Imagined crossover · Mediterranean
What if Aurelio Zen met Salvo Montalbano?
The outsider and the local. Two clever, sceptical policemen who know how power works in Italy.
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The pair
Aurelio ZenVice-questore of the Italian state policeBy Michael Dibdin · Aurelio Zen · first in Ratking
Salvo MontalbanoPolice inspector in Vigàta, SicilyBy Andrea Camilleri · Inspector Montalbano · first in The Shape of Water
Chemistry6/10
Friction7/10
Would you read this crossover?
Where and when
Sicily
The 1990s
The story
- How they might meet
- Rome posts Aurelio Zen to Sicily to investigate a killing that Montalbano is already quietly solving.
- Why they would work
- Two clever, sceptical policemen who know how power works in Italy.
- What each brings
- Zen is a Venetian navigating Rome’s political games. Montalbano knows every family, every fisherman and every favour in Vigàta.
- Where they would clash
- Zen is an outsider sent by Rome, and Montalbano dislikes Rome on principle.
Strengths compared
Aurelio Zen Salvo Montalbano
Our own ratings out of 10, for fun.
On the page together
The years in which each character's books were published.
Read your way in
Start with each character's first appearance.
- RatkingMichael Dibdin · 1988 · Aurelio Zen's first appearanceBuy on Amazon
- The Shape of WaterAndrea Camilleri · 1994 · Salvo Montalbano's first appearanceBuy on Amazon
