And Then You Die: (Aurelio Zen)

Aurelio Zen of Rome's elite Criminalpol is back, but nobody's supposed to know it. After months in hospital recovering from a bomb attack on his car, he is lying low under a false name at a beach resort on the Tuscan coast, waiting to testify in an imminent anti-Mafia trial. Zen has clear instructions: to sit back and enjoy the classic Italian beach holiday - relaxing in the sun, eating seafood and engaging in a little mild flirtation with the attractive woman sitting under the next umbrella. But Zen is getting restless, and as an alarming number of people are dropping dead around him, it seems just a matter of time before the Mafia manages to finish the job it bungled months before on a lonely Sicilian road. Abruptly, the pleasant monotony of beach life is cut short as Zen finds himself transported to a remote and strange world far from home . and wherever he goes, trouble follows.

About the Author :
Michael Dibdin lived in Italy for many years and had 11 Zen books published which continue to entertain readers around the world. He died three years ago. His novels won many awards including the Crime Writers Association Gold Dagger for Ratking.

Review :
"Beautifully crafted and evocative, with the perfect balance of plot and rueful digression.... Dibdin's Zen novels effortlessly paint a sharper portrait of Italy than any guidebook, cookbook or academic history." -- "The Guardian" "Dibdin has created an interesting alternative to the fast-paced, smart-assed, hard-boiled detective genre. His version is full of hidden half-truths, twisted, smiling, power-hungry authorities, and enough smoke and mirrors to keep you guessing -- a modern take on the medieval mystery." -- "The Irish Times" "There is an initial flurry of deaths among innocent people, in true Agatha Christie style, some Elmore Leonardish humour, a gadget straight out of James Bond, and a romantic subplot. . . . Zen himself is as intriguing as ever." -- "New Statesman" "Dibdin is a highly sophisticated writer who has chosen to stay largely within the crime genre. He brings off its required effects superbly, being especially a master of understated menace and unforeseen plunges into horror." -- "Sunday Times" "Dibdin has created an interesting alternative to the fast-paced, smart-assed, hard-boiled detective genre. His version is full of hidden half-truths, twisted, smiling, power-hungry authorities, and enough smoke and mirrors to keep you guessing--a modern take on the medieval mystery." -- "The" "Irish Times" "Dibdin's Zen novels effortlessly paint a sharper portrait of Italy than any guidebook, cookbook or academic history. . . . And Then You Die is more meditative than the other Zen thrillers, beautifully crafted and evocative, with the perfect balance of plot and rueful digression." -- "The Guardian" "Dibdin knows Italy from the south of Sicily tothe Swiss border. . . . Those who are familiar with things Italian will revel in his accounts and analyses, while those who are not can savour the bubbles and colours which are as inebriating as freshly uncorked Prosecco." -- "Times Literary Supplement" " Beautifully crafted and evocative, with the perfect balance of plot and rueful digression... . Dibdin' s Zen novels effortlessly paint a sharper portrait of Italy than any guidebook, cookbook or academic history." -- "The Guardian" " Dibdin has created an interesting alternative to the fast-paced, smart-assed, hard-boiled detective genre. His version is full of hidden half-truths, twisted, smiling, power-hungry authorities, and enough smoke and mirrors to keep you guessing -- a modern take on the medieval mystery." -- "The Irish Times" " There is an initial flurry of deaths among innocent people, in true Agatha Christie style, some Elmore Leonardish humour, a gadget straight out of James Bond, and a romantic subplot. . . . Zen himself is as intriguing as ever." -- "New Statesman" " Dibdin is a highly sophisticated writer who has chosen to stay largely within the crime genre. He brings off its required effects superbly, being especially a master of understated menace and unforeseen plunges into horror." -- "Sunday Times" " Dibdin has created an interesting alternative to the fast-paced, smart-assed, hard-boiled detective genre. His version is full of hidden half-truths, twisted, smiling, power-hungry authorities, and enough smoke and mirrors to keep you guessing-- a modern take on the medieval mystery." -- "The" "Irish Times" " Dibdin' s Zen novels effortlessly paint a sharper portrait of Italy than any guidebook, cookbook or academic history. . . . And Then You Die is more meditative than the other Zen thrillers, beautifully crafted and evocative, with the perfect balance of plotand rueful digression." -- "The Guardian" " Dibdin knows Italy from the south of Sicily to the Swiss border. . . . Those who are familiar with things Italian will revel in his accounts and analyses, while those who are not can savour the bubbles and colours which are as inebriating as freshly uncorked Prosecco." -- "Times Literary Supplement"