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Aurelio Zen #6
A Long Finish
After his adventures 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.
362 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1998
81 people are currently reading
566 people want to read
About the author
Michael Dibdin
128 books177 followersMichael Dibdin was born in 1947. He went to school in Northern Ireland, and later to Sussex University and the University of Alberta in Canada. He lived in Seattle. After completing his first novel, The Last Sherlock Holmes Story, in 1978, he spent four years in Italy teaching English at the University of Perugia. His second novel, A Rich Full Death, was published in 1986. It was followed by Ratking in 1988, which won the Gold Dagger Award for the Best Crime Novel of the year and introduced us to his Italian detective - Inspector Aurelio Zen.
Dibdin was married three times, most recently to the novelist K. K. Beck. His death in 2007 followed a short illness.
Series:
* Aurelio Zen
Dibdin was married three times, most recently to the novelist K. K. Beck. His death in 2007 followed a short illness.
Series:
* Aurelio Zen
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 106 reviews
February 23, 2018
Italian Criminalpol detective Aurelio Zen has made the one colossal mistake few in his line of work can afford. He's managed to appear competent. This brings his name to the surface in many conversations, and increases his vulnerability to a distressing amount of change over which he has no control. Had it only been possible to wriggle out of this promotion to the new anti-Mafia squad in Sicily, he would certainly have done so. Alas, it was not. The damage could merely be minimized by that most facilitating of professional measures: the lubrication of a favor. And this is how he finds himself on a train to the wine country, to a small town called Alba where the producer of an exquisite (and exquisitely lucrative) vintage has been discovered murdered, mutilated and strapped to the fence of his yet-to-be-harvested vineyard. And if all that weren't annoying enough, Zen's miserably untrustworthy constitution picks this moment to thoroughly betray him by coming down with the flu.
Dibdin is back on his game here. The farcical elements of the last installment (Cosi Fan Tutti) have been greatly toned down, and the heady atmospherics re-initialized. Fine drizzles fall, "backed up by a powerful but lazy wind lolling around like a drunken braggart at the street corners." An early morning darkness beyond the windowpanes, "although still seemingly complete, had lost its inner confidence, sensing the inevitable defeat to come." Interrogations simmer with tension; accusations launch to be met with a new quality of silence "like a fresh sheet of sandpaper replacing one worn smooth." And Zen is, once again, a tonic of a figure. Doggedly pragmatic, frequently mistaken, and ever the darling of an oh-so-capricious fate.
Welcome back, Aurelio. You've been missed.
Dibdin is back on his game here. The farcical elements of the last installment (Cosi Fan Tutti) have been greatly toned down, and the heady atmospherics re-initialized. Fine drizzles fall, "backed up by a powerful but lazy wind lolling around like a drunken braggart at the street corners." An early morning darkness beyond the windowpanes, "although still seemingly complete, had lost its inner confidence, sensing the inevitable defeat to come." Interrogations simmer with tension; accusations launch to be met with a new quality of silence "like a fresh sheet of sandpaper replacing one worn smooth." And Zen is, once again, a tonic of a figure. Doggedly pragmatic, frequently mistaken, and ever the darling of an oh-so-capricious fate.
Welcome back, Aurelio. You've been missed.
June 10, 2025
Aurelio Zen doğduğu yer de dahil olmak üzere gittiği her yerin yabancısı, bunun en büyük sebebi de aslında kendinin de yabancısı olması. Çözmesi için kucağına bırakılan her cinayet, kendinden kalan boş zamanlarda uğraşması gereken meseleler onun için. Bizim Dottore pek karizmatik biri değil ve bunu zerre miskal onemsemesi çok karizmatik:)
Altıncı macerada Zen oluk oluk kan ve şarabın aktığı Piyemonte'de matruşka cinayetleri çözmeye çalışıyor , sonuca kendini çözdüğünde (?) ulaşıyor.
Kolay okunur ve sevip sevmediginizle ilgilenmez bir seri. Ben çok seviyorum.
Altıncı macerada Zen oluk oluk kan ve şarabın aktığı Piyemonte'de matruşka cinayetleri çözmeye çalışıyor , sonuca kendini çözdüğünde (?) ulaşıyor.
Kolay okunur ve sevip sevmediginizle ilgilenmez bir seri. Ben çok seviyorum.
Read
February 3, 2009As ever, and with sadness, Dibden satisfies on so many levels that I hardly know how to express the sharp and bittersweet pleasures of being with Aurelio Zen as he fails in one relationship after another, misjudges a serial murder case, and fights to avoid ending up in Mafia territory because he's the essential coward we all know hides inside us.
