Ratking

Author Essay

Have Detective, Will Travel: AURELIO ZEN

Dibdin’s famous Italian sleuth, Aurelio Zen, first appeared over a decade ago in the novel Ratking. Since then, the tough, philosophical, and world-weary Criminalpol officer has covered the peninsula, from his native Venice in Dead Lagoon to the Vatican in Rome in Cabal to Sicily in Blood Rain, uncovering the darkest mysteries, most criminal plots, and most gruesome murders. But according to Michael Dibdin, it was never meant to be that way. “I think part of the reason the series works for me is that it wasn’t really meant to be a series,” says Dibdin. “The first one, Ratking, was about a place where I lived in Italy. I wanted to write a book about my experiences there because writers like to use their experience: you don’t want anything to go to waste. So I invented the Zen character for that book, but I wasn’t particularly interested in him, so there wasn’t really a lot about him in that book. He’s really just a facilitator who comes in and makes it possible for other things to happen.” After winning a Gold Dagger Award from the British Crime Writers Association for Ratking, Dibdin decided it might be an interesting adventure to move Zen to a completely different part of Italy. He hasn’t stopped moving since. “I keep him moving because I don’t want to have books which are all set in the same place. That seems to be one of the pleasures of writing about Italy. Regionally it’s different—so diverse—you can actually get a completely different take depending where he ends up next.”