Patrick Petrella
Patrick Petrella is a fictional police detective, who appears in 6 books written by the British mystery writer Michael Gilbert between 1958 and 1990. In the books, Petrella is a Detective Chief Inspector at the (fictional) Q Division of the London Metropolitan Police. Petrella's character combines an erudite and cultured background with a fiery ("Mediterranean") temper.[1] He was born to a Spanish policeman father, from whom he gets his last name, and an English mother who gave him his first name. He was educated in Madrid, England, Beirut and Cairo.[2] Michael Gilbert attributes reading the poem Who Has Seen The Wind? by Christina Rossetti, during a boring church sermon, as the inspiration for the first Petrella mystery.[2]
BBC Radio broadcast two series of radio plays adapted from the novels in 2007, with Petrella played by Philip Jackson.[3]
Notes
- ^ "Obituary, Michael Gilbert". The Telegraph. Retrieved March 1, 2014.
- ^ a b Gilbert, Michael (1977). Petrella at Q. Harper & Row Publishers. ISBN 0-06-080963-9.
- ^ "Petrella Episode Guide". BBC Radio. Retrieved March 1, 2014.