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Description
English crime novelist Charles Latimer is travelling in Istanbul when he makes the acquaintance of Turkish police inspector Colonel Haki. It is from him that he first hears of the mysterious Dimitrios - an infamous master criminal, long wanted by the law, whose body has just been fished out of the Bosphorus. Fascinated by the story, Latimer decides to retrace Dimitrios' steps across Europe to gather material for a new book. But, as he gradually discovers more about his subject's shadowy history, fascination tips over into obsession. And, in entering Dimitrios' criminal underworld, Latimer realizes that his own life may be on the line. Read more
Publisher : Penguin Books
Publication date : January 1, 2009
Edition : New Ed
Language : English
Print length : 240 pages
ISBN-10 : 0141190337
ISBN-13 : 34
Item Weight : 6.4 ounces
Dimensions : 5.08 x 0.59 x 7.76 inches
Customer Reviews: 4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars (1,927)
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Top Amazon Reviews
“The situation in which a person, imagining fondly that he is in charge of his own destiny, is, in fact, the sport of circumstances beyond his own control, is always fascinating.” Thus, it is with a certain Charles Latimer, a novelist who specializes in crime fiction. In Eric Ambler’s novel, Latimer gets a real taste of what makes up the mind of a criminal. I think one of the most engaging angles of this novel is simply the notion of the everyman in Latimer seemingly “in over his head” as he progresses throughout the novel. Latimer is introduced to a glimpse of the life of a notoriously infamous criminal named Dimitrios by a stroke of circumstance when a body washes ashore in Istanbul. His fascination piqued, Latimer goes to great lengths to seeks out and formulate a timeline for the criminal’s career, including some of his most notorious deeds. To do this, Latimer not only does some research on the side through court documents and newspaper archives, but even digs deeper by encountering some of those who knew the criminal in some capacity. But, at what point is Latimer crossing the line and threshold into Dimitrios’ life and past at his own peril? An obsession of sorts consumes and takes hold of Latimer, and he feverishly pursues his quest for knowledge of this man. I thought this was an amazingly effective thriller and spy type novel. It has all the make up and elements that engage the reader throughout: assassination attempts, espionage and spy tricks, duplicity and deception, treachery, and murder. Ambler puts us right into Latimer’s shoes and we experience the events upfront as an innocent bystander. The pacing of the novel is quite epic as it builds with a momentum of tension layer by layer as we move along through each chapter. In this way, I think Ambler plots this novel so succinctly and effectively to reach the utmost intrigue as we become embroiled in the mystery along with its main character. And the final chapters are as intense as I have read and had me on the edge of my seat as I plowed through to see how things concluded. In short, there is a definite expert level of storytelling here from Ambler, with twists, shocking revelations, and mystery at every corner. A very fascinating read, and I look forward to more works from this author.
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Reviewed in the United States on July 22, 2021 by fra7299
Not as good as the Alan Furst novels which concern themselves with the same/similar historical area, but a pretty good read nonetheless.
Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2025 by lidz
Eric Ambler is widely regarded as an exemplary writer of spy thrillers, if not the actual inventor of the genre. A Coffin for Dimitrios, originally published in England in 1939 under the title of A Mask for Dimitrios, is considered his most classic work. The quarrelsome Balkans provided ample material for mystery writers in the period between the two world wars, much as the cold war provided background for John Le Carré and turmoil in the Middle East provides a plentiful backdrop for current authors. Latimer, the book’s principal character, pursues information about the unscrupulous activities of the dangerous criminal Dimitrios. He finds traces of evidence in Istanbul, Izmir, Athens, Sofia, Belgrade, Geneva, and finally Paris. This is without doubt a masterpiece within its class of writing: sophisticated, cosmopolitan, with a sometimes convoluted but always stimulating plot, and, of course, suspense, building gradually and continually until the dramatic ending.
