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Content snapshot
Flag an inaccuracy →What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.
Violence
Some
A disappearance and death in Venice; some violence in Italian crime procedural mode
Language
Barely any
Dibdin's sophisticated prose; mild profanity
Sexual Content
Barely any
Brief romantic content appropriate to the series
Substance Use
Barely any
Social drinking in Italian settings; Zen's characteristic wine appreciation
Emotional Intensity
Some
Moral ambiguity and political corruption create sustained psychological unease
What this book is about
The fourth Aurelio Zen novel takes the peripatetic Italian detective home to Venice, where the disappearance of an American diplomat's wife and the death of an old friend draw him into the city's unique political and social labyrinth. Dibdin's Venice is atmospheric and morally compromised, its beauty inseparable from its decay, and the novel uses the city itself as an extended metaphor for the Italian political condition. The investigation is characteristically oblique and satisfying, and Zen's Venetian origins add personal dimension missing from his other postings.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Italian political corruption as theme
Morally ambiguous resolution
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