Nine Great Mysteries Set In Italy
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By Jen Collins Moore
I’ve been an Italophile for as long as I can remember. I started with the ancient Romans, studying Latin in high school and Roman archaeology in college, then moved on to a modern appreciation with my years in marketing for Italy’s leading pasta company. I’m so enamored with the country I even set my first novel, Murder in the Piazza, there. When I can’t visit the Bel Paese (beautiful country) in person, armchair travel is the next best thing. I’m delighted to share some of my favorite mysteries and thrillers set in Italy.
1) Iain Pears’ Art History Mysteries – Before Iain Pears wrote the blockbuster An Instance of the Fingerpost, he published a charming series following a well-meaning English scholar tangled up with the Italian Art Crimes Squad in Rome. The books are lighter (and, in my opinion, more fun) than Pears’ more famous books. With art, history, and mystery, these books make for fabulous armchair travel.
2) Sarah Caudwell’s Thus Was Adonis Murdered – Caudwell is an author every fan of British humor should know. Her books follow a group of young British barristers caught up in comedy-of-manners-style messes. In this novel, a member of the group is accused of murder when her romantic-partner turns up dead while on vacation in Venice. The story unfolds through a series of letters, and it’s fun and clever and a wonderful glimpse of a fabulous Italian city.
3) John Mortimer’s Summer’s Lease — Set in Tuscany, this story follows an English family struggling to enjoy their three-week Italian holiday amid growing suspicions about their mysterious expat landlords. It’s filled with humor and tenderness and, of course, lush Italian landscape. Great as a read, or as the BBC miniseries featuring Sir John Guilgud.
4) Lindsey Davis' Marcus Didius Falco Mysteries and Flavia Albia Mysteries – Two series set in ancient Rome that give the reader a glimpse of what life might actually have been like for ordinary Romans two thousand years ago. The main characters are funny, the puzzles are clever, and the writing is delightfully breezy.
5) Robert Graves’ I, Claudius From the Autobiography of Tiberius Claudius Born 10 B.C. Murdered and Deified A.D. 54 – On the other end of the spectrum, this fictional autobiography delves into the lives of Rome’s elite during the turbulent early empire. It’s not marketed as a crime story, but with all the murders going on, it’s impossible for me to consider it anything else. It’s intelligent and endearing and very readable.
6) Patricia Highsmith’s The Talented Mr. Ripley – I love a good con man story, and this one is a classic. Make no mistake, Tom Ripley is a terrible human being who kills to get what he wants, but Highsmith’s writing and the Italian backdrop make the story irresistible.
7) Elizabeth Peters’ The Seventh Sinner – If you’re like me, you probably know Elizabeth Peters as the author of the blockbuster series following Victorian Egyptologist and all-around swashbuckling, umbrella-carrying hero Amelia Peabody.* Peters was a prolific writer, with nearly forty books outside of the Peabody adventures, including The Seventh Sinner. The first in the Jacqueline Kirby series, it follows a group of graduate students in Rome in the 1970s and oozes Italian ambiance and historical detail.
8) Donna Leon’s Commissario Brunetti series – Perhaps one of the first books mystery lovers think of when they think of Italian mysteries, this series set in Venice is a blockbuster for good reason: an endearing police detective, luscious writing, and a setting that can’t be beat. The themes can be dark, but the humanity of the hero makes them sing.
9) Dan Brown’s Angels and Demons – For a deep-dive into Vatican City and the Catholic iconography of Rome, you can’t do better than Angels and Demons. Fast-paced and clever, it’s a thriller packed with historical detail that brings a new side of the city to life.
* If you haven’t read this series, I can’t recommend it highly enough.