Back to Bologna (Aurelio Zen) - Softcover

Dibdin, Michael

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0571270883 ISBN 13: 9780571270880

Publisher: Faber & Faber, 2011

Synopsis

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...

About this title

Review:

Every so often--and his new novel Back to Bolognais a good example of this--Michael Dibdin stretches the form of the detective novel to involve his often glum detective Aurelio Zen in situations of wild, bloody farce. Dragged back to work in spite of ill health that may be hypochondria, and faced with the breakdown of his long-term relationship, Zen finds himself caught up in the murder of a football club owner, a cooking duel between a celebrity chef and a post-modern professor and the amorous adventures of a beautiful immigrant from Ruritania. Back to Bologna combines some sharp satirical comments with a dim view of unreasonable behaviour, whether by spoiled brat football hooligans or blundering private eyes. Dibdin combines sharply-phrased misanthropy with a capacity ultimately to forgive human weakness. Many of his books are classics of modern crime writing; Back to Bologna is perhaps less ambitious, but it is a technically accomplished delight. ---Roz Kaveney

Review:

"Clever. . . . It has wit, subtlety, a sense of mischief and exquisite cameos of Italy and Italians."-"The Times" (London)""Back to Bologna" is the sprightliest entry in the Zen oeuvre for a good few years...Barely a page goes by without a big laugh. . . . I can't wait until Dibdin takes us [to Italy] again."-"Daily Telegraph""A clever mystery. . . . Pure pleasure from the first to the last."-"The Evening Standard"

About this edition

• Publisher: Faber & Faber
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0571270883
• ISBN 13: 9780571270880
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320