Michael Dibdin was a British author of detective novels, most notably for his series featuring Inspector Aurelio Zen. His works were characterized by sharp wit, ingenious plots, and a keen insight into human nature. Dibdin masterfully wove suspense with psychological depth, crafting narratives that drew readers into intricate mysteries. His style was both sophisticated and accessible, establishing him as a celebrated figure in the genre.
Aurelio Zen is posted to remote Calabria, at the toe of the Italian boot. Beneath the surface of a tight-knit, traditional community he discovers that violent forces are at work. There has been a brutal murder and Zen is determined to find a way to penetrate the code of silence and uncover the truth.
The Oxford Bookworms Library offers new editions of the original Oxford Bookworms Black and Green series, merging the two series into one with new covers. The new editions build on the success of the original series and provide enhanced teaching support. Sixteen additional pages inside each book allow extra pages of activities and increased author and series information. Some of the titles have new illustrations. For those titles which had associated cassettes, the cassettes will remain available with the same ISBNs as before.
Establishing Dibdin as a master of the historical mystery, "A Rich Full Death" begins in 1855 Florence at the hanging of Isabel Eaken. Engrossing, lively, lush with details, this evocative story has been seamlessly created from both fact and fancy, characters both imagined and real.
Detective and mystery stories. Mystery fiction. Aurelio Zen is posted to remote Calabria, at the toe of the Italian boot. And beneath the surface of a tight-knit, traditional community he discovers that violent forces are at work. There has been a brutal murder. Zen is determined to find a way to penetrate the code of silence and uncover the truth. But his mission is complicated by another secret which has drawn strangers from the other side of the world - a hunt for buried treasure launched by a single-minded player with millions to spend pursuing his bizarre and deadly obsession.
A single-volume edition of three of the crime novels featuring Italian detective Aurelio Zen: Ratking, Vendetta and Cabal.
Among the emerging generation of crime writers, none is as stylish and intelligent as Michael Dibdin, who, in Dead Lagoon, gives us a deliciously creepy new novel featuring the urbane and skeptical Aurelio Zen, a detective whose unenviable task it is to combat crime in a country where today's superiors may be tomorrow's defendants. Zen returns to his native Venice. He is searching for the ghostly tormentors of a half-demented contessa and a vanished American millionaire whose family is paying Zen under the table to determine his whereabouts--dead or alive. But he keeps stumbling over corpses that are distressingly concrete: from the crooked cop found drowned in one of the city's noisome "black wells" to a brand-new skeleton that surfaces on the Isle of the Dead. The result is a mystery rich in character and deduction, and intensely informed about the history, politics, and manners of its Venetian setting.
One of England's most acclaimed younger mystery writers, the creator of Detective Aurelio Zen, gives us a brilliant and haunting variation on the classic drawing-room murder novel. The setting is Eventide Lodge, where the guests have gathered for tea. Colonel Weatherby is reading by the fire. Mrs. Hargreave III is whiling away her time at patience. And Miss Rosemary Travis and her friend, Dorothy, are wondering which of their housemates will be the next to die. For even as Michael Dibdin's elderly sleuths debate clues and motives, it becomes clear that Eventide Lodge is not a genteel country inn but a place of ghastly cruelties and humiliations. A place where the logic of murder is . . .almost comforting . At once affectionate homage and audacious satire, The Dying of the Light will delight any aficionado of Patricia Highsmith, Peter Dickinson, or Ruth Rendell.
Inspector Aurelio Zen is back and facing the biggest mystery of his professional career. Drawn into the plots of the Vatican city, he becomes certain of one thing - that in life the only certainty is death. Previous Zen books include Ratking.
