Kirjahaku

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."

When an advance scout for an American film company disappears, Aurelio Zen's most recent assignment in remote Calabria becomes anything but routine. Despite a savage attack that has scared the locals silent, Zen is determined to expose the truth. To make matters more complicated, a group of dangerous strangers, led by a rich, single-minded American have arrived to uncover another local mystery--buried treasure--and they will stop at nothing to achieve their goal. What ensues is a fiendishly suspenseful case that only Aurelio Zen could stumble into and only Michael Dibdin could have created: a wild thriller that takes us deep into a remote region of Italy and the darkest corners of human nature.

A comedy of manners, a mystery thriller, and a sardonic satire whose deliciously unscrupulous narrator claims that everything he did regarding his victims was "market-led," Dirty Tricks is pure entertainment from one of the most inventive writers around. When the nameless narrator embarks upon an affair with Karen, a seemingly vapid P.E. teacher married to a boring accountant, he does not know her fetish is for adultery while her husband is in the room or loitering nearby. But once he finds out, he doesn't care. He has been abroad for twenty years, and since his return to merry old England he's been startlingly uninhibited by morals or a conscience. Which is not only why he eventually gets involved with blackmail, a kidnapping, and two murders, but also how, with hilariously syllogistic logic, he's able to justify his role in all of it.

Psychiatrist Aileen Macklin finds herself unprofessionally and mysteriously drawn to Gary Dunn, a trying patient who has witnessed a murder and who now fears someone is trying to kill him. Reprint.

From the award-winning author of Ratking and Dead Lagoon comes a delicious new Aurelio Zen mystery in which wine and truffles figure as prominently as greed and vengence. When the son of a Piedmontese wine-making family is jailed for killing his father, Aurelio Zen is ordered to secure his release. The reason: A certain well-connected wine connoisseur wants to make sure that this year's vintage goes to harvest. In the hill town of Alba, Zen finds himself in the midst of a traditional culture in which family and soil are inextricablt linked, bombarded with gossip, and stalked by a mysterious telephone caller with tantalizing clues to his past. He also discovers that certain meals may really be to die for. A Long Finish is Michael Dibdin at his most elegant and surprising.

Florence,1855. "The English are dying too much," the city's police chief observes. And members of the foreign community in this quaint Italian backwater, both English and American, are indeed dying at an alarming rate and in an extraordinary variety of ingenious and horrible ways. With the local authorities out of their depth, the distinguished resident Robert Browning launches his own private investigation, aided and abetted by an expatriot Robert Booth. Unfortunately, their amateur sleuthing is hampered by the fact that each of their suspects becomes the next victim in a series of murders orchestrated by a killer with a taste for poetic justice. A Rich Full Death features characters both historical and imaginary, ranging from an enticing servant girl to Mr. Browning's consumptive, world-famous wife, Elizabeth Barrett, in a tale lush with period detail, intricately plotted, and with a truly astonishing final twist.

In Cabal, master crime writer Michael Dibdin plunges us into a murky world of church spies, secret societies, cover-ups, and mistaken identities. An apparent suicide in the Vatican may in fact have been a muder conducted by a centuries-old cabal within The Knights of Columbus. A discovery among the medieval manuscripts of the Vatican Library leads to a second death, Zen travels to Milan, where he faces a final, dramatic showdown. Meanwhile, Zen's lover, the tantalizing Tania, is conducting her own covert operations--which could well jeopardize everything Zen has worked for. Richly textured, wickedly entertaining, Cabal taps the mysterious beauty of Italy in a thriller that challenges our beliefs about love, allegiance, history, and power--and the lengths to which we will go to protect them against the truth.

Aurelio Zen--cynical and tough, yet worn down from years of law enforcement--has just been given the worst assignment he could imagine. He has been sent to the heart of hostile territory: Sicily, the ancient, beautiful island where blood has been known to flow like wine, and the distinction between the police and the criminals is a fine one. Even worse, he has been sent to spy on the elite anti-Mafia squad.The only thing that makes the job palatable--and takes his mind off routine details like the rotting body found in a remote train car--is that Zen's adopted daughter, Carla, is also in town. But life becomes precarious for Carla when she stumbles upon some information she'd be better off not knowing and befriends a local magistrate on the Mafia's most wanted list. What ensues is a breakneck plot of amazing complexity that culminates in a stunning finale. Blood Rain, emotionally gripping and defiantly original, is surely one of Dibdin's finest works.

