Petros Markaris's crime fiction has won critical acclaim around the world. His suspense novels are propelled by intricate plots and peopled by villains and all-too-human heroes tangled up in the peculiar ways of contemporary Greece, and at their heart is junta-trained homicide squad chief Costas Haritos. Deadline in Athens finds Inspector Haritos called to the scene of a murder: the renowned TV journalist Janna has been killed in the broadcasting studio just as she was about to go on the air with some sensational news. Haritos's investigation sucks him deep into the nasty world of the Greek media. When Janna's successor also is murdered, Haritos steps up his investigation. He nearly gets suspended from his job because his theories make various important people uncomfortable. In the end, the killer he unmasks comes as a shocking surprise. The first of three novels featuring Inspector Haritos, Deadline in Athens exposes the corruption that has pervaded both private and public life in Greece since the fall of the military dictatorship, the advent of a democratic government, and the explosion of barely controlled private entrepreneurship