In the story Colonel Methuen of Special Operations Q Branch is called to the office of his commanding officer and asked: "How far would it be if one walked from Belgrade to Salonika? Methuen starts his perilious mission which takes him deep into the mountains of Yugoslavia. Durrell's description of the highlands of the country forms an intrinsic part of the novel. "The woods were carpeted with flowers, sweet-smelling salvia, cranesbill, and a variety of ferns. Here and there, too, bright dots of scarlet showed him where the wild strawberries grew, and in these verdant woods the pines and beeches increased in size until he calculated that he was walking among glades of trees nearly a hundred feet in height. He could not help contrasting all this place and beauty with the grim errand upon which he was bent, and which might lead to him to sudden death." (from White Eagles over Serbia)
In 1953 Durrell left diplomatic service and moved to Cyprus, but from 1954 to 1956 he returned to it, on account of the Cypriot revolution, as director of Public Relations for the British Government. He finally settled in Provence, France, where he lived for the rest of his life. Among his later works are JUSTINE (1957), in which Justine's emotional and sexual wildness fuels a highly-charged atmosphere, BALTHAZAR (1958), MOUNTOLIVE (1959) and CLEA (1960), formig together the Alexandria Quartet, entitled 'The Book of the Dead.' All four parts in the work climax in death. Set in Alexandria during the period just before World War II, the first three novels cover roughly the same period of time and the events, while Clea advances the action in time. Principal characters include the narrator L.G. Darley, his Greek mistress Melissa, the British ambassador Mountolive, the British intelligence agent Pursewarden, Durrell's spokesman for artistic vision, although his ambiquous death already in Justine, the artist Clea, and Justine, and her wealthy Coptic husband Nessim. All are bound together in a web of political and sexual intrigue: each novel reveals different aspect of the truth. Darley's point of view from Justine is contradicted by others in Balthazar, Mountolive gives the facts, and Clea tells of the writer's journey of self discovery. Conventional distinctions - major/minor characters, main plots/subplots - are denied. Numerous characters disappear, then reemerge in altered form. The books gained critical acclaim, but the movie based upon the story was a flop. Durrell sought to replicate his success with The Avignon Quintet: MONSIEUR; OR, THE PRINCE OF DARKNESS (1974), LIVIA; OR, BURIED ALIVE (1978), CONSTANCE; OR, SOLITARY PRACTICES (1982); SEBASTIAN; OR, RULING PASSIONS (1983).