Deadline in Athens: An Inspector Costas Haritos Mystery Book

''Late Night News'' (original title:''Nykterino deltio'') is a crime novel, written by Petros Markaris who is one of the most predominant Greek authors of the genre. The main protagonist, Inspector Kostas Haritos is a middle-aged police officer, married with Adriani and having one daughter, Katerina, who is studying Law in Thessaloniki. The story begins with the grisly murder of an Albanian couple in Renti area (a suburb of Piraeus) and unfolds at a steady pace in this medium-length book (around 350 pages). Just four days after the double murder, a prominent reporter, Gianna Karagiorgi, is found butchered in the premises of ''Hellas'' channel. Karagiorgi was ready to announce the breaking of a case involving child trafficking, so the authorities consider this to be the motive behind her killing. But the investigation led by Haritos unveils more personal aspects of the victim's which put the crime in a different light. The plot is compelling and reminiscent of the popular European and American crime novels, with a lot of sub-plots and red herrings, while the characters, both the protagonists and the secondary ones, are real and seem alive to the reader who is used to the cardboard characters of the crime fiction genre. The ending is dignified and satisfied, though I have to admit that I saw it coming from the early pages. There is also a tv series adaptation of this novel, directed by Panos Kokkinopoulos, with Minas Hatzisavvas -one of the best contemporary Greek actors- in the role of Inspector Haritos, along with Hristos Valavanidis (as Chief Gkikas) and Antonis Antoniou (Zisis). In my opinion ''Nykterino Deltio'' along with ''Amyna Zwnis'' (another P. Markaris' book adaptation) are two of the best exhibits of the -poor both in number and quality- Greek crime television productions and the main reason for this is that they are based on the solid basis of acclaimed books.
All Greek readers who enjoy crime/murder mysteries, should give it a try it without any reservation and the same goes for the tv show as well. It is guaranteed that they will be truly entertained.