A Rich Full Death

by Michael Dibdin

Book Overview

Florence,1855. "The English are dying too much," the city's police chief observes. And members of the foreign community in this quaint Italian backwater, both English and American, are indeed dying at an alarming rate and in an extraordinary variety of ingenious and horrible ways.

With the local authorities out of their depth, the distinguished resident Robert Browning launches his own private investigation, aided and abetted by an expatriot...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0375706143
• ISBN13: 9780375706141
• Release Date: June 1999
• Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.46 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.2" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

A literary thriller

Young Bostonian Robert Booth manages his entrance into the Florentine residence of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. When Robert Browning is summoned away from home by a messenger, Booth surreptitiously follows him, and it is thus, by horrible coincidence, that Booth is brought to the villa of his childhood sweetheart Isabel Eakin - who is now hanging by the neck from a tree in the garden... Subsequently the distinguished resident Robert Browning launches his own private investigation, aided and abetted by Robert Booth. Unfortunately, their amateur sleuthing is hampered by the fact that each of their suspects becomes the next victim in a series of murders orchestrated by a killer with a taste for poetic justice inspired by Dante's "Inferno". "A Rich Full Death" features characters both historical and imaginary, ranging from an enticing servant girl to Mr. Browning's consumptive, world-famous wife, Elizabeth Barrett, in a tale lush with period detail, intricately plotted, and with a truly astonishing final twist.

Interesting Final Plot Twist

I have been reading Michael Dibdin's Aurelio Zen series, but while waiting for the latest book in the series to arrive, I checked out "A Rich Full Death" from the library. As noted by other reviewers, it is written in the form of letters home to a friend from an American ex-patriate living in Florence, Robert Booth. Set in 1855 and written in a Victorian style, at first I found Booth's voice annoying. I also found his personality to be irritatingly pathetic. Mr. Booth meets Robert Browning, who was living in Florence with his wife at the time, and for some strange reason, they team up in an attempt to solve the murders. However, as the plot began to unfold, with six murders somehow tied to Dante's "Inferno," I became more intrigued. By the final section of the book, I couldn't put it down. Mr. Booth begins dropping more and more hints regarding the solution of the mystery, but I was completely blind-sided by the final resolution. Don't flip to the back ahead of time! This book is not as good as the Aurelio Zen series, but it was definitely fun to visit Florence in 1855 and to meet Mr. Booth.

A Rich Full Death

This was my first book by this author, and it is terrific. An entertaining mystery and a nice trip to the Florence of 1855. I had it more or less figured out about halfway through, and the second-to-last chapter proved me right - until the last chapter blew me out of the water! I immediately skimmed the book a second time. The final chapter is a complete surprise - yet perfect. At least 2 of the reviewers above missed the point of the book entirely, but unfortunately, I can't tell you how without revealing the ending. However, I WILL say that the title of the book is the key.

Dante haunts Florence still

"A Rich Full Death" is one of Mr. Dibdin's earlier works, and while he still writes a strong narrative, this book was less enjoyable, and was not on par with the balance of his work, until the very end. I plan to read the book once again, as I believe knowing the outcome may improve the entire story. I realize that sounds odd, however that is my impression.A Mr. Booth is our guide throughout the story, which is related to the reader in the form of letters. As the reader you take the role of Prescott, the letters recipient, and it is from Mr. Booth but for a codicil at the end, who acts as the sole information source for the reader. Since the tale is revealed from one perspective how you feel about Booth is critical. I found him to be an annoying parasitical social climber, a pathetic man desperate to join the correct social circles. This may have been exactly what Mr. Dibdin intended, I don't know, but it annoyed me no end, and as Booth is the narrator, there was no respite from his personality.The plot twists during the work are not as smooth as the other works I have read, but as I mentioned, the ending is extremely entertaining, is the highlight of this story, and may justify a second reading. As always murder is the sport of choice, and the perpetrator's map for his crimes is extremely well done.Even though this was not one of the better reads of Mr. Dibdin's work, I believe that a second pass through Dante's Florence may change, or perhaps elevate the read. Such being the case, I err on the high side with the fourth star.

History and homicide

Dibdin scrupulously maintains a mid-19th-century writing style, or at least as much of one as is palatable to contemporary readers. Let's call it "Victorian lite." That in itself interested me. Add his depiction of a slightly shabby ancient city, a lurid mystery, and the gradually unfolding psychological portrait of the narrator, and you have a story with both surface flash and internal complexity. Especially if you've been to Florence, his dusty, neglected, even slightly dangerous city in which everyone has to get around on foot or by carriage provides a fascinating contrast to the modern reality of this prosperous, sophisticated urban gem. Otherwise, Dibdin doesn't paint a very detailed picture of the medieval and renaissance architecture or the landscape. The plot and the relationship between the narrator and the quixotic Robert Browning are what carry the story. After the breakneck pace of the final third, I thought the penultimate plot twist and the twist that follows it at the very end of the novel nicely explained the feverish tone that underlies the polite style of the narrator's letters from the very first page. This is an easy, fun read, made more so by the history and Florentine folklore that Dibdin includes.