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{{work|wppage=The Mask of Dimitrios (novel)}}
{{Infobox book
Originally published in Britain in 1939 as "The Mask of Dimitrios". A classic [[Spy Fiction|spy novel]] by Eric Ambler of the "stale beer" type. It tells of British mystery writer Charles Latimer going on vacation to Turkey and learning about Dimitrios, a notorious criminal, whose corpse has just been found. Through the course of his extremely shady life, Dimitrios went from a petty crook, to a pimp, to a particularly unethical spy, to finally a member of an [[The Syndicate|international syndicate]] engaged in drug-trafficking and other crime. As Latimer researches Dimitrios' past, he begins to be drawn into a world of dark conspiracies.▼
| title = The Mask of Dimitrios
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| author = Eric Ambler
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| genre = Spy novel
| publication date = 1939
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▲Originally published in Britain in 1939,
The novel was renamed ''A Coffin for Dimitrios'' in the USA.
Adapted into the 1944 film "The Mask of Dimitrios" starring [[Peter Lorre]]
{{tropelist}}
* [[Black and Gray Morality]]: Besides Latimer, who is a decent guy, and some of his informants who are likewise, some of the characters who want revenge on Dimitrios are almost as bad as he is.
* [[Boisterous Bruiser]]: Colonel Haki, the Turkish [[Secret Police]] officer, as part of [[Obfuscating Stupidity]]
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* [[Inherent in the System]]: In a [[Writer on Board]] passage, the novel discusses how Dimitrios is a symptom of larger social problems, "But it was useless to try to explain him in terms of Good and Evil. [[Above Good and Evil|They were no more than baroque abstractions]]. Good Business and Bad Business were the elements of the new theology. Dimitrios was not evil. He was logical and consistent; as logical and consistent in the European jungle as the poison gas called Lewisite and the shattered bodies of children killed in the bombardment of an open town. The logic of Michael Angelo's David, Beethoven's quartets and Einstein's physics had been replaced by that of the [[Corrupt Corporate Executive|Stock Exchange Year Book]] and [[Nazi Germany|Hitler's Mein Kampf]]."
* [[It's for a Book]]: Latimer uses this as an excuse to explain his interest in finding out information on Dimitrios. Played straight a couple of times, but most often, the people hearing this think he has a sinister motive.
* [[Market-Based Title]]: ''A Coffin for Dimitrios'' in the USA.
* [[They Look Just Like Everyone Else]]/ [[The Nondescript]]: Even people who knew Dimitrios for extended periods of time seem to describe him in a way that's so general it could fit any number of people.
* [[Obligatory War Crime Scene]]: A segment of the novel describes the Turkish recapture of the Greek-occupied city of Smyrna, now [[Please Select New City Name|Izmir, Turkey]]. Dimitrios, [[Halfbreed|half-Greek, half-Turkish]] escaped the violence thanks to a fake Turkish passport.
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[[Category:Spy Literature]]
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[[Category:British Literature]]
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