A Coffin for Dimitrios

Charles Latimer, a mild-mannered and successful author of detective novels, finds his life irrevocably altered during a holiday in Istanbul. A chance encounter with Colonel Haki, a Turkish police official, introduces him to the grim case of Dimitrios Makropoulos—a notorious criminal whose body has just been identified in the city morgue. Intrigued by the colonel's chilling account of Dimitrios's life of treachery, assassination, and drug trafficking, Latimer embarks on an unexpected quest to reconstruct the full, sordid career of this elusive figure. His journey takes him across the shadowy underworlds of Europe, from Smyrna and Athens to Sofia, Geneva, and Paris. As Latimer delves deeper into Dimitrios's past, interviewing former associates and victims, he uncovers a shocking web of political intrigue, double-crossing, and ruthless ambition. The more he learns, the more he realizes he's not just an observer, but a participant in a dangerous game where the lines between hunter and hunted blur, and the ghost of Dimitrios casts a long, menacing shadow.