- Paperback: 384 pages
- Publisher: Faber and Faber; New edition edition (5 Aug 2004)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0571173470
- ISBN-13: 978-0571173471
- Product Dimensions: 17.6 x 11 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 191,213 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Dead Lagoon (Aurelio Zen 04)
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Product Description
Product Description
Aurelio Zen returns to his native Venice to investigate the disappearance of a rich American resident but he soon learns that, amid the hazy light and shifting waters of the lagoon, nothing is what it seems. As Zen is drawn deeper into the complex and ambiguous mysteries surrounding the discovery of a skeletal corpse on an ossuary island in the north lagoon, he is also forced to confront a series of disturbing revelations about his own life.
About the Author
Michael Dibdin was born in 1947. He went to school in Northern Ireland, and later to Sussex University and the University of Alberta in Canada. He lived in Seattle. After completing his first novel, The Last Sherlock Holmes Story, in 1978, he spent four years in Italy teaching English at the University of Perugia. His second novel, A Rich Full Death, was published in 1986. It was followed by Ratking in 1988, which won the Gold Dagger Award for the Best Crime Novel of the year and introduced us to his Italian detective - Inspector Aurelio Zen. In 1989 The Tryst was published to great acclaim and was followed by Vendetta in 1990, the second story in the Zen series. Dirty Tricks was published in 1991. Inspector Zen made his third appearance in Cabal, which was published in 1992. The Dying of the Light, an Agatha Christie pastiche, was published in 1993. His fourth Zen novel, Dead Lagoon, was published the following year. His next novel, Dark Spectre, was published in 1995. Two more Zen novels followed: Cosi Fan Tutti, set in Naples, was published in 1996 and A Long Finish was published in 1998. Blood Rain, the seventh Zen novel, was published in 1999. Thanksgiving was published in 2000, with the eighth Zen, And Then You Die, appearing in 2002. Aurelio Zen returned in Medusa, in August 2003, and then again in Back to Bologna in 2005. His last novel, End Games, was published posthumously in July 2007.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Aurelio Goes Home,
By
This review is from: Dead Lagoon (Zen) (Paperback)
I have been drawn to this series as this is the fourth "Zen Mystery" I have read recently. For any readers new to these books all the installments are available except "Cabal", which Amazon shows scheduled for release next month. Nothing I have read so far has suffered from my out of sequence start, but as in any series there are references to prior events that would make the reader more comfortable with the history of the character, if known. The Author Michael Dibdin gives at least a sketch of what has happened if not the details, so starting with the most recent book, as I did, was still very enjoyable."Dead Lagoon" brings the protagonist back home, to the City of Venice, the Zen Family house, and a Venice in political turmoil that welcomes only those Venetians that meet their criteria. While this book continues the investigative mystery that is the core of these books, Mr. Dibdin coils a second plot line that is politically based in to the narrative. While it is not as distinct an element, the latter half of 20th Century Venetian History is also intertwined. The subsequent books will tell, but I believe this is a turning point in the development of Aurelio Zen. As he has in the past he winds up in the middle of a crime, but the practical realities of right and wrong, are blurred by who the victim is, what childhood friends are involved, and other issues long thought to be laid to rest that come back to make Zen's world even more chaotic. And as in the other works, Zen is forced to deal with his Mother who has no use for anyone or anything, when her boy leaves her alone in Rome. Different from the others I have read, but still very worthy of the time spent.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
And another death in Venice,
By
This review is from: Dead Lagoon (Zen) (Paperback)
Protagonist is Aurelio Zen an Italian senior policeman who in this novel (11 of 18 in the series) returns to his family roots in Venice, ostensibly to investigate a friend's minor assault, but is really investigating the death of a U.S./Croat war criminal. This official/unofficial theme runs throughout in tune with clean versus corrupt or dirty imagery.
Zen is an interesting character; middle-aged, hatchet-faced, stroppy, surly, claustrophobic, subject to panic attacks and very politically astute. Mr Dibdin has a fluent style which occasionally seemed Germanic. There is a plethora of crime novels based in Venice and this is one of the best although the fruitless pursuit of his friend did read like 'a Guided Tour of all the bits of Venice that I haven't managed to get in so far including the Lido'! His view of Venice in February is not romantic in fact it is dirty (well, a ruder word is used actually). This is grown-up, well thought out with no crash-bang-wallop ending. It is downbeat in keeping with the story and its themes and I think all the better for that. Really took to Zen as the book wore on which was pleasing as I found the cover on the Faber edition very dull and off-putting.
5.0 out of 5 stars
very hard work,
By boschfan1 "douglasmitchell5" (france) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Dead Lagoon (Aurelio Zen 04) (Paperback)
I have read several of the Zen books before and I have become used to the rambling style in which Zen coducts his investigations.However I found this particular book very very hard work, It was full of dead ends and the final outcome was a real let down. Donna Leon is to my mind much better when it comes to crime in Venice.
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