A Rich Full Death [Paperback]

Michael Dibdin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 29, 1999

Florence,1855. "The English are dying too much," the city's police chief observes. And members of the foreign
community in this quaint Italian backwater, both English and American, are indeed dying at an alarming rate and in an extraordinary variety of ingenious and horrible ways.
      
With the local authorities out of their depth, the distinguished resident Robert Browning launches his own private investigation, aided and abetted by an expatriot Robert Booth. Unfortunately, their amateur sleuthing is hampered by the fact that each of their suspects becomes the next victim in a series of murders orchestrated by a killer with a taste for poetic justice. A Rich Full Death features characters both historical and imaginary, ranging from an enticing servant girl to Mr. Browning's consumptive, world-famous wife, Elizabeth Barrett, in a tale lush with period detail, intricately plotted, and with a truly astonishing final twist.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The cast of Dibdin's mid-19th-century literary puzzler features a Beatrice, an Isabel, an Elizabeth and even an Edith, but its true heroine is Florence, the Italian city where the twisting tale plays out. In letters to an old friend in America, expat Robert Booth narrates his adventures in Florence with other American and English exiles, including Robert Browning and his invalid wife, Elizabeth Barrett, and Isabel Allen and her wealthy husband. Booth, whose dreams of literary fame have faded as surely as his once passionate love for Isabel, teams up with Browning to investigate a series of six cryptic murders that occur in the expat community, turning the "paradise of exiles" into a miniature hell. As their pursuit of the killer leads them through a maze of social and political circles, the two men's relationship shifts, for they discover that they are both attracted to the same Italian servant. Dibdin's lively dialogue and period prose complement his vigorous characters. The novel relies heavily on allusions to Dante's Inferno, and, though it lacks hair-raising suspense, its many subtle clues and plot reversals are engrossing. The author of the Aurelio Zen mysteries displays a sure-handed command of literature, history and humor in this intricate, literate period piece. Author tour. (July)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Dibdin, author of the "Aurelio Zen" series, re-creates 1855 Florence here, as a skulking but hardly disinterested witness sees Robert Browning beside a newly hanged woman. Historical characters mix with fictional ones in another of Dibdin's evocative mysteries. First-rate.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (June 29, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375706143
• ISBN-13: 978-0375706141
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.4 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #978,286 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dante haunts Florence still, August 16, 2000

By 

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

This review is from: A Rich Full Death (Paperback)

"A Rich Full Death" is one of Mr. Dibdin's earlier works, and while he still writes a strong narrative, this book was less enjoyable, and was not on par with the balance of his work, until the very end. I plan to read the book once again, as I believe knowing the outcome may improve the entire story. I realize that sounds odd, however that is my impression.

A Mr. Booth is our guide throughout the story, which is related to the reader in the form of letters. As the reader you take the role of Prescott, the letters recipient, and it is from Mr. Booth but for a codicil at the end, who acts as the sole information source for the reader. Since the tale is revealed from one perspective how you feel about Booth is critical. I found him to be an annoying parasitical social climber, a pathetic man desperate to join the correct social circles. This may have been exactly what Mr. Dibdin intended, I don't know, but it annoyed me no end, and as Booth is the narrator, there was no respite from his personality.

The plot twists during the work are not as smooth as the other works I have read, but as I mentioned, the ending is extremely entertaining, is the highlight of this story, and may justify a second reading. As always murder is the sport of choice, and the perpetrator's map for his crimes is extremely well done.

Even though this was not one of the better reads of Mr. Dibdin's work, I believe that a second pass through Dante's Florence may change, or perhaps elevate the read. Such being the case, I err on the high side with the fourth star.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars History and homicide, May 13, 2000

By 

Andrew Rasanen (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Rich Full Death (Paperback)

Dibdin scrupulously maintains a mid-19th-century writing style, or at least as much of one as is palatable to contemporary readers. Let's call it "Victorian lite." That in itself interested me. Add his depiction of a slightly shabby ancient city, a lurid mystery, and the gradually unfolding psychological portrait of the narrator, and you have a story with both surface flash and internal complexity. Especially if you've been to Florence, his dusty, neglected, even slightly dangerous city in which everyone has to get around on foot or by carriage provides a fascinating contrast to the modern reality of this prosperous, sophisticated urban gem. Otherwise, Dibdin doesn't paint a very detailed picture of the medieval and renaissance architecture or the landscape. The plot and the relationship between the narrator and the quixotic Robert Browning are what carry the story. After the breakneck pace of the final third, I thought the penultimate plot twist and the twist that follows it at the very end of the novel nicely explained the feverish tone that underlies the polite style of the narrator's letters from the very first page. This is an easy, fun read, made more so by the history and Florentine folklore that Dibdin includes.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Nothing like his usual work; an unengaging read, October 22, 1999

By 

PamR "readyreading" (Oak Park, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Rich Full Death (Paperback)

I know this won awards, but I didn't like it. I much prefer his Aurelio Zen character in several of his other books. This narrative consists entirely of letters written to a friend, so it's all first-person. I suppose it's clever, and if you're extremely fond of Robert Browning you might enjoy hearing him "speak." But other than those two things, I couldn't recommend it. It also violates a long-standing principal of mysteries concerning the narrator/main character. Can't give that away, but it's very disturbing!