Sunday, 17 July 2011
Michael Dibdin's Zen on Pbs

altFans of the late Michael Dibdin's novels featuring Roman police detective Aurelio Zeno -- best known as Zen -- will find much to like in Zen, the new series that is part of PBS' Masterpiece Mystery! The episodes will air on three consecutive Sundays, beginning at 9 p.m. July 17, July 24 and July 31.

Those unfamiliar with Dibdin or Zen also will be so wrapped up in the evocative TV series that they will want to read the author's 11 novels.

Zen translates well to the screen, thanks in part to actor Rufus Sewell (The Pillars of the Earth) who portrays the insightful, incorruptible and compassionate Zen, and because of the respect the Left Bank Productions, and especially producer Michael Casey, have for Dibdin's work.

Dibdin's novels give an in-depth look at the vagaries of Italian police work and Italian society. Zen is an honest cop who is up against corruption each day, including from the police force. Too often, Zen battles criminals and his bosses, who seem to side more with crime gangs and want his cases wrapped up quickly to avoid political fallout. Because of this, Zen is more than a little cynical about justice and has no problems taking radical approaches or cutting corners so that he can right wrongs. Often he feels as if he is the only one interested in justice.

Zen lives with his mother (Catherine Spaak) because his marriage is failing. While he has no shortage of love interests, Zen is no lothario. He's almost too busy between his job, mom and failing marriage to think about romance. That is until he gets to know Tania Moretti (Caterina Murino) who is his chief's new secretary.

Dibdin, who died in 2007, received the Crime Writers Association's Gold Dagger Award for best novel for Ratking, the first novel in his Aurelio Zen series.

In addition to the characters, the TV series shows the breath-taking beauty of Rome and the Italian countryside that will have you wanting to pack a suitcase -- immediately.

"Vendetta," the episode airing July 17 is a good indicator of the series attention to detail and quality. In this episode, a killer is targeting those who he thinks wrongly imprisoned him. Although Zen had little to do with the man's conviction, he also is being hunted. Meanwhile, Zen is being pushed by his scheming boss to wrap up a politically charged murder.

"Vendetta" combines action and perspective on Zen. Each scene -- and this is true of the entire series -- is tightly packed so there is no lull in the story. Zen's plunge into a cave is a tension-filled scene that is beautifully filmed.

Zen, which aired last year in Britain, also is available on DVD or Blu-ray. Zen is definitely a keeper.


Zen airs at 9 p.m. July 17, July 24 and July 31 on PBS. Check your local station for additional airings or change in times.

Photo: Rufus Sewell, Caterina Murino in Zen. PBS photo

Michael Dibdin's Zen on Pbs
Oline Cogdill
michael-dibdins-zen-on-pbs

altFans of the late Michael Dibdin's novels featuring Roman police detective Aurelio Zeno -- best known as Zen -- will find much to like in Zen, the new series that is part of PBS' Masterpiece Mystery! The episodes will air on three consecutive Sundays, beginning at 9 p.m. July 17, July 24 and July 31.

Those unfamiliar with Dibdin or Zen also will be so wrapped up in the evocative TV series that they will want to read the author's 11 novels.

Zen translates well to the screen, thanks in part to actor Rufus Sewell (The Pillars of the Earth) who portrays the insightful, incorruptible and compassionate Zen, and because of the respect the Left Bank Productions, and especially producer Michael Casey, have for Dibdin's work.

Dibdin's novels give an in-depth look at the vagaries of Italian police work and Italian society. Zen is an honest cop who is up against corruption each day, including from the police force. Too often, Zen battles criminals and his bosses, who seem to side more with crime gangs and want his cases wrapped up quickly to avoid political fallout. Because of this, Zen is more than a little cynical about justice and has no problems taking radical approaches or cutting corners so that he can right wrongs. Often he feels as if he is the only one interested in justice.

Zen lives with his mother (Catherine Spaak) because his marriage is failing. While he has no shortage of love interests, Zen is no lothario. He's almost too busy between his job, mom and failing marriage to think about romance. That is until he gets to know Tania Moretti (Caterina Murino) who is his chief's new secretary.

