Quote:
Originally Posted by sufue
I have read both series, and like them both, but I'm pretty easy to please.
I too, wish the Holme books would become available in e-book. Since I pretty much only read e-books these days it has been a while (several years) since I read the Holme books, so I'm going a bit on memory here about them. I've been reading the Camilleri series more consistently whenever I can snag the e-books on sale.
The Holme books are set in northern Italy, although Inspector Peroni himself is not - he was from somewhere else in Italy. The Camilleri books are set in Sicily, and Sicily forms an integral part of the stories - you couldn't imagine them being set anywhere else. I don't remember having quite such a strong sense of place in the Holme series.
Inspector Montalbano is a bit more world-weary than I remember Inspector Peroni being, and as some others have mentioned above, there is also a fair amount of dry humor in the Camilleri books - more than I remember there being in the Holme books.
I'm not sure that just having both series set in Italy is enough to recommend one based on the other, unless maybe you really love Italy. But the Camilleri series is excellent IMO (and those of some others above), and worth checking out.
P.S. I assume if you do love Italy, you have also found Donna Leon's Commissario Brunetti series, set in Venice?
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Peroni and his sister were Neapolitan street kids. I’m guessing they were set in the 50s or 60s although there are no specific dates mentioned. Thinking about it, probably the 60s because of the Red Brigade and I seem to recall the Moroni(?) kidnapping being mentioned. I got them all in the end, although it’ll be a while before I read them. (I find short stories are best to read on the commute and they’re mostly SFF on the Kindle app.)
I’ve seen the Leons but haven’t read any yet. Too much else to read!