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Coffin for Dimitrios
Coffin for Dimitrios | Eric Ambler
16 posts | 18 read | 15 to read
A chance encounter with a Turkish colonel with a penchant for British crime novels leads mystery writer Charles Latimer into a world of sinister political and criminal maneuvers throughout the Balkans in the years between the world wars. Hoping that the career of the notorious Dimitrios, whose body has been identified in an Istanbul morgue, will inspire a plot for his next novel, Latimer soon finds himself caught up in a shadowy web of assassination, espionage, drugs, and treachery.
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review
Lucy_Anywhere
The mask of Dimitrios | Eric Ambler
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Pickpick

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

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 4y
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jenniferw88
The mask of Dimitrios | Eric Ambler
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blurb
jenniferw88
The mask of Dimitrios | Eric Ambler
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review
Bookwomble
The mask of Dimitrios | Eric Ambler
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Pickpick

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.

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Bookwomble
The mask of Dimitrios | Eric Ambler
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“The duplicity of others must always be shocking when one is unconscious of one's own.”

Cathythoughts 👍🏻good quote 5y
17 likes1 comment
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Bookwomble
The mask of Dimitrios | Eric Ambler
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"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. ??

Bookwomble ... If he is afraid, then he must be feared; if he desires, then he must be desired. It is a screen to hide his mind's nakedness." 5y
20 likes1 comment
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Bookwomble
The mask of Dimitrios | Eric Ambler
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“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.”

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Bookwomble
The mask of Dimitrios | Eric Ambler
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“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.]

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Bookwomble
The mask of Dimitrios | Eric Ambler
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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."

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Bookwomble
The mask of Dimitrios | Eric Ambler
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"The important thing to know about an assassination or an attempted assassination is not who fired the shot, but who paid for the bullet."

LauraJ These two are such a great movie pairing. ❤ 5y
Bookwomble @LauraJ Agreed 😁 They're fantastic in The Maltese Falcon. 5y
CarolynM I really liked the book but I've never seen the film. 5y
19 likes3 comments
review
ReadingEnvy
Coffin for Dimitrios | Eric Ambler
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Pickpick

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!

Mdargusch Sounds like a good one! 6y
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ReadingEnvy
Coffin for Dimitrios | Eric Ambler
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schmia
The mask of Dimitrios | Eric Ambler
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“A book is a lovely thing, a garden stocked with beautiful flowers, a magic carpet on which to fly away to unknown climes.”

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Lostworlds
The mask of Dimitrios | Eric Ambler
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One of the best-written books that I've ever read.

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

BibliophileMomma Oh this looks good. Can't wait until it gets to me! 7y
My_novel_obsession Yay!!👏👏👏👏👏👏I still need to read it as well!! (edited) 7y
Suet624 I read the title as A Coffin for Dummies. (edited) 7y
57 likes2 stack adds3 comments
review
Mcoun
Coffin for Dimitrios | Eric Ambler
Pickpick

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

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