Con el agua al cuello (Tusquets, 2011) –Neck-deep in Water– the seventh book in Commissar Costas Haritos series by Greek author Petros Markaris was released last month in Spain. Originally published in 2010, the original title is Ληξιπρόθεσμα Δάνεια.
Synopsis: A hot Sunday in the summer of 2010, Commissar Haritos attends the wedding of his daughter Katerina, this time in the Church and with musical fanfare. The next day, shortly after his arrival at headquarters, he is informed of the murder of Zisimópulos Nikitas, a former bank manager, his throat sliced with a sharp weapon. The gruesome murder coincides with an anonymous campaign someone has taken against the banks, encouraging citizens to boycott financial institutions and do not pay their debts and mortgages. The truth is that Greece, on the verge of bankruptcy, is going through a very critical moment, and people do not hesitate to take the streets to complain against cuts in wages and pensions. To make things worse, Stazakos, the Chief of the Anti-Terrorist Squad, holds that the killing of Zisimópulos could be the work of terrorists. Haritos disagrees with that hypothesis but he will have to make do with his two assistants to deal with a murderer whose crimes have only just begun. (My free translation).
The publisher blurb reads: Few streets almost in ruins surrounded with debris and criminals, is what is left from the old Chinese Quarter of Havana. When Conde, a former policeman who now spends his time trading second hand books, enters, he cannot help but remember when he was in this exotic and rough corner of the city many years before, in 1989. It all turned out from the request of Lieutenant Patricia Chion, an irresistible woman, that was seeking his help in an strange case: the murder of Pedro Cuang, a lonely old man who was found hanged with a finger amputee and with a circle and two arrows engraved with a knife in his chest. Santeria (witchcraft) rituals forced them to make inquiries in other spheres of the city. But el Conde found unexpected links, secret businesses and a story of sacrifice and misfortunes that brought back to light the hidden truth of many Asian immigrant families. As the Chinese expression goes he had to find the tail of the snake to get to the head. (My free translation).
A Crime is Afoot 