Remo Bellini

Created by Tony Bellotto
(1960–)

According to O Globo (I read ’em all, folks!), “Undoubtedly, if Marlowe and Harry Bosch are los Angeles, Matt Scudder is New York and Maigret, Paris, the detective REMO BELLINI is São Paulo’s most complete translation.”

And who am I to argue with O Globo?

By all accounts, Remo’s one tough guy, not afraid to plough into the seedy underbelly of São Paulo.

The Bellini books are massive bestsellers in Brazil and have been translated widely, as well as spawning a couple of feature films, making him a pretty big deal in Brazilian detective fiction. He also writes for the newspaper O Globo  (Hey! Waitaminute!), hosts a TV show, and has edited a couple of books for Akashic, Rio Noir and São Paulo Noir. But that’s just a sideline — he’s best known as the guitarist and songwriter for the famed Brazilian rock band Titãs, which have released twenty albums and sold over six million albums. Apparently, he never sleeps.

And he’s a handsome son of a bitch, to boot.

In 2019, Akashic released the first book in the Bellini series in English.

NOVELS

• Bellini e a Esfinge (1995, aka “Bellini and the Sphinx”)  | Buy this book | Kindle it!
• Bellini e o Demônio (1997)
• BR 163 – Duas Histórias na Estrada (2001
• O Livro do Guitarrista (2001)
• Bellini e os Espíritos (2005)
• Os Insones (2007)
• Bellini e o Labirinto (2014)

SHORT STORIES

• “Useless Diary” (2018, São Paulo Noir)

FILMS

• BELLINI E A ESFINGE
  (aka “Bellini and the Sphinx”)
  (2002)
  Based on the novel by Tony Bellotto
  Screenplay by Alexandre Plosk
  Directed by Roberto Santucci
  Starring Fábio Assunção as REMO BELLINI
  Also starring Malu Mader, Maristane Dresch, Eliana Guttman, Paulo Hesse, Marcos Damigo, Rosaly Papadopo, Cláudio Gabriel, Carlos Meceni
• BELLINI E O DEMÔNIO
  (aka “Bellini and the Devil”)
  (2008)
  Based on the novel by Tony Bellotto
  Screenplay by Marcelo Galvão
  Directed by Marcelo Galvão
  Starring Fábio Assunção as REMO BELLINI
  Also starring Caroline Abras, Henrique Benjamin, André Bubman, Mariana Clara, Christiano Cochrane, Fernanda Couto, Beto Coville, Luíza Curvo

Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith.