic Council of the National Shadow Theater Association. He conducted his doctoral thesis at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki on the educational dimension of Karagiozis and its use in Primary Education. His work regarding Shadow Theater has been awarded in literary contests for the novels, I Periplaniseis enos Kallitechni (Wanderings of an Artist) and Ta Onira enos Epanastati (A Rebel’s Dreams), while in late September 2008, he won the Original Script award at the 4th Greek Shadow Theater in Patras, presenting the epic and religious drama, O Karagiozis kai o Thisavros tou Theou (Karagiozis and God’s Treasure).

Book preview

Contents

Identity Page

A New Play Every Night: Play I

A New Play Every Night: Play II

A New Play Every Night: Play III

A New Play Every Night: Play the IV

A New Play Every Night: Play the V

A New Play Every Night: Play the VI

A New Play Every Night: Play the VII and the Last

About the Author

Identity Page

Murderous Ovation

Author: Thomas Ath. Agrafiotis

Title: Murderous Ovation

Translator: Irene Angelidou

Text editor: Anatoli Fitopoulou

Cover designer: Vassilis Ioannou

Production supervisor: Platon Malliagkas

www.mediterrabooks.com

ISBN 9780463023877

Published by Thomas Ath. Agrafiotis at Smashwords

© Thomas Ath. Agrafiotis, 2019

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents

either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead,

is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be copied

or otherwise used without the expressed written permission of the publisher, except in cases of a review.

THOMAS AGRAFIOTIS

Murderous Ovation

A Detective Story

Book Two of the Stories of Shadows Trilogy

A New Play Every Night: Play I

Herodotus, once again, had made history on that very rainy night. He was late, once again, for the scheduled appointment at the small office, on the main square, where once again this year, the spring show of the local folk choir was to be set up, along with a shadow puppet play, at the classic miniature theater, a top attraction for the local community over the years. This event was a favorite of the young and the old, who waited for it each year with great anticipation.

And yet! This much beloved performance had an equally large backstory, which had turned incredibly complicated and extremely morbid in recent years. In the end, no one could imagine how dirty the shadows that overshadowed the shady spectacle, accompanied by orchestras, were. The orchestral part had an insignificant backstory because it was directed by just one person, who easily controlled the members of the choir and had no dangerous opponents.

The shady atmosphere had been created by the main competition between the conductor of the orchestra and the puppeteer. This initially small rivalry was slowly but steadily becoming a big problem and it was certain to all the people of the close-knit society that it would lead to an inevitable head-on collision.

Aphrodite’s artistic divorce from Telemachus, a promising shadow puppeteer and her business partner of many years, devolved into the tempestuous chronicle of a predictable artistic death. Their feud drove Telemachus to a voluntary artistic self-exile abroad, since he could not handle the war that was being waged against him. An unfair propaganda war orchestrated and won by Aphrodite, thanks to her excellent relationship with the local media and local powerful people that supported her.

Even though her ‘divorce’ from Telemachus was mostly her own fault, he was the one who found himself being punished, forced to leave his hometown and go abroad, destination unknown, without anyone getting any news of him, and turning into some sort of ghost that left no trace in his path. This disappearance was a moral satisfaction and a form of revenge for Aphrodite even though Telemachus remained a sort of repressed desire, and not just in an artistic way.

Jimaras had taken Telemachus’ place; his was a somewhat last-minute replacement since Aphrodite knew that, in this case, he was the least bad of all the available options. He was a populist, rather than a popular artist, and incredibly ambitious. He had been away for years until Aphrodite practically ordered him back and recruited him as a replacement for Telemachus.

Jimaras, a man who moved in shady circles, had roots from the