Petros Márkaris uses the form of the police procedural for social commentary. In his first two novels, Zone Defence and The Late Night News, his commentary on Greece – and Athens in particular – is quite savage. In particular Márkaris –like many other Greeks – is angry about the corruption, the intrigue, the greed and the sheer shamelessness. His hero, Inspector Haritos, is remarkably cynical even by the standards of the genre, and has a fraught relationship with his superior, Superintendant Ghikas. Ghikas obeys orders. Part of the fun of the first two books is watching Haritos get round procedures and dodge regulations.In Ché Committed Suicide Márkaris goes beyond the limits of the police procedural. He also moves from social commentary into politics. I wasn’t sure until the last chapter – literally – that he was going to be able to make it work.The crimes that start the first two novels are dramatic. The one that starts Ché Committed Suicide is remarkably so. A successful businessman pulls out a pistol while he is being interviewed live on air in a TV studio and shoots himself. Within days of the suicide, a biography of the dead man appears from a small publisher.As a suicide, it is not of course the business of the homicide squad. The act however is so public that it is all over the papers and the other channels, and the businessman – as a Greek – is connected with politicians. Ghikas is asked to investigate discreetly and takes advantage of the fact that Inspector Haritos is still on convalescent leave.This device allows Márkaris to take Haritos out of the squad room and away from office politics, and to team him with the smart – in both senses – woman police officer who normally acts as Ghikas’ assistant rather than the rather dull members of his usual team.Other dark deeds follow, and the plot grows murkier. It seems fairly clear that the suicide occurred under pressure, but what sort of pressure could force someone not merely to commit suicide but to do it in such a public way? It also becomes clear that the perpetrator knows that Haritos is the investigator and is playing with him.The dead man was once active in the resistance to the junta, and was tortured by the military police. By becoming a successful businessman, and as it appears not a particularly scrupulous one, he has in some way betrayed his ideals. The conflict in a police procedural is usually between a clever criminal and a clever copper. Here, the ‘criminal’ – if that is the right word – is trying to communicate with the copper. The tension is more over the fact that while a crime has pretty clearly been committed, the sympathies of the reader and the writer – if not unambiguously of our dedicated inspector – will not be with the people we would normally think of as the victims.Márkaris has to provide a sufficient motivation for the suicide, another sufficient motivation for the incitement to suicide, a resolution which allows the inciter to get away with it and a reason for us to feel that is OK. He does this, superbly well. It is a remarkable book.Márkaris has replaced the forensic notion of justice which normally applies in the police procedural with a much more philosophical version of the concept. He has pushed the limits of the genre further than I have seen it done before.I am looking forward to reading more Inspector Haritos mysteries. Sadly – or perhaps otherwise – I shall have to brush up my Greek.
Petros Markaris is a Greek writer, but his books have been translated in many languages, he is one of my favorites, actually now i'm reading his book “the late-night news”. He writes detective novels. This book is his best for me so far, it's not like all the other detective novels that you already know the killer and you just wait to see what will happen. In this book you have absolutely no idea what is going on, you find out things when Inspector Haritos finds out ! It was one of the books that you can't stop reading, you have to know what will happen next. Also one other thing that you will probably like is that it describes the life in Athens as it is, you get a very clear and honest picture of what is going on. I really don't want to reveal anything from the story because in detective novels you must have no clue to enjoy it more ! So if you like this type of books you will love it, but you will find it a little different too and even if you don't read detective novels it's a great book to start with, Inspector Haritos is not a superhero he is an everyday police officer who you will love !
Do You like book Si è Suicidato Il Che (2015)?
(See my review of the English edition.)Σπάνια διαβάζω αστυνομικά μυθιστορήματα. Κάποια στιγμή είχα δει τον Μάρκαρη στην εκπομπή που έκανε ο Bernard Pivot για την Ε.Τ., και μου κέντρισε το ενδιαφέρον.Από τότε πρόλαβα και διάβασα το Παλιά, πολύ παλιά, και τώρα αυτό. Το πρώτο μου κράτησε το ενδιαφέρον, μάλλον γιατί η ιστορία εξελίσσετε στην Κωνσταντινούπολη, και είχε κάτι το 'εξωτικό' σαν υπόβαθρο στην ιστορία. Σε αυτό το επεισόδιο ο αστυνόμος Χαρίτος ερευνά μία σειρά από αυτοκτονίες που ίσως έχουν πολιτικό κίνητρό. Τελικά όλο αυτό το πολιτικό στοιχείο δεν έχει και τόσο ενδιαφέρον. Η αφήγηση εστιάζει σε πολλές άσχετες και άσκοπες λεπτομέρειες, και το πολιτικό αντί να το επεξηγεί το αφήνει στην φαντασία μας. Αλλά δες εγώ που δεν μεγάλωσα εδώ και όλες οι πολιτικές αναφορές δεν μου γέμισαν την φαντασία... οπότε το σασπένς έλειπε για μένα. Επίσης δεν δούλεψε καλά το στοιχείο του running against time, η αίσθηση ότι έπρεπε να τρέξει ο Χαρίτος να προλάβει το χειρότερο δεν άντεξε στο βάρος όλον τον άσχετων λεπτομερειών.
—okyrhoe
If, as is claimed, Petros Makarios is Greece's foremost author of crime stories, the rest must be very dull.The improbable theme of this tale is a series of suicides committed live on television. Inspector Haritos, on sick leave, begins an under cover investigation. This being Greece in pre-Olympic Games building mode there is ample scope for corruption. Haritos - helped by his media contacts in the press and television, together with an assistant who compensates for his lack of IT know-how - doggedly treks from office to office conducting interviews. The problem is that the people he believes may be engaged in interlocking business deals have no individual personality - they are mere cyphers to progress the conspiracy.This is fortunately not true of the Inspector's wife; the fractious marriage is well portrayed but is not enough of itself to save a turgid plot. Matters are not helped by the author putting the reader at the Inspector's side as he drives from place to place. "When I reached the junction at Vasileos Kanstantinou Avenue, I wondered whether it would be better to turn left towards Syntagma Square or right towards Vasilissis Sofias Avebue and take Soutsou Street out into Alexandras Avenue." The decision he takes has no bearing at all on the narrative; it is padding,and there are a number of trips in the same manner. This cannot mean a great deal to native Athenians; to foreigners it is boring and useless.
—Gerald Sinstadt
Markaris è ingiustamente meno famoso di quanto meriti. Il suo commissario Charitos, in questo romanzo più che mai tiranneggiato dalla moglie Adriana (che le sue mani siano benedette), è uno dei personaggi più azzeccati della narrativa di genere.In questo "Si è suicidato il Che", Charitos si trova a dover risolvere una situazione ingarbugliata che mescola politica, affari, militanza terroristica e delitti abilmente mascherati.Il commissario si affida alla sua proverbiale testardaggine e a una ferrea logica per dipanare la matassa fino alla conclusione per nulla scontata, senza curarsi di quanti piedi pesta.
—Maria Grazia