The sadness comes from knowing that Dibden will never give us another Zen novel, and that Aurelio's failures and escapes, brilliant stratagems and hasty misreadings are at an end. But in this novel, wrapped in the history of World War Two and the arcana of wine production, he's reached a wonderful vintage
The sadness comes from knowing that Dibden will never give us another Zen novel, and that Aurelio's failures and escapes, brilliant stratagems and hasty misreadings are at an end. But in this novel, wrapped in the history of World War Two and the arcana of wine production, he's reached a wonderful vintage
November 22, 2024
Bir önceki kitap Cosi Fan Tutti ne kadar vasat ise bu Uzun Bir Bitiş o kadar kaliteli bir polisiyeydi. Beğenerek severek okudum. Tavsiye
September 4, 2012
This is the only one of Dibdin's books I've read. Definitely has its points. The characterization is very uneven, but can be very good (Dr. Lucchese) and even brilliant (Minot). The style is good and mostly engaging, thought sometimes he strains a bit too hard for intellectual stature even at the stylistic level. The portrayal of Italy is fascinating.
But these are on the surface--which is enough for the critics. Underneath, it adds up to a good deal less than a run-of-the-mill pulp mystery. The general intellectual premisses are just facile deconstructionism, which is popular in some circles in Italy as an excuse for that country's numerous and self-destructive "tangenti". (My degrees are in philosophy; I've read plenty of postmodern stuff raw, so I recognize the syndrome in fiction.) That is to say, sophomoric nihilism, with no attempt to relate apparent moral or philosophic dilemmas or paradoxes to their context in a genuinely critical fashion (which would interfere with facile generalization).
In evidence, I submit the fact that the detective, Zen, finishes up by using what are, in the situation, unmitigatedly despicable (and, incidentally, highly illegal) means to entrap an innocent man into confessing to a murder. Granted, Zen (probably) thinks the man guilty. But that's not much of an excuse for a fictional detective--at least for one who never looks beyond his false solution, and who has explicit orders to produce a solution of a certain type whether or not the person ultimately convicted is guilty. The murderer is ultimately uncovered by chance. But if there's any sort of intellectual resolution in that, it's based on some sort of perverse theology (presumably in post-modern dress).
Furthermore, the personality of Zen himself is little more than an aggregate of psychological symptoms that exist more in the pages of psychoanalytic texts than in reality. The psychological subplot of the book (having to do with Zen's personal life), and the resolution of that subplot, depend entirely on these premisses. Perhaps it says something that by far the best psychological portrait in the book is that of the evil and twisted Minot. As to psychology, Dibdin was behind the times in 1998, when this book was written. The ideas he uses to "analyze" and motivate Zen have dated even more rapidly since then, thanks to advances in neuroscience, which has, at long last, introduced scientific standards (and humility) to the study of the mind.
Dibdin obviously had Machiavelli in mind as an intellectual theme. But, as usual, this is the bogeyman Machiavelli, a meme who is ultimately to be identified with the depraved Cesare Borgia whose stratagems were detailed in Machiavelli's "Descrizione del modo tenuto dal duca Valentino nello ammazzare Vitellozzo Vitelli, Oliverotto da Fermo, il signore Pagolo e il dica di Gravina Orsini". ("Description of the methods used by Duke Valentino [i.e., Borgia] in the murders of Vitellozzo Vitelli [etc.]") And as usual, Machiavelli's awareness of the difference between morality at the state level and at the personal level are ignored.
Borgia is the intellectual ancestor of Dibdin's Minot. Machiavelli, however, was just writing down a historical case study. Fictional versions of the same can just as easily serve the ends of escapism ("it only happens like that in books") or backhanded endorsement ("that's the way the world is, may as well go along"). Avoiding such misunderstandings, if the author believes them to be misunderstandings, requires a far more detailed treatment of the issues than Dibdin provides, and more than is generally feasible in any work of narrative fiction.
Which is why direct philosophical treatises, rather than fiction, are the place for serious treatment of such themes. And why fiction that attempts to treat them is rarely read for genuine pleasure, intellectual or otherwise--though those for whom intellectual activity is not a pleasure may read them as a cultural duty.
Dibdin is remarkable in that he manages to make the reading of his book rather pleasurable, at least on a page-by-page basis. But for me, the flaws became more and more apparent as I went on, and I became more and more doubtful that Dibdin would be able to provide a resolution that would show me that the flaws were not flaws at all. At the end, when it became clear that Dibdin saw nothing at all that needed to be resolved, the sum total was not pleasure, but annoyance and disappointment.
But these are on the surface--which is enough for the critics. Underneath, it adds up to a good deal less than a run-of-the-mill pulp mystery. The general intellectual premisses are just facile deconstructionism, which is popular in some circles in Italy as an excuse for that country's numerous and self-destructive "tangenti". (My degrees are in philosophy; I've read plenty of postmodern stuff raw, so I recognize the syndrome in fiction.) That is to say, sophomoric nihilism, with no attempt to relate apparent moral or philosophic dilemmas or paradoxes to their context in a genuinely critical fashion (which would interfere with facile generalization).
