review written by Sue Major & read live on the bookshow Nov 2014
“This is a gripping thriller, written in
1939, but still with the power to engross” …..this is it's introduction. And
it's not wrong !
English crime novelist Charles Latimer is
travelling to Istanbul in search of inspiration and excitement when he meets Colonel
Hakim, a Turkish policeman. It is from him that Charles hears of the mysterious
Dimitrios an infamous criminal whose body has just been fished out of the
Bosphorus.
Being at a loose end.....as 1930s novelists
travelling through Europe seemed to be....Charles decides to retrace the steps
of Dimitrios and discover more of his shadowy history. He moves from Istanbul to Sophia, to Belgrade
and Paris seeking in his amateurish way to find the true history of Dimitrios.
He meets his associates, none of whom
has a good word for him and in doing so comes across the enigmatic Mr Peters who is clearly more
than he seems. In the course of all this detective work , Charles is skirting
round the edge of danger...and it nearly leads him to disaster.
This is an unusual book...not a spy story as
we now know them,...but there's plenty of mystery and intrigue. The plot is
easy to follow and very entertaining. It isn't a heavy story , but a quite light step into 1930s pre-WW2 politics
and I found it very enjoyable. It's concise and well crafted and made a great
read for my long train journey . Imagine Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet as
the main characters in the 1944 film and
you've got the general idea!
Incidentally, James Bond read this book on
plane journey to Istanbul in”From Russia with Love”....fame indeed!
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