Dibdin, who died in 2007, received the Crime Writers Association's Gold Dagger Award for best novel for Ratking, the first novel in his Aurelio Zen series.

In addition to the characters, the TV series shows the breath-taking beauty of Rome and the Italian countryside that will have you wanting to pack a suitcase -- immediately.

"Vendetta," the episode airing July 17 is a good indicator of the series attention to detail and quality. In this episode, a killer is targeting those who he thinks wrongly imprisoned him. Although Zen had little to do with the man's conviction, he also is being hunted. Meanwhile, Zen is being pushed by his scheming boss to wrap up a politically charged murder.

"Vendetta" combines action and perspective on Zen. Each scene -- and this is true of the entire series -- is tightly packed so there is no lull in the story. Zen's plunge into a cave is a tension-filled scene that is beautifully filmed.

Zen, which aired last year in Britain, also is available on DVD or Blu-ray. Zen is definitely a keeper.


Zen airs at 9 p.m. July 17, July 24 and July 31 on PBS. Check your local station for additional airings or change in times.

Photo: Rufus Sewell, Caterina Murino in Zen. PBS photo

Wednesday, 13 July 2011
Remember Michael Nava?
titleI’ve been on a kick lately to muck out my office and get rid of ..oh…a couple of thousand books or so.

It has to be done.
 
While it's easy to part with some books, others I have to put aside because I remember what joy the authors brought me and wonder what ever happened to them.
 
For me, and I think most mystery fiction readers, the authors' characters become friends we invite into our home and whose company we enjoy. And wouldn't it be nice if we could connect with those characters again on Facebook?
 
In each issue of Mystery Scene, Brian Skupin writes the column “What’s Happening With . . .” In this column, Brian, who is one of Mystery Scene’s co-publishers, writes about an author we haven't heard from in a while.  

The purging of my office and Brian’s column has had me also going down my own memory lane.

One author I wondered about was Michael Nava.
 
Nava published seven award-winning novels about Henry Rios, a gay Latino criminal defense lawyer. His first The Little Death was published in 1986 and Rag and Bone, his last, came out in 2000. Nava’s novels easily crossed over to a wide readership because of his skill at creating characters and plots.
 
Nava’s novels earned six Lambda Literary Awards.
 
Nava also is a lawyer who has served as a judge for years in California.

During 2010, he ran for San Francisco Superior Court, Seat 15. While he was the top recipient of votes in the June primary, he did not receive a majority of the votes. In a run-off with the incumbent judge, Nava lost by just under 12,000 votes.
 
Nava, who is of Mexican descent, is rumored to be working on an historical novel set around the time of the Mexican Revolution  in Mexico and Arizona. 
Remember Michael Nava?
Oline Cogdill
where-is-michael-nava
titleI’ve been on a kick lately to muck out my office and get rid of ..oh…a couple of thousand books or so.

It has to be done.
 
While it's easy to part with some books, others I have to put aside because I remember what joy the authors brought me and wonder what ever happened to them.
 
For me, and I think most mystery fiction readers, the authors' characters become friends we invite into our home and whose company we enjoy. And wouldn't it be nice if we could connect with those characters again on Facebook?
 
In each issue of Mystery Scene, Brian Skupin writes the column “What’s Happening With . . .” In this column, Brian, who is one of Mystery Scene’s co-publishers, writes about an author we haven't heard from in a while.  

The purging of my office and Brian’s column has had me also going down my own memory lane.

One author I wondered about was Michael Nava.
 
Nava published seven award-winning novels about Henry Rios, a gay Latino criminal defense lawyer. His first The Little Death was published in 1986 and Rag and Bone, his last, came out in 2000. Nava’s novels easily crossed over to a wide readership because of his skill at creating characters and plots.
 
Nava’s novels earned six Lambda Literary Awards.
 
Nava also is a lawyer who has served as a judge for years in California.

During 2010, he ran for San Francisco Superior Court, Seat 15. While he was the top recipient of votes in the June primary, he did not receive a majority of the votes. In a run-off with the incumbent judge, Nava lost by just under 12,000 votes.
 