In Italian police inspector Aurelio Zen, Michael Dibdin has given the mystery one of its most complex and compelling protagonists: a man wearily trying to enforce the law in a society where the law is constantly being bent. In this, the first novel he appears in, Zen himself has been assigned to do some law bending. Officials in a high government ministry want him to finger someone--anyone--for the murder of an eccentric billionaire, whose corrupt dealings enriched some of the most exalted figures in Italian politics.But Oscar Burolo's murder would seem to be not just unsolvable but impossible. The magnate was killed on a heavily fortified Sardinian estate, where every room was monitored by video cameras. Those cameras captured Burolo's grisly death, but not the face of his killer. And that same killer, elusive, implacable, and deranged, may now be stalking Zen. Inexorable in its suspense, superbly atmospheric, Vendetta is further proof of Dibdin's mastery of the crime novel.
348 393 9028: MEDUSA. After the heated pool, the air was distinctly cool, even down here in the sheltered terraces above lake Lugano. He keyed in the number, then turned to face the hillside behind the villa. The land rose precipitously, the contours marked by the looping line of Via Totone and its accompanying homes and gardens. There was no one in sight. When a group of Austrian cavers in the Italian Alps come across human remains at the bottom of a deep shaft, everyone assumes the death was accidental - until the still unidentified body is stolen from the morgue and the Defence Ministry puts a news blackout on the case. The whole affair has the whiff of political intrigue. The search for the truth leads Zen back into the murky history of post-war Italy and obscure corners of modern-day society to uncover the truth about a crime that everyone thought was as dead and buried as the victim. If you enjoyed the Inspector Zen Mystery series you may also like The Last Sherlock Holmes Story, another crime novel by Michael Dibdin.
Michael Dibdin's first Aurelio Zen mystery finds his stoic, philosophical Italian police commissioner investigating the kidnapping of Ruggiero Miletti, a powerful Perugian industrialist. However, the closer Zen peers into the rat's nest of the Miletti family's affairs, the more his suspicions rest on Ruggiero's wayward progeny.
After his adventures under sun-drenched Neapolitan skies in Cosi Fan Tutti, Aurelio Zen finds himself back in Rome, sneezing in a damp wine cellar and being given another unorthodox assignment: to release the jailed scion of an important wine-growing family who is accused of a brutal murder. Zen travels north to an Italy as outwardly serene as Naples was manic. Amid the quiet fields, autumnal skies and crumbling farmhouses of Piedmont, Zen must try to penetrate a traditional culture in which family and soil are inextricably linked. Here secrets can last for generations, and have a finish as long and lingering as that of a good Barbaresco. Zen must also face up to mysteries from his own past, as well as grapple with the greed, envy, hatred and love that are the human components of any landscape.
The novel that started Michael Dibdin's career, The Tryst, is an eerie psychological thriller in which a woman's buried past lures her deeper and deeper into the Dickensian underbelly of 1980s London. A psychiatrist with a fading marriage, Aileen Macklin is haunted by a young man who comes to her in a panic, begging to be admitted to a psychiatric hospital for protection. Gary Dunn is ravaged by his squalid existence, paralyzed with fear about a murder he has witnessed, and convinced he may be next. Unfortunately for Gary, he just may be right. And unfortunately for Aileen, she becomes far more involved in his case than professional ethics would recommend.
