Welcome to Litsy!

A naive writer gets drawn into the shadowy world of spies, assassins, and crime when he follows the trail of a mysterious Greek found dead in Turkey. While The Mask of Dimitrios may seem tame now (it was written in the late 1930s), its background of intrigue and unrest in Eastern Europe and the whispers of war add to the tension. An enjoyable read! #bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks

#mask #scarathlon #teamslaughter #chillingphotochallenge @Clwojick 305pts

My face #mask from earlier this year. #screamathonphotochallenge @4thhouseontheleft

An atmospheric and evocative read. I really felt drawn in to Ambler's well-sketched presentation of Turkey, Greece, the Balkans and western Europe between the wars, and written on the brink of the second pan-global conflict of the last century. Latimer is something of an innocent abroad, but not a cheap, bumbling English stereotype. Fantastic, psychologically rich characters, vivid locations & tight, historically accurate plotting. A joy to read.

“The duplicity of others must always be shocking when one is unconscious of one's own.”

"A man's features, the bone structure and the tissue which covers it, are the product of a biological process; but his face he creates for himself. It is a statement of his habitual emotional attitude; the attitude which his desires need for fulfilment and which his fears demand for their protection of prying eyes. He wears it like a devil mask; a device to evoke in others the emotions complementary to his own. ??

“International big business has made revolutions before now to safeguard its interests. At one time it made them … in the name of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. Now, with Socialism to fight, it makes them in the name of Law and Order and Sound Finance. Assassination? If an assassination is going to be good for business, then there will be an assassination.”

“In a dying civilization, political prestige is the reward not of the shrewdest politician, but of the man with the best bedside manner. It is the decoration conferred on mediocrity by ignorance.”

[Photo of Ambler, but feel free to imagine a picture of your politician of choice in its place.]

Ambler's '39 political/spy thriller has the feel of the backstory from Hammett's "The Maltese Falcon", a suggestion reinforced by Greenstreet & Lorre having acted in both adaptations. I bought a bottle of retsina to join in a drink with the MC, being delighted to later read a fair description of the supper I'd prepared being eaten by Latimer in a Bulgarian café: "Soup was put before them. It was thick and highly spiced and mixed with sour cream."

"The important thing to know about an assassination or an attempted assassination is not who fired the shot, but who paid for the bullet."

Published prior to World War II, this is a more cerebral spy novel. I loved how people were described in particular because it really made me feel like I was there. Thanks to @Anovelobsession for #whodunitbymail... Sending this one off next week!

#whodunitbymail

“A book is a lovely thing, a garden stocked with beautiful flowers, a magic carpet on which to fly away to unknown climes.”

One of the best-written books that I've ever read.

#whodunitbymail #sundaybeerandfood #readeverywhere
Loving this book! Cannot put it down...
Thanks for the great pick @Anovelobsession

If you enjoy a complex spy thriller that requires careful reading, you will enjoy this one. Lots of international intrigue and unexpected twists!