Michael Dibdin

Michael Dibdin (1947-2007) was born in Wolverhampton, UK. He studied English literature at the University of Sussex and pursued postgraduate studies at the University of Alberta in Canada. Upon returning to England, he lived in Oxford for many years before moving to Seattle with his third wife, author K.K. (Katherine) Beck. As a writer, Dibdin was passionate about crime fiction. His first book was a charming parody of Sherlock Holmes stories. He became best known in the genre for writing ten detective novels set in Italy, featuring the detective Aurelio Zen. The first book in the series, "Ratking," was published in 1988, received critical acclaim, and won the Gold Dagger Crime Novel of the Year award. In addition to the Aurelio Zen series, Dibdin also wrote the novels "Dirty Tricks" (1991) and "The Dying of the Light" (1993), a whodunnit parody in the style of Agatha Christie, and edited two anthologies of crime stories. As a literary critic, he regularly contributed to "The Independent" and "The Guardian" newspapers.