Having survived an explosive assassination attempt, Italian police detective Aurelio Zen finds himself convalescing at a Tuscan seaside resort town, where he is under orders to lie low until he is to testify at a much-anticipated Mafia trial. The quiet--and the boredom are relieved by the pleasant distraction of the beautiful Gemma, but just when he feels he is getting somewhere with her, a the discovery of corpse in his usual lounge chair brings his holiday to an abrupt end. Convinced that the Mafia has finally located him, the police put Zen on the move again, in startling directions. And Then You Die, Michael Dibdin's latest installment in the Aurelio Zen series, is a wicked, twisting tale that pits Zen against invisible assassins and the possibility of forced retirement. As the plot unfolds, and Zen ponders his uncertain future, bodies are stacking up around him. And Then You Die is another exceptionally surprising, consistently funny triumph from a master of the genre.

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.

What is it that binds together a series of violent murders across America and the long-lost Secret of the Templars? The killings always take place in the home, usually in broad daylight, in towns and cities all over America. The victims are of every age and background; they have been bound and gagged and shot in the head at close range. The crimes appear to be random and motiveless and no one has claimed responsibility. So what connects the killings to an obscure religious sect operating from an island in the Pacific North-West? And what clues lie hidden in the Secret of the Templars? If you enjoyed Dark Spectre you may also like Dirty Tricks, also by Michael Dibdin.

'A maestro of crime writing.' SUNDAY TIMES'The closest thing he's yet written to an English whodunnit.' LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKSAN AURELIO ZEN MYSTERYAurelio Zen has an unorthodox assignment: to release the jailed scion of an important wine-growing family who is accused of a brutal murder. Zen travels north to the quiet fields, autumnal skies and crumbling farmhouses of Piedmont, Italian wine country, where greed, envy, hatred, and love seethe under the sun. He needs to try to penetrate a traditional culture in which family and soil are inextricably linked. But here secrets can last for generations, and have a finish as long and lingering as that of a good Barbaresco.'A great addition to the Zen series . . . a great ending too.' 5* reader review'Brilliant atmosphere with incredible twists in the plot, right up to the last minute.' 5* reader review'So well-written and atmospheric that it just whizzed by!' 5* reader reviewPRAISE FOR MICHAEL DIBDIN AND THE INSPECTOR ZEN SERIES:'He wrote with real fire.' IAN RANKIN'A maestro of crime writing.' SUNDAY TIMES'One of the genre's finest stylists . . . And Zen himself is a masterly creation: he is anti-heroic and pragmatic but obstinate, cunning and positively burdened with integrity.' GUARDIAN'Dibdin tells a rollicking good tale that you want both to read fast, because of its gripping storyline, and to linger over, to savour the evocative descriptions of place and mood.' INDEPENDENT'One of British crime fiction's most distinguished and distinctive voices.' ANDREW TAYLOR'Dibdin has a gift for shocking the unshockable reader.' Ruth Rendell'Zen is one of the greatest creations of contemporary crime fiction.' OBSERVER'I love the way these books capture the atmosphere and contradictions of Italy.' 5* reader review'Aurelio Zen novels are a great treat.' 5* reader review'There is no better writer than Dibdin. His books are a joy to read.' 5* reader review'Love these books . . . I am sure you will get hooked too!' 5* reader review

