My opening contributions to the site are two articles giving some background to this curious island lying between Sicily and Libya. Although it’s a member of the EU and within the Eurozone, it still has a distinctive North African feel about it and a very Southern Mediterranean way of doing things!
Most large countries have their ‘back doors’ that facilitate easy cash access in and out of their respective financial systems. For example, India has Mauritius, the US has the Cayman Islands and the UK has the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. Similarly, the EU has Cyprus and Malta. These irritating little countries plead their small island economies to justify their tolerant governance structures and favourable taxation regimes.
However, like a two-faced Janus, Malta looks to both Europe and Africa simultaneously. The country has long and historic links to Libya and, following the rise of Gaddafi, happily took his petrodollars to compensate for the loss of British rents when their military bases were finally closed in 1979.
All this makes for an interesting financial dynamic, but add to that Malta’s position as a leading centre for online gaming, attracting thousands of skilled EU immigrants, a tourist industry boasting a million visitors in each of the summer months and its ambition to become a cryptocurrency centre, there’s plenty of source material for future stories.
As a writer, Malta fascinates me. If you take the first six books in my Inspector George Zammit series, the themes cover an enormous range of issues. Our hero, George, finds himself embroiled in the most complex geopolitical scenarios. To each, he brings humour, naivety, luck (good and bad) and a burning desire for a quiet life back home. Unfortunately, fate has other plans for him.
Bodies in the Water refers to the ongoing migrant crisis, in which Malta finds itself responsible for a vast search and rescue area between Tunisia and Cyprus. It also deals with oil smuggling, money laundering and a blue–blooded, organised crime group that features throughout the series.
George’s loyalties are tested when his son finds himself on the wrong side of the law.
Bullets in the Sand is based in the oil-rich deserts of Libya and the ongoing civil war for control of the country. EU, USA and Middle Eastern interests all collide with the Russian militias, which have been active in Libya since the fall of Gaddafi.
George’s overbearing wife, Marianna, declares war on George’s friend and ally, ‘that terrible man’, Abdullah.
Hawk at the Crossroads features the simmering tensions between Greece and Turkey that erupt over the discovery of an oilfield, with both sides claiming sovereignty over the seabed. Meanwhile, a medieval financial guild has transformed itself into a powerful modern criminal organisation intent on spreading its wings into the new energy markets.
George and Marianna’s daughter, Gina, becomes engaged to the son of the local butcher. Marianna is not impressed when presented with a van-load of the choicest cuts, finest birds and freshest offal for the celebration meal.
Fire in the Mountain sees the ‘Ndrangheta seizing control of the geothermal power of Mount Etna which runs the city of Catania. Drilling has provoked seismic tremors, threatening disaster for the island of Sicily. Surely a solution is beyond the powers of hapless Inspector George Zammit?
George is summoned back to Malta for his daughter’s wedding, after making a fatal mistake that will haunt him for the rest of his days
The Last Bird of Paradise involves George investigating corruption within the refugee camps of Syria. This is the prescient start for an exploration of the recent conflict involving ISIL, old enemies and competing sovereign interests for the vast oil wealth beneath Iraq, Kurdistan and Syria. Meanwhile, Islamic extremists plot a terrible attack on a major European city.
Georges’s son, Denzel, now a constable in the Maltese Pulizija, joins him on the trip to the refugee camps of Syria, much to Marianna’s horror.
The Car Horn Revolution is set in Malta. The country’s strategic position commanding the Mediterranean and its non-membership of NATO make it a target for a powerful international player. George becomes involved in a ‘take-over by stealth’. Can he and Denzel save the country from such a powerful adversary?
George and Marianna have an anniversary party that no one will forget, least of all his daughter’s mother-in-law, while Denzel becomes a wanted man.
So, that’s a whirlwind tour of the recent career of Inspector George Zammit. As I mention in the articles, these themes are all found in the headlines of the local newspapers. Life in the Mediterranean basin is rarely dull and, as a writer, provides a rich vein of material. There may be more from Inspector George Zammit, but I’m currently busy finalising a cozy mystery series, with a hint of the supernatural, set in Yorkshire, the first of which will be published in the New Year.
Yes, a bit of a change! But I’ll write more about that later.
For now here’s to Aspects of Crime and its future success!