In evidence, I submit the fact that the detective, Zen, finishes up by using what are, in the situation, unmitigatedly despicable (and, incidentally, highly illegal) means to entrap an innocent man into confessing to a murder. Granted, Zen (probably) thinks the man guilty. But that's not much of an excuse for a fictional detective--at least for one who never looks beyond his false solution, and who has explicit orders to produce a solution of a certain type whether or not the person ultimately convicted is guilty. The murderer is ultimately uncovered by chance. But if there's any sort of intellectual resolution in that, it's based on some sort of perverse theology (presumably in post-modern dress).
Furthermore, the personality of Zen himself is little more than an aggregate of psychological symptoms that exist more in the pages of psychoanalytic texts than in reality. The psychological subplot of the book (having to do with Zen's personal life), and the resolution of that subplot, depend entirely on these premisses. Perhaps it says something that by far the best psychological portrait in the book is that of the evil and twisted Minot. As to psychology, Dibdin was behind the times in 1998, when this book was written. The ideas he uses to "analyze" and motivate Zen have dated even more rapidly since then, thanks to advances in neuroscience, which has, at long last, introduced scientific standards (and humility) to the study of the mind.
Dibdin obviously had Machiavelli in mind as an intellectual theme. But, as usual, this is the bogeyman Machiavelli, a meme who is ultimately to be identified with the depraved Cesare Borgia whose stratagems were detailed in Machiavelli's "Descrizione del modo tenuto dal duca Valentino nello ammazzare Vitellozzo Vitelli, Oliverotto da Fermo, il signore Pagolo e il dica di Gravina Orsini". ("Description of the methods used by Duke Valentino [i.e., Borgia] in the murders of Vitellozzo Vitelli [etc.]") And as usual, Machiavelli's awareness of the difference between morality at the state level and at the personal level are ignored.
Borgia is the intellectual ancestor of Dibdin's Minot. Machiavelli, however, was just writing down a historical case study. Fictional versions of the same can just as easily serve the ends of escapism ("it only happens like that in books") or backhanded endorsement ("that's the way the world is, may as well go along"). Avoiding such misunderstandings, if the author believes them to be misunderstandings, requires a far more detailed treatment of the issues than Dibdin provides, and more than is generally feasible in any work of narrative fiction.
Which is why direct philosophical treatises, rather than fiction, are the place for serious treatment of such themes. And why fiction that attempts to treat them is rarely read for genuine pleasure, intellectual or otherwise--though those for whom intellectual activity is not a pleasure may read them as a cultural duty.
Dibdin is remarkable in that he manages to make the reading of his book rather pleasurable, at least on a page-by-page basis. But for me, the flaws became more and more apparent as I went on, and I became more and more doubtful that Dibdin would be able to provide a resolution that would show me that the flaws were not flaws at all. At the end, when it became clear that Dibdin saw nothing at all that needed to be resolved, the sum total was not pleasure, but annoyance and disappointment.
February 5, 2015
Dibdin's senior detective, Aurelio Zen, is a modern guy who often has to deal with traditional Italian: politics, bureaucracy, relationships, customs, etc.
This isn't the first of Dibdin's Zen novels, but it is the first that I have read. (He has written almost a dozen.) Zen is a quirky member of the Italian State Police. He ruffles a lot of feathers with his crime-solving techniques and he is often placed in situations that no one else would want. I have seen all three Zen made-for-TV movies and the Zen I saw portrayed by Rufus Sewell is not at variance with Dibdin's characterization.
In other books, if the movies are any guide, we learn a lot about Zen's relationship with his mother, his girlfriends, and his demons. This story is simplified, in that respect, with Zen sent to the rural Piedmont, more to find a reason to release the accused, than to solve the murder he is accused of. Politics and wealth allow someone who fancies this accused's wine-making skills to want him back in his vineyard without delay for what could be a memorable harvest. Wines are priced by where the grapes are grown and this often has more to do with their value then their taste. It is a sad state of affairs that isn't limited to Italy, but some vintners will try to pass off grapes as being their higher-priced cousins. This can mean a 10-fold to 100-fold increase in value so there is plenty of motivation to do so.
Having little choice, Zen embarks for Alba and the little village where fine red wines are created. We are treated to some picturesque language and rural gastronomy. Idiosyncratic characters abound and Zen has to wade through their personalities to uncover a history that goes back generations. The plot is very convoluted, but worthwhile for me because the terroir (to use a french wine-making word) is so interesting and somewhat familiar. Though, Dibdin may make his dialogue overly flowery, at times, it seemed to keep me in the moment and make the result very satisfactory.