'Spellbinding . . . superb.' WASHINGTON POST'Emotionally gripping and defiantly original.' ITALIAN MYSTERIESAN AURELIO ZEN MYSTERYZen 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. And he will need all his cunning and skill to survive in a world where unwritten rules are enforced with ruthless violence, where one false step can prove fatal, and where the truth must be paid for in blood.'By far the darkest of Dibdin's remarkable mysteries.' 5* reader review 'The end leaves you gasping.' 5* reader review'I absolutely loved this book.' 5* reader reviewPRAISE FOR MICHAEL DIBDIN AND THE INSPECTOR ZEN SERIES:'He wrote with real fire.' IAN RANKIN'A maestro of crime writing.' SUNDAY TIMES'One of the genre's finest stylists . . . And Zen himself is a masterly creation: he is anti-heroic and pragmatic but obstinate, cunning and positively burdened with integrity.' GUARDIAN'Dibdin tells a rollicking good tale that you want both to read fast, because of its gripping storyline, and to linger over, to savour the evocative descriptions of place and mood.' INDEPENDENT'One of British crime fiction's most distinguished and distinctive voices.' ANDREW TAYLOR'Dibdin has a gift for shocking the unshockable reader.' Ruth Rendell'Zen is one of the greatest creations of contemporary crime fiction.' OBSERVER'I love the way these books capture the atmosphere and contradictions of Italy.' 5* reader review'Aurelio Zen novels are a great treat.' 5* reader review'There is no better writer than Dibdin. His books are a joy to read.' 5* reader review'Love these books . . . I am sure you will get hooked too!' 5* reader review

'Dibdin's best book.' LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS'Bawdly, suspenseful, and splendidly farcical.' ITALIAN MYSTERIESAN AURELIO ZEN MYSTERY 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. With his commitment to his work at an all-time low, Zen must still find out who is behind the murders.'One of British crime fiction's most distinguished and distinctive voices.' ANDREW TAYLOR'An especially witty facet of [Dibdin's] rich talent.' PUBLISHERS WEEKLY'Brilliant - reminds me of the TV series Inspector Montalbano, but with a better storyline.' 5* reader review'Best one so far - surreal and funny!' 5* reader review'One of my favourite 'comfort' reads.' 5* reader reviewPRAISE FOR MICHAEL DIBDIN AND THE INSPECTOR ZEN SERIES:'He wrote with real fire.' IAN RANKIN'A maestro of crime writing.' SUNDAY TIMES'One of the genre's finest stylists . . . And Zen himself is a masterly creation: he is anti-heroic and pragmatic but obstinate, cunning and positively burdened with integrity.' GUARDIAN'Dibdin tells a rollicking good tale that you want both to read fast, because of its gripping storyline, and to linger over, to savour the evocative descriptions of place and mood.' INDEPENDENT'One of British crime fiction's most distinguished and distinctive voices.' ANDREW TAYLOR'Dibdin has a gift for shocking the unshockable reader.' Ruth Rendell'Zen is one of the greatest creations of contemporary crime fiction.' OBSERVER'I love the way these books capture the atmosphere and contradictions of Italy.' 5* reader review'Aurelio Zen novels are a great treat.' 5* reader review'There is no better writer than Dibdin. His books are a joy to read.' 5* reader review'Love these books . . . I am sure you will get hooked too!' 5* reader review

'A rollicking good tale.' INDEPENDENT'A first-rate mystery.' WASHINGTON POSTAN AURELIO ZEN MYSTERYAurelio Zen returns to his native Venice in an unofficial capacity, to investigate the disappearance of an American millionaire. But he is quickly reminded that, amid the hazy light and shifting waters of the lagoon, nothing is what it seems. As he is drawn deeper into the ambiguous mysteries surrounding the discovery of a skeletal corpse, he is also forced to confront a series of disturbing revelations about his own life.'Absolutely brilliant . . . made me want to go back to travel in Italy again.' 5* reader review'I loved this book . . . a good storyline, and enough twists to keep me guessing.' 5* reader review'Perfect entertainment.' 5* reader review'My personal favourite in a great series.' 5* reader reviewPRAISE FOR MICHAEL DIBDIN AND THE INSPECTOR ZEN SERIES:'He wrote with real fire.' IAN RANKIN'A maestro of crime writing.' SUNDAY TIMES'One of the genre's finest stylists . . . And Zen himself is a masterly creation: he is anti-heroic and pragmatic but obstinate, cunning and positively burdened with integrity.' GUARDIAN'Dibdin tells a rollicking good tale that you want both to read fast, because of its gripping storyline, and to linger over, to savour the evocative descriptions of place and mood.' INDEPENDENT'One of British crime fiction's most distinguished and distinctive voices.' ANDREW TAYLOR'Dibdin has a gift for shocking the unshockable reader.' Ruth Rendell'Zen is one of the greatest creations of contemporary crime fiction.' OBSERVER'I love the way these books capture the atmosphere and contradictions of Italy.' 5* reader review'Aurelio Zen novels are a great treat.' 5* reader review'There is no better writer than Dibdin. His books are a joy to read.' 5* reader review'Love these books . . . I am sure you will get hooked too!' 5* reader review

