A somewhat different Kostas Charitos mystery. If that's a good thing? *shrug*
I'm not sure what happened with this ninth mystery. As a long term fan of the series, I've read most of the instalments (in German translation), but never has Kostas seemed so dithering, self-reproachful and clueless as he does in this one.
In short, he's behaving like an elderly man in his 80s (the age of the author), not like a man in his middle years. And that's worrying.
The actual investigation starts relatively late, but the point of Offshore is much different than its predecessors. It's not about the 3 murders that happen. They're almost insignificant. It's about the greater picture and the tangible, as well as philosophical, machinery of government and law.
At the end of this novel, Markaris leaves you not sure if he's actually accusing the Greek government of extreme corruption, or merely providing a fascinating fictional explanation for Greece's crawling out of their financial crisis, or pointing out a little-explored part of the human condition.
The ideas served up "deus ex machina" style in the final chapter are really quite impressive and could fill hours of philosophical debate. Unfortunately, to get there, Markaris sacrifices his MC's credibility and mental capacity, which has the reader shouting from the wings "Hey! Look there! No, RIGHT THERE! Why aren't you investigating THAT?" (Which may, indeed, be part of Markaris' whole point. Why is nobody looking?)
On a personal note, I've been growing more and more frustrated with Kostas' private life over the last few novels.
Not only do I vehemently disagree with their mindset towards their daughter's career (which belongs in the early 20th century, not in the early 21st), but it seems as if Markaris is steering the characters towards a kind of totally harmonious family in which everybody always gets along and there are never any fights. This is a far cry from the early novels where Kostas' private life has a lot of bark and bite to it, Now it's just dreadfully dull and riddled with the type of sentimental notions that -- once again --are very typical for the elderly.
3.5 stars for the concept