Back to Bologna
Encyclopedia
Back to Bologna is a novel by Michael Dibdin
, and is the tenth entry in the popular Aurelio Zen
series.
Meanwhile, Zen is recalled to duty and is sent to be the liaison officer for a high profile murder investigation - in Bologna – where the local football team owner has been shot, as well as stabbed with a Parmesan knife.
Whilst in Bologna, Gemma manages to get tickets to watch a live cook-off between local academic celebrity Edgardo Ugo and singing TV chef Romano Rinaldi, 'Lo Chef Che Canta e Incanta', provoked by Ugo suggesting, in a newspaper article, that Lo Chef can't cook. A series of coincidences leads to Zen being arrested when Ugo is found shot in the wake of the hilariously disastrous event.
The other main characters include a couple of flatmates – a rich kid student of Ugo's who fancies himself an 'Ultra' football fan, the student's illegal immigrant girlfriend, who calls herself Princess Flavia of Ruritania and the worlds worst private detective, who fancies himself a Chandleresque Private Eye.
This is Zen at the centre of a black comedy.
Michael Dibdin
Michael Dibdin , was a British crime writer.-Life:Dibdin was born in Wolverhampton, the son of a physicist, and was brought up from the age of seven in Lisburn, Northern Ireland where he attended Friends' School...
, and is the tenth entry in the popular Aurelio Zen
Aurelio Zen
Aurelio Zen is a fictional Italian detective created by the British crime writer Michael Dibdin.-Series:The first of the stories Ratking, won the 'Gold Dagger' award of 1988. This series of detective novels provide a penetrating insight into the less visible aspects of Italian society over the last...
series.
Plot
Zen is on sick leave after a stomach operation and is feeling a shadow of himself. His relationship with his partner, Gemma, is also not going well. She is about to leave for Bologna to meet her son who has something important to tell her.Meanwhile, Zen is recalled to duty and is sent to be the liaison officer for a high profile murder investigation - in Bologna – where the local football team owner has been shot, as well as stabbed with a Parmesan knife.
Whilst in Bologna, Gemma manages to get tickets to watch a live cook-off between local academic celebrity Edgardo Ugo and singing TV chef Romano Rinaldi, 'Lo Chef Che Canta e Incanta', provoked by Ugo suggesting, in a newspaper article, that Lo Chef can't cook. A series of coincidences leads to Zen being arrested when Ugo is found shot in the wake of the hilariously disastrous event.
The other main characters include a couple of flatmates – a rich kid student of Ugo's who fancies himself an 'Ultra' football fan, the student's illegal immigrant girlfriend, who calls herself Princess Flavia of Ruritania and the worlds worst private detective, who fancies himself a Chandleresque Private Eye.
This is Zen at the centre of a black comedy.