'Unputdownable.' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH'A complete inversion of the standard detective genre.' GUARDIANAN AURELIO ZEN MYSTERY Inspector Zen is back, but nobody's supposed to know it.After months in hospital recovering from a car-bomb attack, 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. Zen has clear instructions: to sit back and enjoy the classic Italian beach holiday. But when an alarming number of people start dropping dead around him, it seems just a matter of time before the Mafia manages to find their target.'A top quality thriller.' 5* reader review'A very entertaining read, sometimes funny sometimes thought provoking and always with a slightly cynical dig at the Italian "establishment"!' 5* reader review'My favourite book, bar none.' 5* reader reviewPRAISE FOR MICHAEL DIBDIN AND THE INSPECTOR ZEN SERIES:'He wrote with real fire.' IAN RANKIN'A maestro of crime writing.' SUNDAY TIMES'One of the genre's finest stylists . . . And Zen himself is a masterly creation: he is anti-heroic and pragmatic but obstinate, cunning and positively burdened with integrity.' GUARDIAN'Dibdin tells a rollicking good tale that you want both to read fast, because of its gripping storyline, and to linger over, to savour the evocative descriptions of place and mood.' INDEPENDENT'One of British crime fiction's most distinguished and distinctive voices.' ANDREW TAYLOR'Dibdin has a gift for shocking the unshockable reader.' Ruth Rendell'Zen is one of the greatest creations of contemporary crime fiction.' OBSERVER'I love the way these books capture the atmosphere and contradictions of Italy.' 5* reader review'Aurelio Zen novels are a great treat.' 5* reader review'There is no better writer than Dibdin. His books are a joy to read.' 5* reader review'Love these books . . . I am sure you will get hooked too!' 5* reader review

'Escapism of a high order.' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY'A slyly intelligent page turner.' PUBLISHERS WEEKLYAN AURELIO ZEN MYSTERY 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. That's enough to interest Aurelio Zen's boss at the Interior Ministry, who wants to know who is hiding what from who and why. The search for the truth leads Zen 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.'As the plot quickens, we are soon deep in Dibdin's favourite territory: the murky political conflicts of Italy's past and the oily chicanery of its present.' SUNDAY TIMES'Dibdin's misanthropic wit finds plenty to play with.' GUARDIAN'A terrific detective story.' 5* reader review'Beautifully written . . . You get a real sense of the turbulence in the Italian state during that era.' 5* reader review'MEDUSA is the best I've read so far, with a complex but pleasing plot.' 5* reader reviewPRAISE FOR MICHAEL DIBDIN AND THE INSPECTOR ZEN SERIES:'He wrote with real fire.' IAN RANKIN'A maestro of crime writing.' SUNDAY TIMES'One of the genre's finest stylists . . . And Zen himself is a masterly creation: he is anti-heroic and pragmatic but obstinate, cunning and positively burdened with integrity.' GUARDIAN'Dibdin tells a rollicking good tale that you want both to read fast, because of its gripping storyline, and to linger over, to savour the evocative descriptions of place and mood.' INDEPENDENT'One of British crime fiction's most distinguished and distinctive voices.' ANDREW TAYLOR'Dibdin has a gift for shocking the unshockable reader.' Ruth Rendell'Zen is one of the greatest creations of contemporary crime fiction.' OBSERVER'I love the way these books capture the atmosphere and contradictions of Italy.' 5* reader review'Aurelio Zen novels are a great treat.' 5* reader review'There is no better writer than Dibdin. His books are a joy to read.' 5* reader review'Love these books . . . I am sure you will get hooked too!' 5* reader review

