The first in a new series of Harvill thrillers, set in Greece and centred round the grumpy but irresistible figure of Inspector Costas Haritos.
The first of three novels featuring Inspector Haritos, 'The Late-Night News' exposes the corruption that has pervaded both private and public life in Greece since the fall of the military dictatorship and the advent of a democratic government, and the explosive growth of private entrepreneurship. Costas Haritos is a homicide inspector in central Athens. He is married (but close to the end of his tether), has one daughter and relaxes by reading dictionaries. Aggressive and pessimistic, he is not an altogether likeable person; the manner in which he treats people is certainly not to be commended.
One evening he is called to the scene of a murder: the celebrated TV journalist Janna has been killed in a broadcasting studio just as she was about to go on air with a sensational story. The killer knew obviously of her investigations. The cynical Haritos had not been one of Janna's fans. Young, successful and tough, she had frequently got on his nerves. Once he starts his investigations, though, he finds himself sucked ever deeper into the grubby world of the Greek media. When Janna's successor also is murdered, Haritos recognises that he has to step up his investigation. He is almost suspended from the case because his own theories make a number of important people uncomfortable. The killer he unmasks in the end comes as a complete surprise.
