Crime Fiction on a Euro Pass: Turkey & Finale

Well...here we are. Last stop on our crime fiction tour courtesy of Kerrie at Mysteries in Paradise and her Crime Fiction on a Euro Pass Challenge. It seems like we just started the journey in England--how can we already be done?

I thought it only fitting to wrap up my trip with Eric Ambler's A Coffin for Dimitrios--particularly since we just made a stop in Greece. Ambler's classic thriller is about the notorious Greek Dimitrios whose body has come to rest in an Istanbul morgue. The story's main character Charles Latimer is a former academic who now writes successful mysteries. He meets a Turkish colonel--a devoted reader of his novels--who first makes a present of a plot for a mystery novel and then asks him if he's interested in real murders. Colonel Haki then shares the story of Dimitrios--a man said to have been involved in assassination plots, espionage, drugs, treachery, and murder. Latimer decides to reconstruct the career of Dimitrios--apparently out of curiosity and possibly as fodder for a novel--but soon finds himself in a web that covers much of Eastern Europe. Ambler tells a tale of an ordinary man in extraordinary circumstances--out of his depth.

I am currently reading Ambler's tale, and hope to have a review to link up here before too long.

Many thanks to Kerrie for organizing this crime travel extravaganza! I've had a grand trip. And enjoyed learning about foreign crime from my fellow travelers.

***Addendum: Have now finished and reviewed A Coffin for Dimtrios. Click title for review.