Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
Αθήνα : Γαβριηλίδης, 1η εκδ. 1995. Εκδ. Alter - Ego ΜΜΕ Α.Ε., 2011 (Βήμα Νουάρ· Ελληνικές Αστυνομικές Ιστορίες · 1). Επανέκδοση: "Γαβριηλίδης", 1995. Εισαγωγή: Φίλιππος Φιλίππου, "Νεοελληνική αστυνομική λογοτεχνία, από τον Παύλο Νιρβάνα στον Πέτρο Μάρκαρη". Διανεμήθηκε δωρεάν μαζί με την εφημερίδα "Το Βήμα της Κυριακής" στις 26.6.2011
Pages
387
Call number
4.065.0
Description
When an Albanian husband and wife are found dead in their home, Inspector Costas Haritos, a veteran junta-trained homicide detective on the Athens police force, is called to what seems at first to be an open-and-shut case. For the Greek police, two dead Albanians are hardly a matter of concern. But when Albania's celebrity television news reporter Janna Karayoryi insists that the case was closed too early, Haritos becomes unnerved. He doesn't exactly like the ambitious young journalist, butcould she be right in thinking the murder has something to do with babies? Before Haritos can find out, Janna is suddenly murdered, moments before she is to go on the air with a startling newsbreak. Did her mysterious report have something to do with the murdered Albanians? Who wanted her silenced, and why? Caught between a bumbling junior officer and higher-ups all too easily influenced by news executives determined to protect their own, Costas Haritos sets out to get to the bottom of the matter-and ends up neck deep in a dark form of capitalism that has emerged in Albania after the dictatorship.… (more)
Media reviews
Mit seinem Protagonisten Kostas Charitos erschafft der Autor einen eigensinnigen Antihelden, dessen Ermittlungen nicht immer von Erfolg gekrönt sind und dessen Fehlbarkeit sympathisch wirkt. Neben dem Fall, den Charitos zu bearbeiten hat, finden auch die ironisch geschilderten Ehekonflikte des
Show More
Kommissars in diesem ungewöhnlichen Kriminalroman Beachtung, ebenso wie seine Vorlieben für Wörterbücher und gefüllte Tomaten. Mag der Plot zum Ende hin auch stellenweise konstruiert wirken, so tröstet doch die gewitzte, unkonventionelle Art des Erzählens über diese kleine Schwäche hinweg. Show Less
Rezensionsnotiz zu Frankfurter Rundschau, 22.04.2000
Der Verlag hat "aus trüben Gewässern einen Goldfisch geangelt", meint Hans W. Korfmann, der ganz begeistert ist von dem cholerischen Ekelpaket Kommissar Charitos. Zwar könne es ein Weilchen dauern, bis man sich der Leser mit ihm anfreunde,
Show More
und auch die Themen in diesem Roman wirken auf den ersten Blick eher effekthascherisch und wie eine Zusammenstellung aus "Überschriften der Boulevardzeitungen", so der Rezensent. Er lobt allerdings, dass Markaris - obwohl er beiläufig etliche Missstände in Griechenland anspricht - nie moralisierend den Zeigefinger hebt. Dazu wäre Charitos wohl auch kaum der richtige Mann, denn glaubt man Korfmann, so hat ihn der Autor mit nur allzu menschlichen Schwächen ausgestattet. Dennoch mache er als Kommissar "seinen literarischen Vorgängern keine Schande", und am Ende löst sich viel Kompliziertes denn auch ganz logisch auf. Korfmann hat anscheinend normalerweise nicht viel übrig für griechische Autoren. Hier macht er eine Ausnahme. Markaris` "mediterrane Leichtigkeit", seine "Lust am Fabulieren", so merkt er zufrieden an, sei eher untypisch für griechische Intellektuelle. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member magentaflake
Like this detective very much. His bickering with his wife would make an excellent comedy. But he is a very grumpy detective, honest who hasn't given in to the corruption which he comes against. I enjoyed this book very much.
LibraryThing member DubaiReader
NB, The Late-Night News is the same book.
This was a fairly average who-done-it, lifted from the ordinary by the insights into crime detection after the dictatorship of Greece. Set in the 1990s, this feels very dated - not a mobile phone to be seen. Nobody questions police brutality and corruption
When two Albanians are murdered there is little concern, foreign deaths are of minimal interest to the police. But Inspector Costas Haritos is disturbed by the reaction of a young, energetic news reporter, Yanna Karayoryi, who implies that there is more to the case than meets the eye. When she is subsequently murdered following her declaration that she planned to make an announcement on the late night news, it becomes clear that she knew more than she was letting on.