Our Review The Art of Zen Writing a review of a Michael Dibdin novel is not easy, let me tell you. All the superlatives have been used so many times they've lost their power. Elegant stylist. Bedazzling plotter. Spellbinding psychologist. And great storyteller. In Blood Rain, Dibdin's Italian detective, Aurelio Zen, goes (not by choice) to Catania, where he is to make an assessment of certain spy operations there, said operations meant to penetrate the inner workings of the Mafia. The physical danger comes from the violence so common to this district. The spiritual danger comes from an encounter with his adopted daughter and the precarious health of his mother. An American would handle this material very differently, tending, I think, to either boozy melancholy or the dry, distancing, tough-guy stuff of the hard-boiled boys. And it would probably take place in L.A. or Florida. But with Dibdin there is a Fellini-esque quality (I'm thinking here of Amacord ), where the world is made up of all things human -- sorrow, humor, fear, reflection, vulgarity, poetry -- and society is not good or bad, merely a reflection of all human vagaries. For all the decay and corruption Zen encounters, there is little real anger in the book. Zen (and not for nothing has he been so named) is a man of wisdom and acceptance. He is a detective in both the literal and metaphysical sense. And he manages to be so without being in the least pretentious. An excellent novel in all respects. And an edifying one. Dibdin's introspective approach is a relief from screaming potboilers. --Ed Gorman
Aurelio Zen was dead to the world. Under the next umbrella, a few desirable metres closer to the sea, Massimo Rutelli was just dead.Inspector Zen is back, but nobody's supposed to know it. After months in hospital recovering from a bomb attack on his car, he is lying low under a false name at a beach resort on the Tuscan coast, waiting to testify in an imminent anti-Mafia trial. But when an alarming number of people are dropping dead around him, it seems just a matter of time before the Mafia manages to finish the job it bungled months before on a lonely Sicilian road. The pleasant monotony of resort life is cut short as Zen finds himself transported to a remote and strange world far from home...and wherever he goes, trouble follows.If you enjoyed the Inspector Zen Mystery series you may also like The Last Sherlock Holmes Story, another crime novel by Michael Dibdin.
Set against the backdrop of Italy, this novel follows detective Aurelio Zen as he navigates the complexities of crime, corruption, and the intricate web of Italian society. With a blend of suspense and dark humor, Zen tackles a challenging case that intertwines personal and political stakes. The narrative explores themes of morality and the often-blurred lines between right and wrong, all while showcasing the rich cultural landscape of Italy. Zen's character offers a unique perspective on justice in a world filled with ambiguity.
Thanksgiving is a novel about love, sex, death at midlife, and the power of the past. Anthony is a British journalist whose American wife, Lucy, has suddenly died. Grieving and haunted, he becomes obsessed with her youth and the years he missed before he met her. To find out more, he travels to a remote part of the Nevada desert to meet Lucy's first husband. Their encounter is the beginning of a journey that takes him across the world, to the edge of madness, and into the corners of the human heart. It is a journey in which he is never at peace and never far from the woman he still loves.'Never has Dibdin's polished prose been so probing and delicate.' Guardian
Roman hvor fortælleren, en gammel 68'er, prøver at retfærdiggøre sin karakter, sine handlinger og sit livssyn, især da han i sine ægteskaber altid finder en mere interessant kvinde, end den han er gift med
In this majestically unnerving novel, Michael Dibdin, the creator of the acclaimed Aurelio Zen mysteries, explores themes that might have been ripped out of today's headlines, as he charts America's dual epidemic of religious cultism and random violence.The murders take place in distant cities and with no apparent motive. All that connects them is their cold-blooded efficiency. But a dogged Seattle detective and a horribly bereaved survivor are about to come face-to-face with their perpetrator—a man named Los, a self-styled prophet who has the power to make his followers travel thousands of miles to kill for him. Out of mayhem and revelation, the minutiae of police work and the explosive contents of a psychotic mind, Michael Dibdin orchestrates a tour de force of dread. This should be read with the lights on and the doors firmly bolted.
In the latest installment in his critically acclaimed Italian mystery series, Michael Didbin sends Aurelio Zen to Italy’s culinary capital, Bologna, where he discovers that some cases are not quite what they appear to be. When the corpse of the shady Bologna industrialist who owns the local football team is found both shot and stabbed with a Parmesan knife, Aurelio Zen is summoned to oversee the investigation. Anxious for a break from his girlfriend, who attributes Zen’s slow recovery from routine surgery to hypochondria, he is only too happy to take on what first appears to be an undemanding assignment. The case quickly spins out of control, becoming entangled with the fates of a student semiotics, a mysterious immigrant claiming to be royalty, and Bologna’s most incompetent private detective. Meanwhile a prominent postmodern academic accuses Italy’s leading celebrity chef of being a fraud. Back to Bologna is dazzlingly plotted and delivers both comic and serious insights into the realities of today’s Italy.