'Pure pleasure.' Evening Standard'An absolute treat . . . wittily and slyly written.' Euro CrimeAN AURELIO ZEN MYSTERYWhen the corpse of the shady industrialist who owns the local football team is found both shot and stabbed, 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 . . .'The best of the Zen series. Exceptionally clever and witty.' 5* reader review'A very entertaining romp with Zen.' 5* reader review'Very funny and perceptive on Italian society. Michael Dibdin's Zen books are the top of the pile in detective fiction.' 5* reader reviewPRAISE FOR MICHAEL DIBDIN AND THE INSPECTOR ZEN SERIES:'He wrote with real fire.' IAN RANKIN'A maestro of crime writing.' SUNDAY TIMES'One of the genre's finest stylists . . . And Zen himself is a masterly creation: he is anti-heroic and pragmatic but obstinate, cunning and positively burdened with integrity.' GUARDIAN'Dibdin tells a rollicking good tale that you want both to read fast, because of its gripping storyline, and to linger over, to savour the evocative descriptions of place and mood.' INDEPENDENT'One of British crime fiction's most distinguished and distinctive voices.' ANDREW TAYLOR'Dibdin has a gift for shocking the unshockable reader.' Ruth Rendell'Zen is one of the greatest creations of contemporary crime fiction.' OBSERVER'I love the way these books capture the atmosphere and contradictions of Italy.' 5* reader review'Aurelio Zen novels are a great treat.' 5* reader review'There is no better writer than Dibdin. His books are a joy to read.' 5* reader review'Love these books . . . I am sure you will get hooked too!' 5* reader review

'One of Dibdin's finest . . . Wonderful.' EVENING STANDARD'Energetically and meticulously written.' GUARDIANAN AURELIO ZEN MYSTERYAurelio 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.'Clever and exuberantly witty . . . Dibdin is outrageously funny, as always, in conveying Zen's snobby Venetian attitude toward his regional postings.' NEW YORK TIMES'Ample opportunities for the expression of his dry wit . . . the final entry [in the Zen series] is a very good one indeed.' INDEPENDENT'One of the genre's best stylists . . . This combination of gritty violence, often wildly funny satire, and wonderful descriptive writing has been the hallmark of Dibdin's Zen novels.' GUARDIAN'Superbly written thriller.' 5* reader review'Probably the most enjoyable of the Zen series, it provides an insight of Italy rarely accomplished by any author.' 5* reader review'Such a good read.' 5* reader review'Brilliantly plotted, very exciting.' 5* reader reviewPRAISE FOR MICHAEL DIBDIN AND THE INSPECTOR ZEN SERIES:'He wrote with real fire.' IAN RANKIN'A maestro of crime writing.' SUNDAY TIMES'One of the genre's finest stylists . . . And Zen himself is a masterly creation: he is anti-heroic and pragmatic but obstinate, cunning and positively burdened with integrity.' GUARDIAN'Dibdin tells a rollicking good tale that you want both to read fast, because of its gripping storyline, and to linger over, to savour the evocative descriptions of place and mood.' INDEPENDENT'One of British crime fiction's most distinguished and distinctive voices.' ANDREW TAYLOR'Dibdin has a gift for shocking the unshockable reader.' Ruth Rendell'Zen is one of the greatest creations of contemporary crime fiction.' OBSERVER'I love the way these books capture the atmosphere and contradictions of Italy.' 5* reader review'Aurelio Zen novels are a great treat.' 5* reader review'There is no better writer than Dibdin. His books are a joy to read.' 5* reader review'Love these books . . . I am sure you will get hooked too!' 5* reader review

When, one dark night in November, Prince Ludovico Ruspanti fell a hundred and fifty feet to his death in the chapel at St. Peter's, Rome, there were a number of questions to be answered. Inspector Aurelio Zen finds that getting the answers isn't easy, as witness after witness is mysteriously silenced - by violent death. To crack the secret of the Vatican, Zen must penetrate the most secret place of all: the Cabal.