The crimes for which the Albanians were murdered did make the book more interesting, but it took quite a while to get to these and I was not grabbed by the earlier chapters.
Costas was not a particularly likable character, in fact there were few in the story. I was particularly irritated by the constant sniping and petty arguments he had with his wife, they seemed to live together just to annoy one another.
Although the struggle to achieve anything when constantly thwarted by both the TV channels and the higher authorities was well portrayed and symptomatic of the era, there was too much description of routes through Greece, which should have been edited out in the translated version.
Not an author I shall be searching out in the future.
This was a fairly average who-done-it, lifted from the ordinary by the insights into crime detection after the dictatorship of Greece. Set in the 1990s, this feels very dated - not a mobile phone to be seen. Nobody questions police brutality and corruption
Show More
is rife.When two Albanians are murdered there is little concern, foreign deaths are of minimal interest to the police. But Inspector Costas Haritos is disturbed by the reaction of a young, energetic news reporter, Yanna Karayoryi, who implies that there is more to the case than meets the eye. When she is subsequently murdered following her declaration that she planned to make an announcement on the late night news, it becomes clear that she knew more than she was letting on.
The crimes for which the Albanians were murdered did make the book more interesting, but it took quite a while to get to these and I was not grabbed by the earlier chapters.
Costas was not a particularly likable character, in fact there were few in the story. I was particularly irritated by the constant sniping and petty arguments he had with his wife, they seemed to live together just to annoy one another.
Although the struggle to achieve anything when constantly thwarted by both the TV channels and the higher authorities was well portrayed and symptomatic of the era, there was too much description of routes through Greece, which should have been edited out in the translated version.
Not an author I shall be searching out in the future.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Kristelh
Review: The story is a police procedural featuring Costas Haritos and the first of a series. The homicide squad chief is called to the scene of a murder. A famous woman journalist has been killed in the TV broadcasting studio just before she was to go on live with some sensational news. It becomes
First sentence: Every morning at nine, we would stare at each other.
Quotes: When you’re a young woman, it’s your mother-in-law who doesn’t want you; when you’re old, it’s your son-in-law. The best age is between forty and fifty. It’s the age when they want you, but you don’t want them.
Last words: Till the next batch of stuffed tomatoes.
Show More
a struggle between the media and the police. The media is at odds with Haritos and he is nearly suspended. Of course there are twists and turns, the investigation is going in several directions. Is it a spurned lover who murders Janna? Is it an angry pederast that Janna’s journalistic investigation put in prison? Is it the Albanians and foreigners involved in illegal selling of organs and children? The killer can come as a surprise though I have to say I had suspected this one. First sentence: Every morning at nine, we would stare at each other.
Quotes: When you’re a young woman, it’s your mother-in-law who doesn’t want you; when you’re old, it’s your son-in-law. The best age is between forty and fifty. It’s the age when they want you, but you don’t want them.
Last words: Till the next batch of stuffed tomatoes.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Lylee
I guessed who the murderer was, but it was fun getting into Athenian mindset, driving through the often clogged streets of Athens, and ultimately seeing how similar people, mysteries from different places are.
LibraryThing member Hellen0
The novel starts with the murder of two Albanians and Haritos’ investigation. When it seems that the case is closed because the murderer confessed, a journalist is killed and everything gets much more complicated. She obviously learned something that she shouldn’t have and it looks like it is
There are some great plot twists. When you think you know who the murderer is and/or why the journalist was killed, you find some new piece of information that points in a different direction.
Costas Haritos is an interesting character. He is underpaid, works too many hours, is not very happily married and wants to close his cases quickly (he even looks for a "usual suspect" to blame for the murder of two Albanians). Nothing too strange here.
But there are things that make his character different from what you expect: he reads the dictionary, and I mean he reads it like a novel, as a hobby, and has a dark past. When he was younger he worked in one of the "interrogation" facilities in Athens. This is the first book in the series of this detective, so some questions about his past are not answered. We know that he didn’t like it there and that he tried to improve the conditions of the prisoners as much as he could without getting caught, but we don’t know how he got the job (or more likely how or why he was assigned the job) and exactly what he did there.
