Best known for his Italian detective Aurelio Zen. His first Aurelio Zen
novel, "Ratking", was inspired by four years spent teaching English in
Italy. It won the Gold Dagger award for crime fiction in 1988. After
the success of Ratking, he wrote a further 10 novels starring the
world-weary detective, including his most recently-completed story, End
Games, which will be published posthumously in 2007.