Friday, February 04, 2022

FFB, VENDETTA. Michael Dibdin


                                                   Vendetta, Michael Dibdin




This is the second in the series (1990) concerning the police work of Aurelio Zen. Inspector Zen is one of the more sophisticated cops and the Italian settings in this series always wowed me.
In VENDETTA, Zen investigates the assassination of a millionaire and all of his his guests at a posh location in the Sardinia mountains. Despite a sophisticated security system, no pictures of the intruders exists. A lot of pressure comes from Zen's higher-ups to solve this high-profile, seemingly locked room, type murder.

I liked this series a lot. Michael Dibdin died far too young. 

Aurelio Zen series

  1. Ratking (1989)
  2. Vendetta (1991)
  3. Cabal (1992)
  4. Dead Lagoon (1994)
  5. Cosi Fan Tutti (1996)
  6. A Long Finish (1998)
  7. Blood Rain (1999)
  8. And Then You Die (2002)
  9. Medusa (2003)
  10. Back to Bologna (2005)
  11. End Games (2007)

 

7 comments:

Margot Kinberg said...

I couldn't agree more, Patti. It's a good series, and Dibdin left us far too soon.

George said...

I'm with you and Margot: this series is first rate!

Jeff Meyerson said...

I never read one. I suppose I should, but wasn't he the guy who insulted "nerds" who did fanzines? The first three books (RATKING, CABAL, VENDETTA) were adapted for television with Rufus Sewell in the starring role. I didn't watch those either.

pattinase (abbott) said...

I think I only saw the first TV adaption. If he was a jerk, I missed it somehow.

Howard said...

I loved Dibdin's books and was devastated when I read that he had died.

Todd Mason said...

Jeff's memory is correct--Didbin chose to be an ass after attending a Bouchercon. In response to a query on FictionMags, MYSTERY*FILE's own Steve Lewis noted:
I asked Marv Lachman about this, and here's his reply:

Yes, I recall this matter and mentioned it in my history of fandom. After Dibdin returned from B'con 1994 in Seattle, he wrote a letter to the British newspaper THE INDEPENDENT calling mystery fans "nerds" and claiming that Fan Guest of Honor Art Scott was picked because he was "the biggest nerd of all." He claimed that fans and writers had nothing in common, and fans only wanted autographed books to make a profit.

Todd Mason said...

Terry Zobeck was moved to comment, after Steve:

I started attending Bouchercon in 1996. Between then and Dibdin's death in 2007, he attended a Bouchercon once, which was a year or two before he died. I collect his Aurelio Zen novels and have his Sherlock Holmes pastiche, The Last Sherlock Holmes Story. I was quite pleased to get my copies of his books signed, but had I known what he thought of me and my fellow fans/collectors, I would have been less so.

Terry