This isn't the first of Dibdin's Zen novels, but it is the first that I have read. (He has written almost a dozen.) Zen is a quirky member of the Italian State Police. He ruffles a lot of feathers with his crime-solving techniques and he is often placed in situations that no one else would want. I have seen all three Zen made-for-TV movies and the Zen I saw portrayed by Rufus Sewell is not at variance with Dibdin's characterization.
In other books, if the movies are any guide, we learn a lot about Zen's relationship with his mother, his girlfriends, and his demons. This story is simplified, in that respect, with Zen sent to the rural Piedmont, more to find a reason to release the accused, than to solve the murder he is accused of. Politics and wealth allow someone who fancies this accused's wine-making skills to want him back in his vineyard without delay for what could be a memorable harvest. Wines are priced by where the grapes are grown and this often has more to do with their value then their taste. It is a sad state of affairs that isn't limited to Italy, but some vintners will try to pass off grapes as being their higher-priced cousins. This can mean a 10-fold to 100-fold increase in value so there is plenty of motivation to do so.
Having little choice, Zen embarks for Alba and the little village where fine red wines are created. We are treated to some picturesque language and rural gastronomy. Idiosyncratic characters abound and Zen has to wade through their personalities to uncover a history that goes back generations. The plot is very convoluted, but worthwhile for me because the terroir (to use a french wine-making word) is so interesting and somewhat familiar. Though, Dibdin may make his dialogue overly flowery, at times, it seemed to keep me in the moment and make the result very satisfactory.
November 22, 2011
Excellent book perhaps the best yet of the Zen series. Zen is far from perfect but he does have some redeeming qualities so amid the corruption that riddles Italian society Zen struggles through with his own moral compass. What I like are the gentle unveiling of his character set in various locations across Italy. He uses a range of skills and deceptions to get his man, he takes us on this journey since our growing knowledge about him is mirrored in his own self discovery. He commands respect through rank but I am warming to his humanity. He makes mistakes, wings it at times and the solution is often achieved by good fortune rather than precise reasoning and judgement. More like a Maigret than a Holmes, not pompous like a Poirot but clever and cunning in his own way. Yet for all his imperfections as a Son, lover or parent he carries the story from start to finish. Despite the title of the book this is an easy book to read and the end comes far too soon. fortunately there remain a few titles to read in this excellent and improving series.
March 31, 2020
Zen, as always, haplessly finds his way through the Italian criminal and political systems, family allegiances and feuds, neighborhood alliances, to the correct solution to another grisly murder, this one in the truffle region of Alba. Author Dibdin was a bit more ghoulish in this episode, and Zen a bit more hapless, but the novel was entertaining and engaging and evoked another charming region of Italy.
May 10, 2017
Zen is back in Rome before being sent to Piedmont to investigate the murder of a winegrower - he is happy to go...the alternative could be the front line in Sicily. An assorted array of suspects, truffles and some great wine await him. Not the best of Zen, I felt he was a bit vague, but still enjoyable and, as usual, not straightforward..
February 12, 2021
Haven't read many crime books, I got this one as a gift. It's an easy to read book that keeps you awake and at some points you don't want to stop reading. I liked the way the author describes the characters and makes you remember them. The end was really good!
July 24, 2007
Good atmosphere, claustrophopic and over-stretched plot. You might get more out of this if you drink a lot of Barolo.
December 24, 2018
Zen goes North to wine country to look into a death. Interesting bits about the wine industry surrounding a murder between old families. Decent story.
August 25, 2025
In a nod to the title, this novel inserts three additional words: A Long (Time to the) Finish.
A good third of the novel is set up, almost half devoted to the supporting cast - fine characterization nonetheless - and Inspector Aurelio Zen comes across as a bumbling, self-serving, and self-absorbed individual who plays fast and loose with the rule of law and doesn't seem to get the solution quite right. The author has to add a coda to put things right for the reader.
Published 4 years after Camilleri brought out his Inspector, the author gives a character the first name of Andrea, keying on the fact the name in America is given to females while in Italy it is given to males. Elsewhere, Zen hears a comment about the 'sun' and mistakes the meaning for 'son' - two words in italian that are not at all similar. Lines like that work for the tongue in cheek Montalbano novels but feel out of place here.
Plagued by a dogged pace throughout, the improvement in the final chapters could not rescue the impression of a bloated, extended narrative in spite of a decently presented plot.
A good third of the novel is set up, almost half devoted to the supporting cast - fine characterization nonetheless - and Inspector Aurelio Zen comes across as a bumbling, self-serving, and self-absorbed individual who plays fast and loose with the rule of law and doesn't seem to get the solution quite right. The author has to add a coda to put things right for the reader.
Published 4 years after Camilleri brought out his Inspector, the author gives a character the first name of Andrea, keying on the fact the name in America is given to females while in Italy it is given to males. Elsewhere, Zen hears a comment about the 'sun' and mistakes the meaning for 'son' - two words in italian that are not at all similar. Lines like that work for the tongue in cheek Montalbano novels but feel out of place here.