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Reviewed in the United States on April 28, 2017 by exurbanite
Packaged well, book in very good shape, arrived on time, some neat discounts included and a colorful bookmarker (always useful). I’ve bought books before from thriftbooks and will do so again.
Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2026 by Bradley Apling
I found a certain fascination with the serpentine meanderings of the plot as the protaginist made his way through the pre-World War Two Balkans on his way to Geneva and Paris searching for information on a criminal recently fished out of the Bosperous by Turkish authorities. Unfortunately Ambler spent too much space on recapitulating the shabby activities of Demetrios and the low-life history associated with him: Drug running, prostitution, even political assassination, but all this was largely in the shady past. Often the novel dragged. I wonder if Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre did much to enliven the movie version known by the British title, "A Mask for Demetrios."
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Reviewed in the United States on May 28, 2012 by P.C. Tennen
Author Eric Ambler thrilled an earlier generation of readers with his espionage and crime novels and screenplays. His work has held up remarkably well as a reading experience. "A Coffin for Dimitrios" is generally considered one of his best, first published in 1939. It is the story of an Englishman named Latimer, a writer of crime fiction who becomes involved in the pursuit of a real Greek criminal named Dimitrios. The setting of the novel, in a tumultuous Europe between the World Wars, is now a bit dated, but Ambler's brisk prose and flair for interesting characters and intrigue should carry the modern reader through the twisting and turning plot, as Latimer follows a thin trail of clues to a surprising discovery and to an understanding of his target. The settings of the novel, in Turkey, Eastern Europe, and France, sound authentic and add to the flavor of an exotic story. Ambler is generally considered to have laid the groundwork for later writers such as LeCarre, Len Deighton, and Robert Ludlum. Recommended.
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Reviewed in the United States on September 16, 2014 by HMS Warspite
For the sake of accuracy, the version of the book under review is the 1976 hardback reprint (by American Reprint Co.) of an Alfred A. Knopf edition, presumably the one copyright 1943, of A Coffin for Dimitrios. There is no dust cover; the hardback cover contains only the title and the author's name on a plain, light-grey binding. It is a well-made, though modest volume: serviceable but no collector's item. There are many excellent reviews on Amazon of this outstanding early spy novel in a paperback version. Please read them to enjoy much literate and amusing opinion about it. Suffice it to say that I, like the others, thoroughly enjoyed it. I reveled in the very correct demeanor, but delightfully ironic language, of the narrator, who tells the story of Latimer (note play on "Ambler"), an obscure professor at a minor English university turned writer of detective stories, "... one of the shamefaced few who could make money at the sport." One occasionally emerges from following along into the accelerating gyre into which Latimer allows himself to be led, stopping while coming up for air to reflect on what great sport the author is having with the reader, leading one into ever more improbable, but thoroughly absorbing adventures. What a tour de force, that he can carry off this wild and exuberant trail of strange encounters, yet maintain his very British sang froid. One certainly wonders why seek, at such peril, for Dimitrios, who takes ever more formidable shape, despite being dead, apparently, almost from the outset. The author nails together the coffin, plank by plank, but who will wind up in it?
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Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2009 by R. Horick
Ambler's book traces the story of Charles Latimer's, a British professor who writes detective novels in his spare time, descent into the world of international espionage and greed. Ambler is wonderful at recreating the recollections of an earnest and somewhat simple man who is hopelessly out his league as his follows the life history of a corpse he's been shown for laughs in a Turkish morgue. This is the real deal in terms of mystery/spy novels. It's a delightfully intelligent and engaging page turner by the author who invented the modern spy genre. The roiling, ethnically and politically complex Europe of the 1930 is nearly another character of the novel, but unlike the work of more contemporary authors, the reader never feels bludgeoned over the head with historical trivia. This is a fun, interesting, page-turning thriller. Great beach reading, but intelligent enough not to insult the serious reader of literature.
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Reviewed in the United States on June 5, 2003 by Kindle Customer