Haritos is human, so even though he doesn’t seem to be a nice man, not everything is bad or mysterious. He really loves his daughter and wants to make her happy and he feels good when he does something nice to his wife. He is also very good at his job and doesn’t like how the police is affected by political decisions, like how some people are almost untouchable, even though they’re clearly either guilty or hiding something important about the case.
The Greece shown in this novel is not the one you see in tourism brochures. There is a clear difference between the people who have money and power and the people who don’t. The course of his investigation takes Haritos to several poor parts of Athens that are well described. Also, things like blackmail seem completely normal and nobody seems surprised.
All in all, a good crime novel where not everything is what it looks like and where all murders are linked in a way you probably won’t predict.
Show More
related to the dead Albanians, but their killer has a great alibi for the new murder: he was in jail.There are some great plot twists. When you think you know who the murderer is and/or why the journalist was killed, you find some new piece of information that points in a different direction.
Costas Haritos is an interesting character. He is underpaid, works too many hours, is not very happily married and wants to close his cases quickly (he even looks for a "usual suspect" to blame for the murder of two Albanians). Nothing too strange here.
But there are things that make his character different from what you expect: he reads the dictionary, and I mean he reads it like a novel, as a hobby, and has a dark past. When he was younger he worked in one of the "interrogation" facilities in Athens. This is the first book in the series of this detective, so some questions about his past are not answered. We know that he didn’t like it there and that he tried to improve the conditions of the prisoners as much as he could without getting caught, but we don’t know how he got the job (or more likely how or why he was assigned the job) and exactly what he did there.
Haritos is human, so even though he doesn’t seem to be a nice man, not everything is bad or mysterious. He really loves his daughter and wants to make her happy and he feels good when he does something nice to his wife. He is also very good at his job and doesn’t like how the police is affected by political decisions, like how some people are almost untouchable, even though they’re clearly either guilty or hiding something important about the case.
The Greece shown in this novel is not the one you see in tourism brochures. There is a clear difference between the people who have money and power and the people who don’t. The course of his investigation takes Haritos to several poor parts of Athens that are well described. Also, things like blackmail seem completely normal and nobody seems surprised.
All in all, a good crime novel where not everything is what it looks like and where all murders are linked in a way you probably won’t predict.
Show Less
LibraryThing member cathyskye
I love reading mysteries written by international authors: Fred Vargas, Andrea Camilleri, Henning Mankell, Ragnar Jónasson, Karin Fossum, and Jane Harper are just a few. It goes without saying that I picked up Deadline in Athens with a great deal of anticipation.
The mystery itself is strong.
Costas Haritos has two hobbies: (1) collecting and reading dictionaries, which would be interesting if he did more with them than lay across the bed, crack one open, and then (2) concoct his latest scheme to get even with his wife. According to Haritos, "The first stage of family life is the joy of living together. The second is children. The third and longest stage is getting your own back at every opportunity. When you get to that stage, you know that you're secure and nothing is going to change." At least it's a good match-- his wife sits on the couch, remote control in hand, watching soap operas and scheming how to get back at him. I won't even go into the morning ritual Haritos performs with his junior officer.
One reason why I enjoy reading mysteries written by international authors is the opportunity to learn about other countries and cultures. There's scarcely any of that to be found in Deadline in Athens. Markaris adds "authentic Greek flavor" by naming each and every street Haritos travels down, how bad the traffic is, and how long it takes him to get to his destination (usually in the pouring rain). Ho hum.
If I weren't so interested in the solution to the mystery, I would've stopped reading within the first fifty pages. In the end, I was very happy with the solution and thrilled that my time spent with the grim Costas Haritos was over. For anyone who wants to experience Greek culture, intriguing mysteries, and solid characters, you'd be well advised to read Jeffrey Siger's excellent Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis series instead.
The mystery itself is strong.
