Michael Dibdin (21 March 1947 – 30 March 2007) was a British

crime fiction Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, crime novel, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives or fiction that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professiona ...

writer, best known for inventing Aurelio Zen, the principal character in 11 crime novels set in Italy.

Early life

Dibdin was born in

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. Located around 12 miles (20 km) north of Birmingham, it forms the northwestern part of the West Midlands conurbation, with the towns of ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

(now West Midlands), England. The son of a physicist, he was brought up from the age of seven in

Lisburn Lisburn ( ; ) is a city in Northern Ireland. It is southwest of Belfast city centre, on the River Lagan, which forms the boundary between County Antrim and County Down. First laid out in the 17th century by English and Welsh settlers, with t ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

, where he attended the Friends' School and was taught by James Simmons. He graduated with a degree in English from

Sussex University The University of Sussex is a public research university located in Falmer, East Sussex, England. It lies mostly within the city boundaries of Brighton and Hove. Its large campus site is surrounded by the South Downs National Park, and provide ...

, and then went to study for a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

at the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

, Alberta, Canada.

Career

After publishing his first novel, a

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...

pastiche A pastiche () is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, music, or architecture that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, pastiche pays homage to the work it imitates, rather than mocking ...

, he lived for four years in Italy, teaching at the university in

Perugia Perugia ( , ; ; ) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area. It has 162,467 ...

. Dibdin is best known for his Aurelio Zen mysteries, set in Italy. The first of these, '' Ratking'', won the

Gold Dagger The CWA Gold Dagger is an award given annually by the Crime Writers' Association of the United Kingdom since 1960 for the best crime novel of the year. From 1955 to 1959, the organization named their top honor as the Crossed Red Herring Award. ...

award of 1988. This series of detective novels provide a penetrating insight into the less visible aspects of Italian society over the last 20 years. The earlier books have a lightness of touch that gradually becomes much darker. The character of Zen himself is

anti-hero An antihero (sometimes spelled as anti-hero or two words anti hero) or anti-heroine is a character in a narrative (in literature, film, TV, etc.) who may lack some conventional heroic qualities and attributes, such as idealism and morality. Al ...

ic, which adds much to the books' irony and black humour. A final Zen book, ''End Games'', appeared posthumously in July 2007. He also wrote other detective works set in America and in the UK.

Personal life

Dibdin eventually settled in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

, United States. Dibdin was married three times, most recently to the novelist K. K. Beck. He died in Seattle on 30 March 2007, aged 60, following a short illness.

Bibliography

Aurelio Zen series

# '' Ratking'' (1988) # '' Vendetta'' (1990) # ''Cabal'' (1992) # '' Dead Lagoon'' (1994) # '' Cosi Fan Tutti'' (1996) # '' A Long Finish'' (1998) # ''Blood Rain'' (1999) # '' And Then You Die'' (2002) # ''

Medusa In Greek mythology, Medusa (; ), also called Gorgo () or the Gorgon, was one of the three Gorgons. Medusa is generally described as a woman with living snakes in place of hair; her appearance was so hideous that anyone who looked upon her wa ...

'' (2003) # '' Back to Bologna'' (2005) # '' End Games'' (2007)

Other books

* '' The Last Sherlock Holmes Story'' (1978) * ''A Rich Full Death'' (1986) * ''The Tryst'' (1989) * ''Dirty Tricks'' (1991) * '' The Dying of the Light'' (1993) * ''Dark Spectre'' (1995) * ''

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in October and November in the United States, Canada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Germany. It is also observed in the Australian territory ...

'' (2000)

References

External links

*
BBC obituary

Daily Telegraph obituary

BBC Programme page: Zen

Video

Michael Dibdin: "Zen is someone I don't know very much about" – video
1947 births 2007 deaths Writers from Wolverhampton Alumni of the University of Sussex Male writers from Northern Ireland British crime fiction writers Organized crime novelists British expatriates in the United States People educated at Friends' School, Lisburn 20th-century British novelists 21st-century writers from Northern Ireland 20th-century British male writers Writers from Lisburn Writers from the West Midlands (county) Writers of Sherlock Holmes pastiches {{UK-novelist-stub