End Games

Anyone who watched the 3-episode BBC production of "Zen" starring Rufus Sewell will know why I felt compelled to grab this book from the shelf in a used book store. English born author Michael Dibdin wrote 11 novels starring Venetian detective Aurelio Zen and this was his last, published posthumously, as Dibdin died in 2007 in Seattle. Aurelio is that rare breed of detective who has not been corrupted by the system and seeks to find the guilty party, regardless of where it leads. His lack of political survival instinct means that, in this novel, he has been shunted off to serve as acting chief of police in the remote town of Calabria in southern Italy until the incumbent recovers from an accidental and self-imposed gunshot wound.
An American, who it turns out was actually born to a wealthy Calabrian family, is beheaded in gruesome fashion and the locals are keeping mute about what they know. Ostensibly an advance agent for a film company seeking a shooting locale, the dead man's murder was a mistake. The film company isn't really looking for good scenery but for buried treasure, and the deceased wasn't really the heir of the despised landowners. But everybody has something at stake and everyone is lying to Zen. He has to wade through distrust of the police, greed, and pure drug-fueled craziness to sort this one out.
The characters are superbly rendered, the setting is richly if unsentimentally placed at our feet, and the obstacles are all too believable. I feel inspired to revisit the BBC series and find the rest of the books to read.

Mink River

I won't pretend to be as talented as author Brian Doyle, but to give you a flavor of the book, I will alter my approach a bit. Lyrical. Tedious. Microscopic view. Unusual perspectives. Enticing. Provocative. Occasionally exhausting. Dense. Beautiful. Whimsical. Philosophical. Magical. Heartbreaking. Satisfying. Rich. Consume in small doses. Braided.
Characters primarily reflect either First Nations heritage (No Horses, Worried Man, Cedar, Maple Head) or Irish (Owen, Declan, Grace, Red Hugh). A coastal town in the Pacific Northwest where fishing and logging are in rapid decline. Every being has a story, including Moses the crow, whose caretaker, a nun, dies early on. Every being tells their own story, including the river. People are compassionate, evil, wise, a little mad, foolish--but ultimately engaging each and every one. The Department of Public Works is run by Cedar and Worried Man who have taken the department's role to new heights--now being concerned with the well-being of all people and places in the town. There are simply too many stories that weave in and out to try and summarize. So read it for yourself.