21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
If you really love Italian Mysteries, read this Dibdin, December 4, 2005
I guess the previous reviewers are looking for blood and sensation when they decide to read an "Italian Mystery". Most likely, they just don't understand the real Italian soul. Dibdin does, and his latest novel is an excellent illustration of this. The plot reads as an Italian opera, the characters are as Italian as an espresso coffee, and the absence of real action reminds me of my time spend in Italy (both as a tourist and for work). I have to admit that Dibdin counts on some intellectual snobbism amidst his readers, but it is so obvious that it makes you smile. This book, as most other Dibdins, is not written for the lovers of crime and death, but for the connoisseurs of live. Absolutely recommended for readers that know the difference between the kitsch of a Beaujolais nouveau and the joy of a Barolo
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13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Zen or the failure of maintenance, October 26, 2006
This review is from: Back to Bologna: An Aurelio Zen Mystery (Paperback)
Talk about maintaining a few things. Your health. Your relationships. Your job. Aurelio Zen fails to maintain all of them properly, or maybe he doesn't want to. Maybe that's the key. He does not know what he wants, maybe.
This sequel in the Aurelio Zen saga will please Aurelio followers, but may be a bad idea if Dibdin wants to enlarge his own followers community.
It relies too much on the readers knowing what happened earlier.
The title of volume 10 relates to cop Bruno, whom Zen helped getting a transfer back to Bologna out of the wilderness of Southern Tyrole, when Bruno helped Zen in Medusa. But there are other meanings, spelled out later in the story.
Aurelio has managed to become a hypochondriach and upsets lovely but hard-nosed Gemma from two volumes back, who knows most things better. Tough move for Aurelio.
The case itself is of rather minor importance here compared to the antics of our hero as far as his life is concerned. There is a cameo appearance of Umberto Eco, disguised as Edgardo Ugo, known as The Ego, including a satire on semiotics as "science".
There is a minor Berlusconi-like football magnate called Lorenzo Curti, who doubles up as Parmalat scandalist. There is a singing TV cook called Romano Rinaldo, or Lo Chef, who is explicitly compared to Pavarotti, appearance wise.
I.o.w., the novel is overloaded with Italiana, as it should be, and great fun for us Zenistas. Still, I think, MD should try to write his Zen stories a bit more on a stand alone basis.
By the way, there is also one "foreign" element in here, Flava from Ruritania. I had to google that. Very funny.
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17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Dibdin didn't take his 10th novel seriously, neither should you!, August 12, 2005
As an avid reader of crime series set in Italy, I eagerly await the next work by the pillars of the genre--Donna Leon, Magdalen Nabb, and Michael Dibdin. Both Leon with BLOOD FROM A STONE and Nabb with THE INNOCENT have delivered top-notch novels in their continuing series this year. Unfortunately, Dibdin fell short with BACK TO BOLOGNA. As is often the case with Dibdin, we have to deal more with Zen's continuing personal and relationship problems than with the crime and its solution. Zen's really a mess this time around. His Lucca-based girlfriend, Gemma Santini, from book #8 is fed up with him and wants to dump him.
Dibdin's new novel is not a mystery or a thriller. However, it is a very cleverly written spoof of the genre and quite comedic. I found it disappointing and not up to par with many of his other Aurelio Zen works.
He starts the book with the introduction of a massive cast of characters on an eventual collision course with each other. His leading characters are a flashy singing TV chef named Romano Rinaldi and a University of Bologna semiotics professor named Edgardo Ugo (as in Umberto Eco). To further the spoof, he names Zen's contact officer at the Bologna questura Salvatore Brunetti. (For you affectionatos--Salvatore is the first name of Nabb's Marshal and Brunetti is the last name of Leon's beloved Venetian Commissario.) Then further on in the book, he introduces a Carabinieri major named Guido Guarnaccia. (Again, for you affectionatos--Guido is the first name of Leon's Commissario and Guarnaccia is the last name of Nabb's Marshal.) Just how far is Dibdin willing to go to get a laugh?
I found the ending predictable with no suspense at all. Dibdin also missed the opportunity to give us a keen insight into the fantastic city of Bologna. He failed miserably in this regard. His descriptions were nothing compared to John Grisham's wonderful portrayal of Bologna in THE BROKER.
If you like comedy relief, this book is for you. It's cleverly written and very funny--but not serious enough for my taste.
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