Plagued by a dogged pace throughout, the improvement in the final chapters could not rescue the impression of a bloated, extended narrative in spite of a decently presented plot.
September 30, 2024
Zen, back in the criminapol elite after his successes out to grass in the Naples port authority role in Cosi fan tutti is sent to Alba to ensure the release of the son of a winemaker who is suspected of killing his father.
Not quite as bonkers as previous outings, this story provides a strong plot bearing some resemblance to Manon des Sources in which life giving water is replaced by illusive but equally valuable truffles.
Oddball characters including the prince luchese, a medical man with a liking for hashish and young women assist or divert Zen as he stumbles through the tangle of interests and red herrings.
It's enjoyable and well paced and much better than the last few in the series.
Not quite as bonkers as previous outings, this story provides a strong plot bearing some resemblance to Manon des Sources in which life giving water is replaced by illusive but equally valuable truffles.
Oddball characters including the prince luchese, a medical man with a liking for hashish and young women assist or divert Zen as he stumbles through the tangle of interests and red herrings.
It's enjoyable and well paced and much better than the last few in the series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 14, 2024
No spoiler, just simply a fantastic book from start to finish.
September 22, 2024
Zen is sent to wine and truffle country to look into the murder of wine maker. A nicely plotted entry in the series.
November 3, 2024
2 Sterne.
Abstruse Geschichte, mit der ich auf verschiedenen Ebenen nicht warm wurde und die zum Ende immer schlechter wurde. Nicht meins.
Abstruse Geschichte, mit der ich auf verschiedenen Ebenen nicht warm wurde und die zum Ende immer schlechter wurde. Nicht meins.
January 19, 2025
I feel like these books have lost their way. I no longer care what happens and the plots are practically nonexistent. And then at the ends of the book they attempt to tie everything together. 2 stars
October 8, 2025
ΒΙΒΛΙΟ 1
Το διάβασα πέρυσι, δεν με ενθουσίασε.
Ήταν όταν ξεκίνησα να διαβάζω πάλι με περισσότερο πάθος, μετά από αρκετό καιρό παύσης.
Ατμοσφαιρικό βιβλίο με αυξομειώσεις ενδιαφέροντος, συνολικά πολύ μέτριο.
5/10
Το διάβασα πέρυσι, δεν με ενθουσίασε.
Ήταν όταν ξεκίνησα να διαβάζω πάλι με περισσότερο πάθος, μετά από αρκετό καιρό παύσης.
Ατμοσφαιρικό βιβλίο με αυξομειώσεις ενδιαφέροντος, συνολικά πολύ μέτριο.
5/10
May 22, 2015
Dibdin wrote a series concerning a gruff, shrewd, and slightly out of it detective named Aurelio Zen. These are set in Italy, and clearly the author has a great fascination with all things and people Italian. He enjoys the Italian machismo, the food, the wine, the long histories and conflicts behind the daily interactions. This author was clearly an educated man (I think he went to Oxford) who did his research, and he is in the more literary wing of the mystery genre. That is my cup of tea too, or one of them at least. This is my favorite of his books that I have read.
This one takes place in one of the Italian wine growing areas somewhere near Alba in the Piedmont region. Zen, a high ranking detective in the National Police, is sent there to investigate the murder of the patriarch of locally prominent wine family. Someone who has connections to the police wants to make sure that the man’s son, who is the prime suspect, gets to supervise the production of that season’s wine. When Zen arrives he finds a complex mix of people, with loyalties and hatreds that go back for years. The story bounces back and forth between the investigation and three local blue collar men who are clearly involved in some way, but we are never sure how until the end. Dibdin plots the story superbly, and the story unrolls bit by interesting bit. He does a superb job of playing with the mystery reader’s expectations; subtle changes in which way the wind is blowing, a character falls under suspicion, then appears to be cleared, and is then under suspicion again. The ending, in which Zen, using gabby and manipulative interrogations, finally elicits what appears to be the truth, is masterful. And then in the last pages, another twist, the whole story goes up in the air again, and then lands with all the pieces in place.
The supporting cast, which is always vital in a mystery, is very good: an eccentric, aristocratic physician; a twisted, solitary man who appears to be the villain; and a well-educated young winemaker who may be queer are all interesting. Dibdin does sometimes rely on stock characters and stereotypical Italian behavior, but these do not sink the story. This is one of those rare mysteries that are more intriguing at the end than at the beginning – at first I wasn’t crazy about it, I found it a little passionless and the main character dull, but as it went on more personality and style and good writing came into evidence.
