by Eric Ambler
First published 2009
Crime novelist Charles Latimer meets Colonel Haki, a Turkish police inspector, during his travels in Istanbul. Haki tells him about Dimitrios, a notorious criminal whose corpse was recently pulled from the Bosphorus waters. The dead man had evaded authorities across Europe for years through various illegal schemes. Latimer becomes intrigued by this shadowy figure and sees an opportunity for his next book. He begins following Dimitrios's trail through European cities, piecing together the criminal's past activities. As Latimer digs deeper into this research, he uncovers a complex web of crime and corruption. His investigation draws him into the same dangerous underworld that Dimitrios once inhabited. The novelist finds himself moving from observer to participant, facing threats he never anticipated when he started this literary project.
Genres: historical-fiction, mystery, crime, thriller, detective, espionage
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, investigation, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Bosphorus, Europe, Istanbul, Turkey
Period: 20th-Century
226 pages · Paperback · Penguin Classics