Murder Gone Minoan — Clyde B. Clason

When his chryseldephantine statute of the lady of the Golden Serpents is stolen, a department store magnate asks the help of Theocritus Lucius Westborough, professor of Roman history, to help get it back. The magnate has recreated the Minoan palace of Knossos on an island off the coast of California and any number of his relatives or guests would have reason to steal the priceless relic. First published in 1939.