Nava, who is of Mexican descent, is rumored to be working on an historical novel set around the time of the Mexican Revolution  in Mexico and Arizona. 
Sunday, 10 July 2011
Steve Hamilton's Inside Joke

altLong-time readers of this blog know that I love to find the little inside jokes that pop up in mystery fiction. Authors often will give a nod to another's work or pay homage to a writer or slip in a reference that astute readers can pick up.

But it's important that these little asides don't call attention to themselves or take away from the seriousness of the plot.

Such is the case with Steve Hamilton's latest novel Misery Bay.

In Misery Bay, Hamilton, left, brings back his reluctant private investigator Alex McKnight, who last appeared in 2006's A Stolen Season. Hamilton recently won the Edgar Award for best novel for his stand-alone novel The Lock Artist.

altWithout giving away any of Misery Bay's plot twists, Alex McKnight has a very serious conversation with two cops -- Reed Coleman and Jim Fusilli -- while conducting an investigation into a young man's suicide. The encounter lasts only a couple of pages and never once does it take away from the dark plot or even hint at a wink-wink at the reader.

Still, I couldn't help but smile just a little bit knowing who the cops Coleman and Fusilli were named after.

altReed Farrel Coleman has published 12 novels, including the Moe Prager series (Innocent Monster is the latest) and two novels under his pen name Tony Spinosa.

Coleman's awards include the Macavity, Barry and the Anthony. He has won the Shamus for best novel three times, and has been twice nominated for the Edgar Award. Coleman is the former executive vice president of Mystery Writers of America.

altJames "Jim" Fusilli, whose day job is the rock and pop critic for the Wall Street Journal, wrote four well-received novels about novice PI Terry Orr, the last one was Hard, Hard City in 2004.

Last year, Fusilli became the first writer to sell a book to Audible without the novel first appearing in print.

The result is the excellent Narrows Gate, a sweeping tale about the Italian-American community set in the early part of the 20th century in Hoboken, N.J., where Fusilli grew up.

In Narrows Gate, gangsters rule the streets but the plot includes a singer, soldiers, businessmen and two young friends trying to survive. Comparisons to Mario Puzo would not be out of line.

I'd say Alex McKnight was in good company.

Steve Hamilton's Inside Joke
Oline Cogdill
steve-hamiltons-inside-joke

altLong-time readers of this blog know that I love to find the little inside jokes that pop up in mystery fiction. Authors often will give a nod to another's work or pay homage to a writer or slip in a reference that astute readers can pick up.

But it's important that these little asides don't call attention to themselves or take away from the seriousness of the plot.

Such is the case with Steve Hamilton's latest novel Misery Bay.

In Misery Bay, Hamilton, left, brings back his reluctant private investigator Alex McKnight, who last appeared in 2006's A Stolen Season. Hamilton recently won the Edgar Award for best novel for his stand-alone novel The Lock Artist.

altWithout giving away any of Misery Bay's plot twists, Alex McKnight has a very serious conversation with two cops -- Reed Coleman and Jim Fusilli -- while conducting an investigation into a young man's suicide. The encounter lasts only a couple of pages and never once does it take away from the dark plot or even hint at a wink-wink at the reader.

Still, I couldn't help but smile just a little bit knowing who the cops Coleman and Fusilli were named after.

altReed Farrel Coleman has published 12 novels, including the Moe Prager series (Innocent Monster is the latest) and two novels under his pen name Tony Spinosa.

Coleman's awards include the Macavity, Barry and the Anthony. He has won the Shamus for best novel three times, and has been twice nominated for the Edgar Award. Coleman is the former executive vice president of Mystery Writers of America.

altJames "Jim" Fusilli, whose day job is the rock and pop critic for the Wall Street Journal, wrote four well-received novels about novice PI Terry Orr, the last one was Hard, Hard City in 2004.

Last year, Fusilli became the first writer to sell a book to Audible without the novel first appearing in print.

The result is the excellent Narrows Gate, a sweeping tale about the Italian-American community set in the early part of the 20th century in Hoboken, N.J., where Fusilli grew up.

In Narrows Gate, gangsters rule the streets but the plot includes a singer, soldiers, businessmen and two young friends trying to survive. Comparisons to Mario Puzo would not be out of line.

I'd say Alex McKnight was in good company.