Show More
There's a lot going on besides the reporter's death, and the more Haritos teases out clues, he finds that those clues lead to solving all sorts of cases. If I were the type of reader who concentrates on solving the mystery to the exclusion of all else, I would've been happy with this book. But... I'm not. I'm a character-driven reader, so those all-important fictional people mean a great deal to me. I don't have to like every character in a book. Sometimes it can be therapeutic to loathe one or two and even cheer on their demise. But sometimes what drives a character can mean a great deal to my enjoyment of a book, and those found in Deadline in Athens seem to luxuriate in being mean-spirited jerks. Costas Haritos has two hobbies: (1) collecting and reading dictionaries, which would be interesting if he did more with them than lay across the bed, crack one open, and then (2) concoct his latest scheme to get even with his wife. According to Haritos, "The first stage of family life is the joy of living together. The second is children. The third and longest stage is getting your own back at every opportunity. When you get to that stage, you know that you're secure and nothing is going to change." At least it's a good match-- his wife sits on the couch, remote control in hand, watching soap operas and scheming how to get back at him. I won't even go into the morning ritual Haritos performs with his junior officer.
One reason why I enjoy reading mysteries written by international authors is the opportunity to learn about other countries and cultures. There's scarcely any of that to be found in Deadline in Athens. Markaris adds "authentic Greek flavor" by naming each and every street Haritos travels down, how bad the traffic is, and how long it takes him to get to his destination (usually in the pouring rain). Ho hum.
If I weren't so interested in the solution to the mystery, I would've stopped reading within the first fifty pages. In the end, I was very happy with the solution and thrilled that my time spent with the grim Costas Haritos was over. For anyone who wants to experience Greek culture, intriguing mysteries, and solid characters, you'd be well advised to read Jeffrey Siger's excellent Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis series instead.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Castlelass
Set in Athens in the 1990s, this book opens with the murder of two Albanians. Inspector Costas Haritos’ homicide division is called to investigate. A news commentator with information related to the case is also murdered. The focus shifts to the murder of the news anchor, and the Albanians are
This story introduces Haritos and is the first book in a series. Haritos is a great character. His hobby is reading dictionaries. He has a gruff exterior but an empathetic heart. He and his wife have a dysfunctional marriage. He tells the story in first person, so we follow his thoughts as he examines the evidence and decides what to do, while juggling challenges introduced by his superiors and the reporters.
The mystery is intricate and multi-layered, though some of the characters’ viewpoints feel a bit dated. I do not read many detective and crime mysteries, but I very much enjoyed this one.
Show More
all but forgotten in the media circus.This story introduces Haritos and is the first book in a series. Haritos is a great character. His hobby is reading dictionaries. He has a gruff exterior but an empathetic heart. He and his wife have a dysfunctional marriage. He tells the story in first person, so we follow his thoughts as he examines the evidence and decides what to do, while juggling challenges introduced by his superiors and the reporters.
The mystery is intricate and multi-layered, though some of the characters’ viewpoints feel a bit dated. I do not read many detective and crime mysteries, but I very much enjoyed this one.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Ameise1
This is the first volume in the Inspector Kostas Charitos series. He is the head of the homicide squad in Athens and is supervised by Nikolaos Gikas. They are not always on the same page, as Charitos is a gut man and his boss only works with facts. Despite many misunderstandings, Gikas has
Charitos investigates together with Sotiris and Thanassis. They are called to a house where two Albanians have been found dead. Despite questioning the neighbours, they make no progress. If it wasn't for the ambitious journalist Jana Karajorgi, who spreads the word that there must be another child. The TV journalist stops at nothing and keeps spreading new stories until she is found murdered shortly before the midnight programme. Now Charitos and his team get a new lead and wonder why the journalist had to die. Her successor is also found dead shortly afterwards. Charitos also realises that there is a mole inside the police department. Who is it?
The case escalates into child trafficking and power games. It is written in such an exciting and varied way that the reader only realises who the culprit is on the last page.
Show More
Charitos' back. Charitos is married, and even though he loves his wife, they often have arguments.Charitos investigates together with Sotiris and Thanassis. They are called to a house where two Albanians have been found dead. Despite questioning the neighbours, they make no progress. If it wasn't for the ambitious journalist Jana Karajorgi, who spreads the word that there must be another child. The TV journalist stops at nothing and keeps spreading new stories until she is found murdered shortly before the midnight programme. Now Charitos and his team get a new lead and wonder why the journalist had to die. Her successor is also found dead shortly afterwards. Charitos also realises that there is a mole inside the police department. Who is it?
The case escalates into child trafficking and power games. It is written in such an exciting and varied way that the reader only realises who the culprit is on the last page.
Show Less
Language
Original publication date
1995 (original Greek)
2004 (in English)
2000 (Deutsch)