Summary of Ratking
In the early 1980s, Italian police detective Aurelio Zen is transferred from a desk job in Rome to Perugia to investigate the kidnapping of Ruggiero Miletti, a powerful industrialist. However, it soon becomes clear that not everyone wants the case to be solved — not Miletti’s own children, nor the local authorities.
Reasons to read Ratking
British author Michael Dibdin is best known for his literary crime novels – set across different Italian cities – featuring the Italian police inspector and anti-hero Aurelio Zen. “Ratking” is the first of eleven novels in the series and won the 1988 Gold Dagger Award for Best Crime Novel from the Crime Writers’ Association. It is a compelling thriller in which Zen attempts to untangle a web of family intrigue and political corruption in Perugia. The novel was adapted for television as the BBC series “Zen” (2011), starring Rufus Sewell and Caterina Murino.
Original title: Ratking
Year of publication: 1988
Nr of pages: 266
