Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Background to danger | 1939 | Eric Ambler | N/A |
| 2 | The Mask of Dimitrios / A Coffin for Dimitrios | 1939 | Eric Ambler | Buy |
| 3 | Das Intercom- Komplott. | 1969 | Eric Ambler | N/A |
| 4 | The Intercom Conspiracy / Quiet Conspiracy | 1969 | Eric Ambler | Buy |
The Charles Latimer series features a crime novelist who discovers that real espionage is far more dangerous than fiction. The Mask of Dimitrios (1939) is the standout, widely regarded as one of the greatest spy novels ever written, following Latimer as he traces the career of a mysterious criminal across Europe.
Background to Danger (1939) introduces the world Latimer inhabits, while The Mask of Dimitrios brings him fully into the spy genre’s territory. The Intercom Conspiracy (1969) returned to the character thirty years later, with Latimer now older and operating in a Cold War setting. Eric Ambler wrote the books decades apart, so the tone shifts between the prewar entries and the later novel.
Ambler is often credited with modernizing the spy novel by making it about ordinary people caught in political danger rather than glamorous secret agents. The Latimer books are central to that reputation. Readers new to Ambler should begin with The Mask of Dimitrios, which remains in print and widely read.