Zusatztext Clever. . . . It has wit! subtlety! a sense of mischief and exquisite cameos of Italy and Italians. The Times (London) Back to Bologna is the sprightliest entry in the Zen oeuvre for a good few years...Barely a page goes by without a big laugh. . . . I can't wait until Dibdin takes us [to Italy] again. Daily Telegraph A clever mystery. . . . Pure pleasure from the first to the last. The Evening Standard Informationen zum Autor Michael Dibdin Klappentext In the latest installment in his critically acclaimed Italian mystery series! Michael Didbin sends Aurelio Zen to Italy's culinary capital! Bologna! where he discovers that some cases are not quite what they appear to be. When the corpse of the shady Bologna industrialist who owns the local football team is found both shot and stabbed with a Parmesan knife! Aurelio Zen is summoned to oversee the investigation. Anxious for a break from his girlfriend! who attributes Zen's slow recovery from routine surgery to hypochondria! he is only too happy to take on what first appears to be an undemanding assignment. The case quickly spins out of control! becoming entangled with the fates of a student semiotics! a mysterious immigrant claiming to be royalty! and Bologna's most incompetent private detective. Meanwhile a prominent postmodern academic accuses Italy's leading celebrity chef of being a fraud. Back to Bologna is dazzlingly plotted and delivers both comic and serious insights into the realities of today's Italy. 'Someone should kill him.' Bruno didn't reply. 'Well, I don't actually mean that, of course,' Nando went on. 'Not literally.' 'No.' 'As in a knife through the heart.' 'For example.' 'You were speaking allegorically.' 'Er . . . yes.' 'My client's intention in allegedly uttering the phrase "Someone should kill him" was entirely euphemistic, not to say parabolic.' 'Right. It's just that if the smarmy bastard should happen to drop dead . . .' 'Which God forbid.' '. . . then that would solve all our problems.' 'Says who? The next one could be even worse.' 'Worse than Curti? You must be joking.' 'Plus you're assuming that anyone in his right mind would be prepared to buy a club where half the players are on a loan or time-share deal with other teams, and the rest will be sold off at the end of the season to meet the budgetary shortfall. It would take years, not to mention very deep pockets, to turn i rossoblù around.' 'All right, so hold the heart attack, cancel the stroke. Now what? One more season like this and I'll . . .' Nando broke off as the car's headlights picked out an amazing pair of black legs displayed up to the white silk triangle of the crotch. 'Keep your eyes on the road,' Bruno grunted sourly. 'Get stuffed.' 'By her? Any time.' 'Or him.' 'With legs like that, who cares? God, I'm bored.' Nando turned the radio back up. '. . . created several good chances, particularly in the second half, but this merely served to underline the thing that Bologna fans have been talking about all season, and in all honesty for many seasons past, namely the lack of a worldclass striker who could capitalise on the many opportunities going to waste out there and put the ball in the net. The service from the wings and the midfield is always reliable and occasionally inspired, but when it comes to finishing it's the same sad story week after week . . .' Bruno yawned massively. 'So how are the kids?' he asked, cutting the volume of the radio to a plaintive whine. 'All doing well except Carmelo. He's got some sort of canker on his ribs just below the wing. It must be bothering him because he keeps gnawing at it.' 'Can't you put some sort of bandage on ...

8220;Clever. . . . It has wit, subtlety, a sense of mischief and exquisite cameos of Italy and Italians.”–The Times (London)

“Back to Bologna is the sprightliest entry in the Zen oeuvre for a good few years...Barely a page goes by without a big laugh. . . . I can’t wait until Dibdin takes us [to Italy] again.”–Daily Telegraph

“A clever mystery. . . . Pure pleasure from the first to the last.”–The Evening Standard

Auteur

Michael Dibdin was born in England and raised in Northern Ireland. He attended Sussex University and the University of Alberta in Canada. He spent five years in Perugia, Italy, where he taught English at the local university. He went on to live in Oxford, England and Seattle, Washington. He was the author of eighteen novels, eleven of them in the popular Aurelio Zen series, including Ratking, which won the Crime Writers’ Association Gold Dagger, and Cabal, which was awarded the French Grand Prix du Roman Policier. His work has been translated into eighteen languages. He died in 2007.

Texte du rabat

In the latest installment in his critically acclaimed Italian mystery series, Michael Didbin sends Aurelio Zen to Italy's culinary capital, Bologna, where he discovers that some cases are not quite what they appear to be.

When the corpse of the shady Bologna industrialist who owns the local football team is found both shot and stabbed with a Parmesan knife, Aurelio Zen is summoned to oversee the investigation. Anxious for a break from his girlfriend, who attributes Zen's slow recovery from routine surgery to hypochondria, he is only too happy to take on what first appears to be an undemanding assignment. The case quickly spins out of control, becoming entangled with the fates of a student semiotics, a mysterious immigrant claiming to be royalty, and Bologna's most incompetent private detective. Meanwhile a prominent postmodern academic accuses Italy's leading celebrity chef of being a fraud. Back to Bologna is dazzlingly plotted and delivers both comic and serious insights into the realities of today's Italy.

Échantillon de lecture
'Someone should kill him.'

Bruno didn't reply.

'Well, I don't actually mean that, of course,' Nando went on.

'Not literally.'

'No.'

'As in a knife through the heart.'

'For example.'

'You were speaking allegorically.'

'Er . . . yes.'

'My client's intention in allegedly uttering the phrase "Someone should kill him" was entirely euphemistic, not to say parabolic.'

'Right. It's just that if the smarmy bastard should happen to drop dead . . .'

'Which God forbid.'

'. . . then that would solve all our problems.'

'Says who? The next one could be even worse.'

'Worse than Curti? You must be joking.'

'Plus you're assuming that anyone in his right mind would be prepared to buy a club where half the players are on a loan or time-share deal with other teams, and the rest will be sold off at the end of the season to meet the budgetary shortfall. It would take years, not to mention very deep pockets, to turn i rossoblù around.'

'All right, so hold the heart attack, cancel the stroke. Now what? One more season like this and I'll . . .'

Nando broke off as the car's headlights picked out an amazing pair of black legs displayed up to the white silk triangle of the crotch.

'Keep your eyes on the road,' Bruno grunted sourly.

'Get stuffed.'

'By her? Any time.'

'Or him.'

'With legs like that, who cares? God, I'm bored.'

Nando turned the radio back up.

'. . . created several good chances, particularly in the second half, but this merely served to underline the thing that Bologna fans have been talking about all season, and in all honesty for many seasons past, namely the lack of a worldclass striker who could capitalise on the many opportunities going to waste out there and put the ball in the net. The service from the wings and the midfield is always reliable and occasionally inspired, but when it comes to finishing it's the same sad story week after week . . .'

Bruno yawned massively.

'So how are the kids?' he asked, cutting the volume of the radio to a plaintive whine. …