Foreword by Petros Markaris (Excerpt)

A great master of storytelling. "The Yellow Dossier" is Karagatsis' only novel that flirts with the genre of crime fiction. As often in his novels, Karagatsis has a brilliant idea in "The Yellow Dossier." He makes the author the investigator. I know of no other novel in crime literature where the author himself is the detective. The novel begins conventionally. Manos Tassakos, a lawyer and writer, commits suicide. The investigating officer is convinced that Tassakos' death is not a suicide but a murder case, yet he cannot prove it and has to close the investigation. Sixteen years later, Karagatsis unexpectedly receives a yellow dossier containing notes and records for a new novel by Manos Tassakos - with the note "Karagatsis should write the novel." This marks the beginning of a novel within a novel, which is essentially a commissioned work, and at the same time the start of the author Karagatsis' investigation into the suicide or murder of Manos Tassakos. This is precisely where the double, exceedingly brilliant idea of the novel lies: the author as a kind of ghostwriter for the deceased Tassakos and simultaneously as a detective attempting to uncover the truth behind his fellow writer's death. "The Yellow Dossier" rightfully belongs among Karagatsis' masterpieces. Not only is the crime plot thrilling, but the character descriptions and the relationships between the characters in the novel are also compelling. While Nikos Kazantzakis is far more well-known in Europe than M. Karagatsis, for me, Karagatsis is an equally great master of storytelling.