Back to Bologna

Michael Dibdin

• Publisher: Faber & Faber
• Year: 2008
• Topic: Literature
• eBook ISBN:
  9780571246038
• Subtopic: Crime & Mystery Literature
• Index: Literature

'Pure pleasure.' Evening Standard
'An absolute treat . . . wittily and slyly written.' Euro Crime

AN AURELIO ZEN MYSTERY

When 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 review

PRAISE 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

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• ‘Someone should kill him.’
• At about the time that the blue Audi A8
• When Vincenzo burst in
• Gemma Santini stood in her nightdress
• Flanked by two beaming bimbettes
• ‘Yes, yes! Give it to me! Give it to me hot and hard!’
• There had always been aspects of life
• ‘Mattioli, would you remain here?’
• Barefoot and wearing her raincoat as a dressing gown
• The subject of Romano Rinaldi’s private life
• As a parting shot on learning of Zen’s imminent departure
• A blinding flash.
• The door banged open and her supervisor walked in.
• Aurelio Zen’s mind was wandering
• ‘Nervoso? Macché? For me, the cooking is the life!’
• ‘So apparently the whole thing’s fixed!’
• The next morning, Aurelio Zen decided to raid
• Gemma Santini reached the Bologna trade fair complex
• Tony Speranza made his way jauntily along Via Oberdan
• ‘When I speak of mimicking mimesis’
• Gasping in pain, he lurched to his feet
• Edgardo Ugo was cycling home
• Romano Rinaldi paced restlessly and at random
• The moment the automatic doors of the Policlinico
• ‘… original contract specifically stipulated that payment’
• The original thirty minutes within which Zen had
• A rancid darkness had fallen by the time Romano
• ‘Well, Aurelino mio, here’s another nice mess’
• Rodolfo Mattioli sat on an obdurate chair in a waiting room
• After his conditional release
• ‘But this is crazy!’ the barber protested.
• Flavia looked up from her battered paperback
• As a newcomer to La Carrozza,
• ‘One penne all’arrabbiata,’ the waiter shouted
• It was a tribute to the vigorous if crude skills
• ‘… and add the garlic. Now the oil. No, not like that!’
• ‘Remember what I said about us being left free’
• Out in the street, the situation had already changed.
• Tony Speranza woke up feeling like hell.
• The Zen Series from Michael Dibdin
• About the Author
• By the Same Author
• Copyright