Books by Michael Dibdin

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.

Turning to the window, Zen eyed his spectral other, so smugly solid and substantial. He felt as if he were the reflection and that image the original. 'A Shadow of his former self,' as the stock phrase went. A hopeless invalid. A sad case.When the corpse of the shady industrialist who owns the local football team is found both shot and stabbed, Italian police inspector Aurelio Zen is called to Bologna to oversee the investigation. Recovering slowly from surgery, and fleeing an equally painful crisis in his personal life, Zen is only too happy to take on what at first appears to be a routine and relatively undemanding assignment.But soon a world-famous university professor is shot with the same gun, and the case threatens to spin out of control...

Modvilligt tilbage i Rom sættes politikommissæren Aurelio Zen på en velsmagende sag, der involverer en kendt vinavler-familie. Familiens unge arving er blevet anklaget for et brutalt mord og mens Zen leder efter beviser, der bekræfter hans uskyld, konfronteres han med et lokalsamfund, hvor alle kender hinandens hemmeligheder. Da hans efterforskning leder ham til en ung kvinde, der påstår at være hans datter, bliver han distraheret og må kæmpe for at holde fokus på sagen om vinavlernes søn.Serien om politikommissæren Aurelio Zen tager læseren dybt med ind i Italiens kriminelle underverden, én italiensk by ad gangen. Med en uheldig evne til altid at havne det forkerte sted på det forkerte tidspunkt, angriber Zen det korrupte netværk af mafiabosser og håndlangere fra Bologna til Sicilien med sort humor og beslutsomhed. Den anerkendte engelske krimiforfatter Michael Dibdin skrev i alt 11 bøger om Aurelio Zen, hvor den sidste blev udgivet kort tid efter hans død i 2007.Michael Dibdin (1947-2007) var en britisk krimiforfatter. Han er bedst kendt for sine bøger om politikommissæren og antihelten Aurelio Zen, der alle foregår i Italien, hvor Dibdin selv boede i mange år. Bøgerne er siden blevet til en TV-serie på engelske BBC.

I Italiens kulinariske hovedstad Bologna er politikommissær Aurelio Zen lettet over at slippe fra en krise med sin kæreste og arbejde på en tilsyneladende beskeden opgave. Men snart viser det sig, at mordet på en lokal industrimogul, der er blevet stukket ihjel med en parmesankniv, bliver langt mere krævende end Zens kæreste. Med det ældgamle universitet som kulisse involveres både studerende, en inkompetent privatdetektiv og Italiens mest berømte kok i en kompliceret efterforskning.Serien om politikommissæren Aurelio Zen tager læseren dybt med ind i Italiens kriminelle underverden, én italiensk by ad gangen. Med en uheldig evne til altid at havne det forkerte sted på det forkerte tidspunkt, angriber Zen det korrupte netværk af mafiabosser og håndlangere fra Bologna til Sicilien med sort humor og beslutsomhed. Den anerkendte engelske krimiforfatter Michael Dibdin skrev i alt 11 bøger om Aurelio Zen, hvor den sidste blev udgivet kort tid efter hans død i 2007.Michael Dibdin (1947-2007) var en britisk krimiforfatter. Han er bedst kendt for sine bøger om politikommissæren og antihelten Aurelio Zen, der alle foregår i Italien, hvor Dibdin selv boede i mange år. Bøgerne er siden blevet til en TV-serie på engelske BBC.

Resterne af et lig bliver opdaget i en forladt italiensk tunnel af en gruppe østrigske vandrere og først antager alle, at der er tale om en ulykke. Men da liget bliver stjålet fra myndighedernes varetægt, sætter indenrigsministeriet politikommissær Aurelio Zen på sagen. I jagten på sandheden om dødsfaldet involveres Zen i Italiens turbulente politiske historie og en sag, der trækker tråde tilbage til en skjult forbrydelse årtier tidligere. Serien om politikommissæren Aurelio Zen tager læseren dybt med ind i Italiens kriminelle underverden, én italiensk by ad gangen. Med en uheldig evne til altid at havne det forkerte sted på det forkerte tidspunkt, angriber Zen det korrupte netværk af mafiabosser og håndlangere fra Bologna til Sicilien med sort humor og beslutsomhed. Den anerkendte engelske krimiforfatter Michael Dibdin skrev i alt 11 bøger om Aurelio Zen, hvor den sidste blev udgivet kort tid efter hans død i 2007.Michael Dibdin (1947-2007) var en britisk krimiforfatter. Han er bedst kendt for sine bøger om politikommissæren og antihelten Aurelio Zen, der alle foregår i Italien, hvor Dibdin selv boede i mange år. Bøgerne er siden blevet til en TV-serie på engelske BBC.

