Gary Corby's "Death On Delos"

Gary Corby is the author of the Athenian Mystery series, starring Nicolaos, his girlfriend Diotima, and his irritating twelve year old brother Socrates.

Corby lives in Sydney, Australia, with his wife, two daughters, two ducks, two budgerigars, and a brush turkey that is almost as irritating as Socrates.

Here the author dreamcasts an adaptation of the latest book in the Athenian Mystery series, Death on Delos:

Death On Delos is set on a small, isolated island, complete with a holy sanctuary and a substantial number of slightly odd people. Too many to cast here! So let me give you a snapshot.

The detective in this story is the female lead! Plus, she's pregnant. For Diotima I will therefore cast Alyssa Milano, because not many actors could do a funny, pregnant detective, but I suspect she could.

For Nico, hero of my tale, I want to cast Kyle MacLachlan. He was the detective in both Blue Velvet and the FBI agent in the original Twin Peaks. I think he could probably cope with the weirdness in which Nico is constantly enmeshed.

For Meren, the priestess of Artemis I will cast Merryn Anderson. That's because Meren was named for Merryn. She's a friend of ours, and there's a story behind this. When I was writing the draft of the scene in which the priestess first appears, I happened to be sitting in the living room of a holiday house with a bunch of my old school friends and their families. We do this get together once a year. I was scribbling away in pen on the back of an old printout, which is how I sometimes write first drafts. When I got to the new character I said, "I need a name." Merryn happened to be sitting beside me, and while Merryn is not remotely ancient Greek, Meren will pass. So that's how she became Meren.

For Anaxinos, the High Priest of the Delian Apollo, I will cast Pope Francis. The two jobs are kind of equivalent.

For Damon, the slightly crazy chief of the island village I will cast Gustaf Skarsgård. Because he does a fantastic job of being the slightly crazed Floki in Vikings.

For Karnon the Accountant I will cast Kenny G, the Saxophonist. Believe it or not, Kenny G is a trained accountant.

Lastly, for Pericles, I will cast Linus Roache, because he does such a great King Ecbert.

Visit Gary Corby's website.

--Marshal Zeringue