A Long Finish [Import] [Paperback]

MICHAEL DIBDIN (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 363 pages
• Publisher: RETAILER-EXCLUSIVE TITLES; New edition (2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0571233953
• ISBN-13: 978-0571233953
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,508,586 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Which wine best compliments a Murder?, August 16, 2000

By 

taking a rest - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: A Long Finish (Paperback)

In addition to all the wonderful reasons that make Michael Dibdin a pleasure to read, "A Long Finish", adds content for the gourmet. The wines of Alba and the "white diamonds" as the local whites truffles are reverently called, are components of a mystery that exposes another of the unconventional Italian priorities that Aurelio Zen constantly confronts.

The question of whether a Father was murdered by his Son is of little concern to those who pull the strings that bring Aurelio to Alba. The Son must be released, as only he can bring in the grapes that create the wine so desperately desired by a prominent Italian and many others. To devotees of wine I mean no offense, but the descriptions offered at a wine tasting often make for great humor. "Nice bouquet, great legs, fingers and thighs a bit weak, but they are buttressed by a boisterous bosom. A fruity opening, a woody polyester transition, and finally a finish that is crisp yet smooth with a suggestion of cinnamon, the barest hint of the citric, and finally dishwater".

Why has a top crime investigator from Rome been brought, because "he appears to be intelligent, devious and effective, compromised by only a regrettable tendency to insist on a conventional conception of morality at certain crucial moments". So with that career making resume material in hand, "Dottore" is off to get the grapes bottled.

This really is one of the best in the series, the only installment I have yet to read is "Cabal" and if it meets this performance the collection of writing is nearly perfect. The story has all the murders so unique, the guilty, the innocent, the guilty that wish they were, and all the rest of the maze that Mr. Dibdin is rightfully noted for.

He also can really describe wine unlike my feeble attempt. "Barolo is the Bach of wine, strong, supremely structured, a little forbidding, but absolutely fundamental. Barbaresco is the Beethoven, taking those qualities and lifting them to heights of subjective passion and pain that have never been surpassed. And Brunello is its Brahms. The softer, fuller, romantic afterglow of so much strenuous excess".

That bit of prose is offered up in the earliest of pages of this work, and Dibdin's pen does not fail or even skip throughout the tale. This story also has a dry satire, and a certain outrageousness that might be comical if placed within a less dire context.

Again a great body of work that I hope will continue for many more years.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another masterful mystery from Dibdin, June 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: A Long Finish: An Aurelio Zen Mystery (Hardcover)

Since Michael Dibdin is one of my favorite writers, I expected excellence and was not disappointed. Combines with dark humor, a twisted story and facinating background on Italy's wine industry. Dibdin's writing style is beautiful; his descriptive narrative is the essence of every writing teachers' favorite saying: "Don't tell us - SHOW us".

Two warnings: as he often does, Dibdin starts the book with a purposely opaque and confusing first chapter which is clarified as the story unfolds. Also, I found the book to be far more violent than his past works. Still eagerly awaiting Zen's next assignment.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "A Long Finish" Another Michael Dibdin mystery/travel guide., February 6, 2001

By 

Richard A. Davis "rad53" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Long Finish (Paperback)

Mr. Dibdin has done it again! The Aurelio Zen mysteries are taking us all over Italy. From Perugia in "Ratking", Sardinia in "Vendetta", Rome in "Cabal", Venice in "Dead Lagoon", Naples in "Cosi Fan Tutti" and now Alba in "A Long Finish". I think these books keep getting better and better. Aurelio Zen is my favorite detective. Keep 'em coming Mr. Dibdin!