This one takes place in one of the Italian wine growing areas somewhere near Alba in the Piedmont region. Zen, a high ranking detective in the National Police, is sent there to investigate the murder of the patriarch of locally prominent wine family. Someone who has connections to the police wants to make sure that the man’s son, who is the prime suspect, gets to supervise the production of that season’s wine. When Zen arrives he finds a complex mix of people, with loyalties and hatreds that go back for years. The story bounces back and forth between the investigation and three local blue collar men who are clearly involved in some way, but we are never sure how until the end. Dibdin plots the story superbly, and the story unrolls bit by interesting bit. He does a superb job of playing with the mystery reader’s expectations; subtle changes in which way the wind is blowing, a character falls under suspicion, then appears to be cleared, and is then under suspicion again. The ending, in which Zen, using gabby and manipulative interrogations, finally elicits what appears to be the truth, is masterful. And then in the last pages, another twist, the whole story goes up in the air again, and then lands with all the pieces in place.
The supporting cast, which is always vital in a mystery, is very good: an eccentric, aristocratic physician; a twisted, solitary man who appears to be the villain; and a well-educated young winemaker who may be queer are all interesting. Dibdin does sometimes rely on stock characters and stereotypical Italian behavior, but these do not sink the story. This is one of those rare mysteries that are more intriguing at the end than at the beginning – at first I wasn’t crazy about it, I found it a little passionless and the main character dull, but as it went on more personality and style and good writing came into evidence.
July 22, 2020
Aurelio Zen ist zurück an alter Wirkungsstätte, als ihm einmal wieder eine besondere Mission übertragen wird: er soll den Sohn eines brutal ermordeten Piemonteser Winzers, der unter Mordverdacht im Gefängnis sitzt, freibekommen.
Bei seiner Ankunft in Alba scheint sich alles gegen ihn verschworen zu haben. Das Wetter ist miserabel, die Unterkunft jenseits von Gut und Böse, und zu allem Überfluss braut sich auch noch eine scheußliche Erkältung zusammen. Die Ortansässigen geben sich verblüffend freundlich, beherrschen jedoch auch die Kunst des Schweigens, und Zen bekommt rätselhafte anonyme Anrufe mit kryptischen Aufforderungen. Zu allem Überfluss taucht auch noch eine weitere Leiche auf.
Auf den ersten Blick gibt es keinen Zusammenhang mit dem Mord im Weinberg, doch Zen ist sicher, dass ein zweiter Mord in diesem beschaulichen ländlichen Umfeld kein Zufall ist ...
Die Mischung aus Spannung, Humor und Zens persönlicher Geschichte stimmt auch im 6. Band der Reihe. Hintergrund ist diesmal die Weinbau- und Trüffelregion um Alba im Piemont (die Schilderungen diverser Köstlichkeiten lassen einem beim Lesen das Wasser im Mund zusammenlaufen), genauer gesagt das Dorf Palazzuole, wo jeder jeden kennt, der Klatsch regiert und man Fremden gegenüber äußerst höflich und äußerst schweigsam ist.
Also eine harte Nuss für Zen, der sich naturgemäß nicht damit zufriedengeben will, den Winzersohn aus dem Knast zu holen, sondern auch den wahren Mörder dingfest machen möchte, auf seine gewohnt eigensinnige Art natürlich, intuitiv und manchmal alles andere als lehrbuchmäßig. Manchmal kann er ganz schön hinterhältig sein, aber trotzdem muss man ihn einfach irgendwie gernhaben mit seiner Selbstironie, die ihn bei allen persönlichen und beruflichen Schwierigkeiten und Selbstzweifeln immer wieder über Wasser hält.
Eine Serie, von der ich immer noch sehr angetan bin!
Bei seiner Ankunft in Alba scheint sich alles gegen ihn verschworen zu haben. Das Wetter ist miserabel, die Unterkunft jenseits von Gut und Böse, und zu allem Überfluss braut sich auch noch eine scheußliche Erkältung zusammen. Die Ortansässigen geben sich verblüffend freundlich, beherrschen jedoch auch die Kunst des Schweigens, und Zen bekommt rätselhafte anonyme Anrufe mit kryptischen Aufforderungen. Zu allem Überfluss taucht auch noch eine weitere Leiche auf.
Auf den ersten Blick gibt es keinen Zusammenhang mit dem Mord im Weinberg, doch Zen ist sicher, dass ein zweiter Mord in diesem beschaulichen ländlichen Umfeld kein Zufall ist ...
Die Mischung aus Spannung, Humor und Zens persönlicher Geschichte stimmt auch im 6. Band der Reihe. Hintergrund ist diesmal die Weinbau- und Trüffelregion um Alba im Piemont (die Schilderungen diverser Köstlichkeiten lassen einem beim Lesen das Wasser im Mund zusammenlaufen), genauer gesagt das Dorf Palazzuole, wo jeder jeden kennt, der Klatsch regiert und man Fremden gegenüber äußerst höflich und äußerst schweigsam ist.
