An Aurelio Zen Mystery by Michael Dibdin
Once again Detective Aurelio Zen finds himself with an awkward case to investigate that could have serious political implications.
Lake Lugano is one of the locations to which Zen's inquiries lead in Medusa |
Zen is asked to look into the case
even though it has been assumed the death was accidental.
But then the body is stolen from the
morgue and the Defence Ministry puts a news blackout on the case.
Zen has already been to see the cave
and been given photographs of the body by the cavers.
But his superior, Brugnoli, summons
him back to Rome and arranges to meet him secretly in a park to discuss the
delicate political nuances.
The official line is that the body is
that of a soldier who was accidentally killed during a training exercise many
years ago. The defence ministry say he was a member of an elite special force
modelled on the British SAS that never existed officially and therefore secrecy
about the discovery has to be maintained.
Brugnoli tells him that because of
the delicate state of the current political situation in Italy there is a lot
at stake both for his department and the future of the country but that a
skilled operator such as Zen might be able to turn up some interesting material
that could be useful.
He says that ideally he wants a huge
scandal that will be front page news and implicate the entire defence ministry,
but that he will settle for anything that can be used against them.
Zen is to work on the case on his own
and not to communicate with him overtly, but to arrange another clandestine
meeting with him if necessary.
Zen’s enquiries take him to Milan,
the Po Valley and Lake Lugano on the border between Italy and Switzerland. He
has to operate unofficially and work round the clock but he manages to find out
why the dead man was killed and by whom and achieves justice for the victim.
With the help of a veteran journalist he goes to visit, he even manages to get
the optimum result his superior has asked for.
Brilliantly plotted and beautifully
written, I think that Medusa is one of Michael Dibdin’s finest novels and well
worth reading.
I agree with one of the reviews on
the back cover that says: ‘Dibdin’s Medusa is just as good as an Italian
holiday.’
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(Lake Lugano picture by Jonathan Reichel via Pixabay)