Charles Latimer is a writer of detective novels.
He is a very successful one at that but Latimer is in truth just a penname, his full name being Charles Latimer Lewison. It is under his real name that the writing he truly wanted to do was published, non-fiction, largely historic in nature. The history of the Hanseatic League was his most known work under his real name and it didn't sell very well. So to pay the bills, he wrote detective novels.
Latimer had from the time he graduated from college been an academician, giving lectures on political economy and spending his free time researching heavy treatises on a variety of subjects. Having written three books, including a long history of a major Nazi figure, he had had enough of seriousness and started writing mysteries. Doing these revealed to him that he really did love cracking cases.
The combining of both styles of writing, detective novels and historical research, is what creates the two adventures that are chronicled in the two books about Latimer. In both cases, Latimer hears something that interests him. Delving deeper into the background of each gets him further and further into danger but his love of mysteries and his passion for getting at the truth won't let him stop.
The atmosphere captivated by both books make each a must read, especially the first which captures strongly the fear, anxiety, and in some cases the excitement that the events leading to war bring to a myriad of people. Latimer isn't interested in international intrigue as he looks for what happened to Dimitrios but he cannot avoid dealing with them as he moves about Europe. Having been written about that time during that time makes the book a must-read.