Also eine harte Nuss für Zen, der sich naturgemäß nicht damit zufriedengeben will, den Winzersohn aus dem Knast zu holen, sondern auch den wahren Mörder dingfest machen möchte, auf seine gewohnt eigensinnige Art natürlich, intuitiv und manchmal alles andere als lehrbuchmäßig. Manchmal kann er ganz schön hinterhältig sein, aber trotzdem muss man ihn einfach irgendwie gernhaben mit seiner Selbstironie, die ihn bei allen persönlichen und beruflichen Schwierigkeiten und Selbstzweifeln immer wieder über Wasser hält.
Eine Serie, von der ich immer noch sehr angetan bin!
December 27, 2012
Michael Dibdin has written several Aurelio Zen mysteries, and this one is yet another encounter with strange situations and even stranger characters. An Italian police detective, Zen is generally at odds with his superiors and suffering some kind of punishment for it, but he always gets the job done.
In this offering, there's an especially nasty murder of a renowned vintner in the Piedmont area of Italy, and Zen accepts a private contract to solve it. The reasons behind that are bizarre enough, but the investigation takes several interesting turns, including two more murders. Everyone else is convinced that the crimes were committed by the same person, but there doesn't seem to be a motive that connects them.
When Aurelio arrives in the village of Alba, he's not at his best by any means. Adding to the misery of his personal life, he's being stalked by someone and appears to have been attacked in his sleep. Everyone he interviews about the initial murder tells him a great deal about everything but the murder, and it becomes clear that the villagers know who did it, but aren't going to say.
Dibdin is fun to read, and it's interesting to see Italy de-romanticized. The Italian beauty is there, but the point of view in this book is that of working class people who make their living from the wine and truffles. And of course, of Zen, who will soon be doomed to a "promotion" that takes him to Sicily.
In this offering, there's an especially nasty murder of a renowned vintner in the Piedmont area of Italy, and Zen accepts a private contract to solve it. The reasons behind that are bizarre enough, but the investigation takes several interesting turns, including two more murders. Everyone else is convinced that the crimes were committed by the same person, but there doesn't seem to be a motive that connects them.
When Aurelio arrives in the village of Alba, he's not at his best by any means. Adding to the misery of his personal life, he's being stalked by someone and appears to have been attacked in his sleep. Everyone he interviews about the initial murder tells him a great deal about everything but the murder, and it becomes clear that the villagers know who did it, but aren't going to say.
Dibdin is fun to read, and it's interesting to see Italy de-romanticized. The Italian beauty is there, but the point of view in this book is that of working class people who make their living from the wine and truffles. And of course, of Zen, who will soon be doomed to a "promotion" that takes him to Sicily.
April 10, 2009
Why do I keep reading these books that I DON'T like? Ugggh!
From cover:
"In Italian Criminalpol officer Aurelio Zen, Michael Dibdin has given the mystery one of its most intriguing protagonists: a man wearily trying to enforce the law in a society where the law is constantly being bent. Case in point: When the son of a Piedmontese wine-making family is jailed for killing his father, Zen is ordered to secure his release. The reason: A certain well-connected connoisseur wants to make sure that this year's vintage goes to harvest.
In the town of Alba, Zen discovers a traditional culture in which family and soil are inextricably linked, and finds himself bombarded with gossip and stalked by a mysterious telephone caller with tantalizing clues to Zen's own past. He also - grazie a Dio! - discovers the considerable pleasures of Piedmontese wine and truffles. A delectable farrago of greed and vengeance, food and drink, A Long Finish is Dibdin at his most elegant, funny, and surprising."
From cover:
"In Italian Criminalpol officer Aurelio Zen, Michael Dibdin has given the mystery one of its most intriguing protagonists: a man wearily trying to enforce the law in a society where the law is constantly being bent. Case in point: When the son of a Piedmontese wine-making family is jailed for killing his father, Zen is ordered to secure his release. The reason: A certain well-connected connoisseur wants to make sure that this year's vintage goes to harvest.
In the town of Alba, Zen discovers a traditional culture in which family and soil are inextricably linked, and finds himself bombarded with gossip and stalked by a mysterious telephone caller with tantalizing clues to Zen's own past. He also - grazie a Dio! - discovers the considerable pleasures of Piedmontese wine and truffles. A delectable farrago of greed and vengeance, food and drink, A Long Finish is Dibdin at his most elegant, funny, and surprising."
March 21, 2012
My favorite Michael Dibdin, so far. It involves truffles and wine and inbred Italian families.
All of his mysteries begin "in medias res," describing a scene (or scenes) whose relevance is sometimes far from obvious. I often have to go back and skim the beginning, once I have gotten interested in the characters and begun to figure out what's going on. This can be irritating, but in this case, it wasn't too laborious, and I began to figure things out much faster. Either he did a better job here, or I'm getting more used to visualizing his settings.
