SEATTLE, April 14 (UPI) -- British born crime fiction writer Michael Dibdin, who brought detective Aurelio Zen into his fans hearts, has died in Seattle at the age of 60.
Dibdin's family reportedly declined to comment on the cause of his death, The Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.
The author's first hit novel was "Ratking" in 1988, the classic that spawned a 10 book series, featuring detective Aurelio Zen.
The novel also received the prestigious Crime Writer Association's Gold Dagger Award.
Each of Dibdin's 10 novels featuring Zen is set in a different Italian city and the 11th book in the series, "End Games," is expected to be released later this year.
Those that reviewed his books often mentioned Dibdin's elegant prose and his vivid descriptions, said the Times.
Dibdin " can capture the sense of place with the swift poetic accuracy of Lawrence Durrell, and Venice, its people, manners and mores are the center of a book," wrote critic Charles Champlin in a 1995 Los Angeles Times review of "Dead Lagoon."
