Something bitter on the princes’ Islands

In his fourth Istanbul mystery, Lawrence Goodman moves into the murky world of antiquities theft. Two corpses found in an island cave-one unidentified and the other a seemingly motiveless murder-baffle local authorities. Meanwhile, a Greco-Roman statue of Aphrodite, discovered in the same cave, repeatedly disappears and reappears, frustrating its many pursuers, from a spunky young island girl to self-important government officials, as well as many of the colorful characters familiar to Goodmans readers.