His writing is truly marvelous, his use of metaphor and his ability to describe scenes in such a way as to mirror the emotional atmosphere is quite astonishing.
All of his mysteries begin "in medias res," describing a scene (or scenes) whose relevance is sometimes far from obvious. I often have to go back and skim the beginning, once I have gotten interested in the characters and begun to figure out what's going on. This can be irritating, but in this case, it wasn't too laborious, and I began to figure things out much faster. Either he did a better job here, or I'm getting more used to visualizing his settings.
His writing is truly marvelous, his use of metaphor and his ability to describe scenes in such a way as to mirror the emotional atmosphere is quite astonishing.
July 6, 2014
After the disturbing personal shocks in Naples, Zen is sent from Rome to Piedmont to find evidence that will acquit the son of a local vintner convicted of murdering his father. A famous film director is concerned about the fate of the wine from the victim's vineyard in what is presumed to be an outstanding year.
The plot is complicated; the hostilities leading to the murder date back to the War - Partisans versus Fascists. There is a lot of fascinating local color dealing with the local truffle trade and the local wines. Zen's personal life gets even messier as the case progresses, but his cynical and unconventional tactics do produce a result - which turns out in the end to be totally wrong, but it all comes strangely right in the end.
The plot is complicated; the hostilities leading to the murder date back to the War - Partisans versus Fascists. There is a lot of fascinating local color dealing with the local truffle trade and the local wines. Zen's personal life gets even messier as the case progresses, but his cynical and unconventional tactics do produce a result - which turns out in the end to be totally wrong, but it all comes strangely right in the end.
February 13, 2011
I did not like this book. Reading through this series I find that Dibdin moves from influence to influence as he plays with different styles. In this novel the hero reminds me of Inspector 'Cluseau' (I am not sure of the spelling) of the Pink Panther films. I have spotted Agatha Christie and John Buchan in two previous books as well as the noirish Dead Lagoon and the comic opera Cosi Fan Tutti. I would have given it one star but there are aspects of the story which are interesting, and if Zen has lost his mind, there are others around who have retained their's, namely the local police.
November 6, 2022
Heb het met plezier gelezen, maar toch wel raar boek, of eigenlijk vooral rare hoofdpersoon. Inspecteur Zen wordt uit Rome gehaald om de moord op een wijnboer op te lossen. Hij doet dat zeer onconventioneel, ondervraagt allerlei mensen, brengt zelf theorieën in omloop, zet verdachten onder druk, laat mensen oppakken, en als er dan iemand schuld bekend heeft, dan blijkt het toch weer anders te zitten. Tussendoor is er ook nog een vrouw die zegt zijn dochter te zijn, een arts die vind dat Zen psychologische hulp nodig heeft, een verdachte die zijn hele huis vol ratten heeft en een politiechef met een onduidelijke rol.
August 4, 2013
Few people can execute a mystery as does Dibdin! Aurelio Zen is a flawed genius--funny, conniving, yet still likeable, in part due to his innate sense of honor. I also enjoy the way this series has moved around Italy, and this book, set in truffle country in the far north, reminds me of life in any smaller community that has enjoyed a relatively stable population for generations. A convoluted plot with twists and turns that still remain believable. As always, the title has multiple meanings. One of the best in a strong oeuvre!
September 23, 2015
Aurelio Zen is back in Rome after 'success' in his Naples assignment. He is sent, for rather unorthodox reasons, to investigate the brutal murder of a high-end winery owner to ensure he gets cleared of the crime and this season's wine gets produced. Then there is a second murder that may be related. And a woman who shows up claiming to be his daughter. Against all odds, Zen solves the case. Or does he just get two innocent men to confess to a crime they didn't commit.
A bit of an uneven installment in this series. But enjoyed a look into the truffle and wine industry.
A bit of an uneven installment in this series. But enjoyed a look into the truffle and wine industry.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 13, 2019
Der englische Titel „A Long Finish“ ist natürliche viel treffender. Warum überhaupt „schwarzer Trüffel“? Es ging die ganze Zeit um weißen Trüffel – sollte schwarz allegorisch – morbide - gemeint sein? Spannender Krimi und nicht 0-8-15, Dibdin merke ich mir. (Ich glaube, ich habe schon einmal einen gelesen, kann mich aber nicht mehr erinnern, was da abging)
P.S.: Yep! Es war „Insel der Unsterblichkeit“ – dieser sagenhaft spannende und stellenweise echt grässliche Sektenthriller (ganz ohne Aurelio Zen)!
P.S.: Yep! Es war „Insel der Unsterblichkeit“ – dieser sagenhaft spannende und stellenweise echt grässliche Sektenthriller (ganz ohne Aurelio Zen)!
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