Cosi Fan Tutti


Cosi Fan Tutti is a novel by Michael Dibdin, the fifth entry in the Aurelio Zen series. One strand of the plot plays on the storyline of the Mozart opera Così fan tutte. In addition, the chapter titles are all taken from the titles of sections of the opera libretto.

Plot

Under a cloud again, Italian police detective Zen thinks he has found himself a backwater sinecure in Naples, Italy, where he can coast towards retirement. He is prepared to tolerate all manner of scams in return for a quiet life with pastries and a cappuccino on his desk every morning, not the least of which is a brothel on the top floor of the police station of which he is nominally in command. But corrupt politicians, shady businessmen and eminent mafiosi are disappearing off the streets at an alarming rate and although Zen's commitment to his work is at an all-time low, he finds himself reluctantly embroiled.