Discover the new Penguin Crime and Espionage series

A crime novelist has found the perfect subject - but it may cost him his life

English writer Charles Latimer is travelling in Istanbul when a police inspector tells him about the infamous master criminal Dimitrios, long wanted by the law, whose body has just been fished out of the Bosphorus. Immediately fascinated, Latimer decides to retrace Dimitrios' steps across Europe to gather material for a new book, but instead finds himself descending into a terrifying underworld of international espionage, Balkan drug dealers, unscrupulous businessmen and fatal treachery - one he may not be able to escape.

Not Le Carré, not Deighton, not Ludlum have surpassed the intelligence, authenticity or engrossing storytelling that established The Mask of Dimitrios as the best of its kind. * The Times *
A gripping thriller ... still fresh as new. * Guardian *
A startling, elegant masterpiece of espionage fiction. * Wall Street Journal *

Eric Ambler (1909-98) was born in London to parents who were part-time entertainers. Between 1937 and 1940, he published his great anti-fascist spy thrillers, from Uncommon Danger to Journey into Fear. In 1940, he joined the Royal Artillery and was later transferred to the army film unit. After the war he worked as a screenwriter in England and Hollywood, and wrote novels including Passage of Arms, The Light of Day and A Kind of Anger.