One of England's most acclaimed younger mystery writers, the creator of Detective Aurelio Zen, gives us a brilliant and haunting variation on the classic drawing-room murder novel. The setting is Eventide Lodge, where the guests have gathered for tea. Colonel Weatherby is reading by the fire. Mrs. Hargreave III is whiling away her time at patience. And Miss Rosemary Travis and her friend, Dorothy, are wondering which of their housemates will be the next to die.For even as Michael Dibdin's elderly sleuths debate clues and motives, it becomes clear that Eventide Lodge is not a genteel country inn but a place of ghastly cruelties and humiliations. A place where the logic of murder is . . .almost comforting . At once affectionate homage and audacious satire, The Dying of the Light will delight any aficionado of Patricia Highsmith, Peter Dickinson, or Ruth Rendell.
This anthology presents a compelling exploration of crime through a blend of fiction and non-fiction, drawing from a variety of sources to illuminate the complexities of criminal behavior. The collection features notable works such as Thomas de Quincey's "On Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts," and includes contributions from celebrated authors like Julian Symons, Anton Chekhov, and James M. Cain. Readers will encounter a diverse range of narratives, from Kafka's "A Case of Fratricide" to Faulkner's "Smoke," alongside critical essays discussing the nature of detective stories by figures like G.K. Chesterton and Raymond Chandler. The anthology also includes works by literary giants such as Edgar Allan Poe, Oscar Wilde, and Georges Simenon, offering a rich tapestry of perspectives on crime and morality. The collection is not just a showcase of storytelling; it also delves into the psychological and societal implications of crime, featuring essays and reflections that challenge readers to consider the underlying motivations behind criminal acts. With a mix of classic and contemporary pieces, this anthology serves as both an engaging read and a thought-provoking examination of the darker aspects of human nature.
"50 Jahre war es unter Verschluss--das brisante Dokument des Dr. John Watson, dessen Name jedem Sherlock-Holmes-Kenner ein Begriff ist. 1976 endlich wurde es freigegeben. Es berichtet von den Untaten eines gewissen "Jack the Ripper." Holmes kommt zu dem Schluss, dass Prof. Moriarty der Täter ist. Doch nach dessen Tod in den Reichenbachfällen ereignen sich weitere Dirnenmorde, und Dr. Watson geht ihren Spuren nach--nicht immer gemeinsam mit seinem berühmten Freund"--Page 4 of cover.
Als seine Frau Lucy bei einem Flugzeugabsturz ums Leben kommt, beginnt der Journalist Anthony sich mit ihrer Vergangenheit auseinander zu setzen. Er trifft sich mit Lucys Exmann Daryl - und die beiden geraten in einen erbitterten Streit. Kurz darauf ist Daryl tot, und Anthony kann sich an nichts mehr erinnern ...§
Inspecteur Aurelio Zen onderzoekt een afrekening in het maffia-milieu van Sicilië.
Politieman Aurelio Zen, die tijdelijk is overgeplaatst naar een plaatsje in het Zuid-Italiaanse Calabrië, onderzoekt de mysterieuze moord op een Italiaanse Amerikaan en krijgt te maken met een Amerikaanse miljonair die op zoek is naar een legendarische schat.
Případ komisaře Zena. Aurelio Zen, komisař kriminálního oddělení italského ministerstva vnitra, je pověřen vyšetřováním únosu Ruggiera Milettiho, hlavy významné podnikatelské rodiny v Perugii. Pátrání po pachatelích únosu a posléze i vraždy se postupně proměňuje v neúprosný a nervy drásající zápas, v němž jedinou Zenovou šancí na úspěch je rozkrýt temný svět pečlivě střežených osobních tajemství, zájmů a intrik hned několika podezřelých.
