| Plot Summary of A Coffin for Dimitrios |
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"Charles Latimer is a mild, agreeable, former British professor who left academia to become a modestly successful writer of detective stories. While vacationing in Turkey in the 1930's, he meets Colonel Haki, an important official in the Turkish police, and a serious fan of Latimer's novels. At first, Haki would like to supply mediocre plots for Latimer's next book, but eventually the conversation turns to real criminals that Haki has known, particularly an arch-fiend named Dimitrios Makropolous, whose body has just been recovered by a fisherman. Certain portions of Dimitrios's criminal career are well-established, but there are several large holes in the timeline. Latimer is fascinated by Dimitrios's story, and decides to travel through the various locales where Dimitrios was known to have engaged in criminal activities (drug dealing, murder, espionage, and political assassination, among others), to see if he can uncover more of the story. As Latimer meets Dimitrios's former associates, he is increasingly drawn into the criminal underworld, until he is indistinguishable from the villains he studies."
A. J. Bell, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of A Coffin for Dimitrios |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 20%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 30%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 40%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10%
Tone of story
- suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
Time/era of story:
- 1930's-1950's
Kid or adult book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Crime Thriller
Yes
General Crime (including known murderer)
Yes
Who's the criminal enemy here?
- finding a known killer
Main Character
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- writer
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
How much violence does he/she use?
- a little
Ethnicity/Race
- British
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 40's-50's
Profession/status:
- criminal
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- almost none
Motive of antagonist
- kicks
How sensitive is this character?
- mean, arrogant
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- very athletic
Setting
Europe
Yes
European country:
- Turkey
- Eastern Europe
Style
Person
- mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
How many deaths?
- 8 or more
Amount of dialog
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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