Author Description

The story is about Aphrodite's Island, Cyprus, where Aphrodite, the goddess of love, and her cult have thrived for over two thousand years. The cult's strength and power are enshrined in three places: Aphrodite's temple, birthplace, and bath. They are well-known places often visited and have attracted artists, writers, and poets for centuries. The most important site is Aphrodite's Bath (Fontana Amorosa), a spring in the landscape of Akamas in the north-westerly Cyprus, close to the coastal towns of Polis and Latchi. It was there that Aphrodite met her lover, Adonis. Greek mythology tells us that those who drink the spring water fall in love. The spring has mythical properties because of Aphrodite's orchid and its pollinator, the Psyche's butterfly, Paphos Blue. Aphrodite's orchid can only be found there and nowhere else. The story starts with two young orchid botanists and the murder of a scientist who works with pheromones; substances affecting animals and human behaviours as aphrodisiacs. An Arabic prince on board a luxury yacht, Ibn Battuta, on anchor outside Limassol, has invested in developing an aphrodisiac and sent an agent to Denmark to liquidate the scientist he believed to be a traitor. A Danish pharmacological company CEO involves the Government, the army, and police intelligence agencies. One of the country's best agents, a professor and a colonel, is dispatched to find stolen scientific documents. They get help from the Danish UN forces in Cyprus and CCIA, Cyprus Central Intelligence Agency. The story culminates during two events, a scientific symposium, Reproductive Biology in Animals and Man, and Aphrodite's Festival. The two young orchid scientists try to understand the mysterious spring. One scientist is abducted by the prince's agent and the pharmacological CEO. The abducted scientist is liberated from captivity on Ibn Battuta. In his desperation to find and isolate a pheromone, the prince ordered the CEO and his agent to collect orchids. T