Customer Reviews

Medusa

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
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2 star:		(1)
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If the action in "And then You Die" could be deemed Zen's recuperation period after the devastating events of Sicily, "Medusa" demonstrates a Zen well again, and indeed up to his old unscrupulous tricks, but still feeling the pressures of his ordeal.

Dibdin concentrates more on his secondary cast in this police procedural involving the discovery by a group of Austrian spelunkers of the body of a soldier thought to have been killed 30 years earlier in a freak airplane accident. Dibdin excels in depicting the various Italian agencies scrambling to cover-up an affair they don't quite understand, but fully recognize as having the potential to disclose a little too much of their own corruptness. In addition Dibdin's psychological portrayals of the individual members of Medusa, the elite military force to which the dead man once belonged, smack with realism; I especially enjoyed lonely Gabriele who wants nothing more than to live in the world of his antiquarian bookstore---he reminded me of the "rat man" in "A Long Finish". In addition, Naldino, the socialistic restaurant owner gives new meaning to the term "confused anger" and Claudia is just as snakey as an aging femme fatale as the Gorgon of the title.
Intermingled within these portraits of the past, Medusa gives us glimpses of Zen harriedly and conscientiously boarding trains all over the north of Italy from Florence to Campione d'Italie near Switzerland. Obviously, he has not lost his doggedness or his world-weariness---he works through the quagmire of politicism as only an Italian can---he solves the case employing the most unorthodox methods while pursuing leads, chain-smoking and drinking enough coffee and grappa to fuel an entire Starbucks and receiving an unexpected "atta-boy" from his superior in the end. Something tells me that in a future installment, Gemma, the new lady in Zen's life, just may iron out some of his cynicism and infuse him with some enthusiasm that could, while letting his guard down, get him into some hilarious form of trouble. A pity she only has a cameo role in this one.
Nevertheless, it is so good to see Zen on the prowl again in a new well-paced story set against the backdrop of exquisite Italian scenery still somehow not tainted by the knowledge of what goes on behind the Italian government machine. I would love to see Zen on the silver screen--I'd even raise a glass of grappa to that!
Recommended to all Zen lovers. As with the other books in this series, this book is better read in the order in which it was written to get the most out of the on-going story line and characterizations of Zen and his friends.

In Rome, rumors are spreading that there will be a major shake up in the Cabinet. Political parties are threatening to pull out of the governing coalition. And as usual, the Ministry of the Interior is at war with the Ministry of Defense. In other words, a typical day in the Byzantine world of Italian politics.

The book begins with the discovery of a soldier's body in a military tunnel complex high in the Italian Alps. A routine autopsy is interrupted when the Carbinieri steal the body in the early morning hours from the hospital's morgue. The Army is spooked and Aurelio Zen's bosses in the Ministry of the Interior sense an opportunity to embarass the Army. Thus in the ninth book of this venerable series, Aurelio Zen is sent off to do battle with yet another powerful and corrupt Italian institution.

What makes the Aurelio Zen series so pleasurable is that the traditional Anglo American mystery genre is undermined by a Latin sensibility. In the Anglo American mystery, the world is a logical and ultimately benign place. With hard work and intuition, the Anglo American detective can resolve the mystery. The guilty are punished and harmony and balance are restored.

Aurelio Zen's world operates on different principles. In Zen's Italy, the powerful are corrupt and masterful in their use of violence and intimidation. Nothing is transparent. Motives are obscure and conspiracies are the preferred mediums for achieving objectives. Zen is a good man but he will do whatever it takes to survive in this harsh and unforgiving environemnt.

For those interested in the Latin sensibility, check out the Scicilian mystery writer Leonardo Sciascia or the Mexican writer Paco Ignacio Taibo. For the French take on this Latin sensibility, there is the master Goerges Simenon's Inspector Maigret. The Columbian writer Alvaro Mutis puts a magical realism spin on this sensibility.

I just finished reading two Italian mysteries in a row...A Noble Radiance and Medusa. Who would have thought two such attractive characters as Aurelio Zen (Dibdin) and Guido Brunetti (Leon) would appear at the same time?

In this latest Dibdin, Zen proves himself a master of the system in which he operates, playing both ends against the middle and the middle against both ends and managing to achieve a kind of rough justice.

Wouldn't it be fun if Dibdin and Leon would collaborate on an adventure?

Michael Dibdin's latest Italian mystery featuring Aurelio Zen is superb. This is his 9th in the Zen series and the best since `Dead Lagoon' was published in 1994. In his past Zen thrillers, Dibdin set each novel in a different location in Italy, e.g. Umbria, Sardinia, Venice, Naples, and Sicily, to name a few. Other mystery series writers pick a single location, i.e., Donna Leon sets her Commissario Brunetti series in Venice and Magdalen Nabb's Marshal Guarnaccia series is Florence-based.

Well, MEDUSA is set in six different regions of Northern Italy. The plot centers around a body, buried for thirty years in a cave in the Dolomites; Zen works out of Rome, but lives in Lucca with his ladyfriend, Gemma from the last book; the main characters were associated with the military in the 1970s and now live in Milan, Verona, Campione (near Lugano) and a rural area near Pesaro in the Marche region. Inspector Zen is one busy guy traveling from place to place to solve this one.

Zen works for the Polizia di Stato under the Interior Ministry, who are always in competition with the Carabinieri under the Defence Ministry. Dibdin does a great job of setting up this adversary situation to its fullest. Zen is trying to solve the mystery while the Carabinieri is trying to bury the facts from becoming public. This novel is very contemporary with many barbs directed toward Silvio Berlusconi and his current government. The plot is fast-moving and intriguing. In this one, Zen is all business and at his best, with his personal life taking a backseat, for a change.

This is a quality novel, the first book of Michael Dibdin that I read. The plot is credible, well developed and comes down to an enjoyable ending. Better style and content than what we are used to getting from a lot of popular American authors (John Grisham, Harlan Coben, etc.). A minor point is that the link between chapters is sometimes a bit hard to catch, especially if you read the book over a longer course of time. I'll certainly read more of Michael Dibdin.

I like this author. This book I don't like or dislike, and that's a problem. It did not make much of an impression. The plot is standard conspiracy stuff, and while there are highly literate moments and great insights, they are fewer than in other books. I think the author is tired. I was, after reading this. Pick up an earlier work to see the heights Dibdin can achieve.

This case takes inspector Aurelio Zen to the Dolomites to the site where a body has been found in an abandoned military tunnel. With the help of Rudi Redel, Zen treads carefully to the place where the supposed suicide took place. However, evidence shows that other people must have been present in the tunnel so Zen must assume that a murder cannot be excluded. The situation becomes even more intricate when the still unidentified body is stolen from the morgue at the Defence Ministry! All the usual ingredients in Mr Dibdin's latest murder mystery: excellent suspense, a sympathetic Aurelio Zen (with a new girlfriend!) and plenty of ironical and amusing observations about our beloved Italy. Michael Tudor Barnes's fantastic reading is well worth buying this audiobook.

Medusa is an excellent addition to the Aurelio Zen mysteries. A faster pace than some of the others but a rich story in this brilliant series that takes us through the heart and soul of Italy. May there be many more to come.

Somewhat blustering and very cynical Italian Detective who solves a 30 year old mystery. The pace is good as the novel moves deftly from one character to another. Interesting, if not splendid.

I loved all of Dibden's Aurelio Zen books, partly because I love Italy, but mostly because Dibden's style is hypnotic and his characters are much too human.