There was something about the Burolo case which was different any other he had ever been involved in. He had known cases which obsessed him professionally, taking over his life until he was unable to sleep properly or to think about anything else, but this was even more disturbing.Inspector Zen has a problem: an impossible murder, recorded on the closed-circuit video of Oscar Burolo's top-security Sardinian fortress. As he gets to work, he is once again plunged into a menacing and violent world where his own life is soon at risk.If you enjoyed the Inspector Zen Mystery series you may also like The Last Sherlock Holmes Story, another crime novel by Michael Dibdin.

There can be no question that the contents of this book will prove extremely controversial. Many people will be deeply shocked by the nature of Watson's statement. Many will no doubt prefer to reject it rather than surrender the beliefs of a lifetime. Others will at least regret that two of the great mysteries of crime are finally solved...An extraordinary document comes to light which for fifty years had been held on deposit by the bankers of the deceased John Herbert Watson MD - better known as Dr Watson.The document, written by Dr Watson himself, opens in the East End of London in 1888. Three women have been savagely murdered. To calm the public outcry, Scotland Yard approaches London's most eminent detective, Sherlock Holmes, and asks him to investigate the killer.Can Holmes solve the mystery of Jack the Ripper? And why has this story been suppressed for so long?

The dead man followed the track until it rose above the last remaining trees and ceased to be a rough line of beaten earth and scruffy grass, to become a stony ramp hewn out of the cliff face and deeply rutted by the abrasive force of ancient iron-rimmed cart wheels. By now il morto was clearly suffering, but he struggled on, pausing frequently to gasp for breath before tackling another stretch of the scorched rock on which the soles of his feet left bloody footprints.Aurelio Zen's final case brings him to remote town of Calabria, at the toe of Italy's boot, on what is supposed to be a routine assignment: the death of a scout for an American film company. But the case is complicated by a group of dangerous strangers who have arrived to uncover another local mystery - buried treasure - and who will stop at nothing to achieve their goal. The case rapidly spirals out of control, and Zen must penetrate the code of silence in the tight-knit community in order to solve the crime.If you enjoyed the Inspector Zen Mystery series you may also like The Last Sherlock Holmes Story, another crime novel by Michael Dibdin.

At this point there is a welcome touch of comedy as the man's feet appear above the tail-gate of the garbage truck. Clad in highly polished brogues and red-and-black chequered socks below which a length of bare white leg is just visible, they proceed to execute a furious little dance, jerking this way and that like puppets at a Punch and Judy show - possibly a knowing allusion to the commedia dell'arte, which of course originated in this city.Inspector Zen has been posted to Naples in disgrace, where he is asked to oversee the clean-up of the city's corrupt authorities. Like the rest of Italy, Naples is concerned about its image and is trying to reform itself. Zen, however, finds that someone else is already at work. Corrupt politicians, shady businessmen and eminent members of the Italian Mafia are disappearing off the streets at an alarming rate and Zen must find out who is behind the murders.

The site where the body had been found was within the territory of the provincia di Catania, and hence under the jurisdiction of the authorities of that city. So far, so good. From a bureaucratic point of view, however, the crucial factor was where and when the crime - if indeed it was a crime - had occurred. As all those concerned were soon to learn, none of these points was susceptible of a quick or easy answer.Zen finally receives the order he has been dreading all his professional life: his next posting to Sicily.The gruesome discovery of an unidentified, decomposed corpse sealed in a railway wagon marks the beginning of Zen's most difficult and dangerous murder case. Set against the backdrop of Catania, in the shadow of the smouldering volcano of Etna, Blood Rain is a riveting tale of violence and murder, which reveals Aurelio Zen at his most desperate and driven.If you enjoyed the Inspector Zen Mystery series you may also like The Last Sherlock Holmes Story, another crime novel by Michael Dibdin.

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.

Word count 9,680

Karen and I on the sofa, Karen and I in the back seat of the BMW, Karen and I at the river, up the alley, down the garden, round the corner, in the pub. Our movements are furtive, frantic and compulsive. Our pleasures are brief and incomplete. Our frustrations are enormous. Because if you look closely at the background of every scene, you'll see Dennis.Dennis and Karen lead a pleasant life in North Oxford until the day one of their dinner guests seduces Karen in the kitchen, setting in motion a chain of events which will destroy the thin veneer of their respectability and lead to ruthless murder.Dirty Tricks is a brilliant thriller set in contemporary Oxford: a gripping story of sex, ambition and violence with a wickedly humorous twist.If you enjoyed Dirty Tricks you may also like A Rich Full Death, another crime novel by Michael Dibdin.