End Games - Tapa dura

"Brims with clever reveals, elegant imagery, elaborate word play, violent shocks, refined and ribald jokes. . . . Something different from the ordinary detective story."--"The Wall Street Journal" "A sterling example of why both Dibdin and Zen will be sorely missed on the crime fiction front."--"The Boston Globe" "Clever and exuberantly witty. . . . Captures . . . the Italian national character in all its unruly glory."--"The New York Times ""A terrific stylist, prolific and protean. . . . The story is a fitting conclusion to a career that ended too soon."--"The Seattle Times" "Didbin's Italy-based Aurelio Zen tales are among the best in the mystery genre." --"The Boston Globe ""Didbin has an abundance of gifts: bracing wit, the ability to wring unexpected poignance out of dark comedy, and a gift for striking imagery." --"The Wall Street Journal ""Didbin belongs to that hierarchy of innovative stylists who make it a point of honor never to repeat a singal trick." --"The New York Times Book Review ""Didbin's work deserves comparison with such...giants as Raymond Chandler." --"The Oregonian ""Didbin is esential reading for those who love mysteries and Italy without illusions." --"The Washington Post" "From the Hardcover edition." "Supremely talented and enormously witty." -- "Globe and Mail" "One of an elite cadre of crime fiction writers for whom literary critics break out all of their favorite adjectives." -- "January Magazine" "Michael Dibdin's policiers are more addictive than crack cocaine." -- "The Guardian" (U.K.) "[Dibdin] remains a class act, his vignettes of Italy as sharp as ever, his laconic hero impossible to resist." -- "Sunday Telegraph" (U.K.) " Supremely talented and enormously witty. " -- Globe and Mail " One of an elite cadre of crime fiction writers for whom literary critics break out all of their favorite adjectives. " -- January Magazine " Michael Dibdin ' s policiers are more addictive than crack cocaine. " -- The Guardian (U.K.) " [Dibdin] remains a class act, his vignettes of Italy as sharp as ever, his laconic hero impossible to resist. " -- Sunday Telegraph (U.K.) " Supremely talented and enormously witty." -- "Globe and Mail" " One of an elite cadre of crime fiction writers for whom literary critics break out all of their favorite adjectives." -- "January Magazine" " Michael Dibdin' s policiers are more addictive than crack cocaine." -- "The Guardian" (U.K.) " [Dibdin] remains a class act, his vignettes of Italy as sharp as ever, his laconic hero impossible to resist." -- "Sunday Telegraph" (U.K.)

The dead man followed the track until it rose above the last remaining trees and ceased to be a rough line of beaten earth and scruffy grass, to become a stony ramp hewn out of the cliff face and deeply rutted by the abrasive force of ancient iron-rimmed cart wheels. By now il morto was clearly suffering, but he struggled on, pausing frequently to gasp for breath before tackling another stretch of the scorched rock on which the soles of his feet left bloody footprints. Aurelio Zen's final case brings him to remote town of Calabria, at the toe of Italy's boot, on what is supposed to be a routine assignment: the death of a scout for an American film company. But the case is complicated by a group of dangerous strangers who have arrived to uncover another local mystery - buried treasure - and who will stop at nothing to achieve their goal. The case rapidly spirals out of control, and Zen must penetrate the code of silence in the tight-knit community in order to solve the crime. If you enjoyed the Inspector Zen Mystery series you may also like The Last Sherlock Holmes Story, another crime novel by Michael Dibdin.