Timothy Holme (1928–1987) was an English born, but latterly Italian resident,

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

. He is best known for his biography of

Carlo Goldoni Carlo is a given name. It is an Italian form of Charles. It can refer to: *Carlo (name) *Monte Carlo *Carlingford, New South Wales, a suburb in north-west Sydney, New South Wales, Australia *A satirical song written by Dafydd Iwan about Prince Char ...

, the Venetian

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

and

librettist A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major litu ...

, and for his series of five

mystery novels Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as s ...

featuring the fictional

Neapolitan Neapolitan means of or pertaining to Naples, a city in Italy; or to: Geography and history * Province of Naples, a province in the Campania region of southern Italy that includes the city * Duchy of Naples, in existence during the Early and Hig ...

detective Achille Peroni. Holme's parents were the producer and curator Stanford Holme and actress and author

Thea Holme Thea Holme (nee Johnston, 1904–1980) was a British actor and writer. Holme was born Thea Johnston in 1904. Her father was the architect Philip Mainwaring Johnston. She studied art at The Slade and then theatre at the Central School of Drama. ...

. His maternal grandfather was the architect

Philip Mainwaring Johnston Philip Mainwaring Johnston (1865–1936), also known as PM Johnston, was a British architect and architectural historian. Education Philip attended King's College School, London. He studied drawing and painting under Professor Delamotte at K ...

. He began his working life in the theatre, switching to journalism after seven years of acting. On holiday in Italy, he met and married his Italian teacher, Bianca. They settled in

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Northern Italy, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and the ...

, where he wrote several non-fiction books (including the biography of Goldoni) and the five Peroni mysteries. He died in Italy in 1987.

Works

Non-fiction * ''A Servant of Many Masters: The Life and Times of Carlo Goldoni'' (1976) * ''Vile Florentines: The Florence of Dante, Giotto and Boccaccio'' (1980) Novels * ''The Neapolitan Streak'' (1980) * ''A Funeral of Gondolas'' (1981) * ''The Devil and the Dolce Vita'' (1982) * ''The Assisi Murders'' (1985) * ''At the Lake of Sudden Death'' (1987) Stage Plays * "The Door" * "Tall Story"

References

1928 births 1987 deaths English biographers English crime fiction writers 20th-century English novelists 20th-century biographers {{England-writer-stub