Escape To Venice

Leon has been writing about police Commissario Brunetti for well over twenty years, and his city of Venice is one of the main characters, along with Brunetti and his family. The series stands out not only for its setting, but for the almost equal time devoted to Brunetti's home life as to his work; the story is never about the crimes alone, but about the people who are caught up in them. Twenty-odd years ago, Brunetti's job was petty thieves and stupid murders and working around corruption; his children were young. Brunetti, though he went to college and reads classics—Greek and Roman—for a hobby, is a working class man. His wife Paola is of the nobility, though she was a student radical and socialist; her father is a Count. The early books weave the politics of sex and class through issues of family and justice, a window into Venetian life. Venice is in the water as well as on the water, though, and the later books engage with crime in environmental issues, particularly water quality. This is all explored within the context of daily living; Brunetti's relationships at home and at work develop and change as everyone ages. There’s the ebb and flow of politics and of the canals, the rustic countryside fading away as the city grows, the customs of old fading as tourists become prevalent. Brunetti and Paola, a professor of literature whose other love is Henry James, discuss philosophy, psychology and ethics over dinner and pillow talk. In this book, we’re trying to figure out whether a crime has even been committed. Brunetti’s colleague Claudia Griffoni is featured; we always see his boss and his secretary Signorina Elettra, the most beautiful hacker in Italy, but Brunetti’s colleagues take their turn. Griffoni’s from the south of Italy, not Venetian; regional prejudices feature in the stories, too, echoing life outside the pages. They’re called to a deathbed, where the dying widow gives them not a confession, but a mystery. Who killed her husband, if he was killed? I hope I’ve intrigued you about the series; I hope you begin at the beginning. After all these years, reading Leon is like spending time with an old friend, congenial and satisfying. (Thanks to the publisher for the advance copy to review!)

Falling in Love by Donna Leon

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I’ve been reading Leon for 20 years, and I’m still in love. The mention of time is pertinent, since in this 24th book of the series we meet again an opera singer from the very first Brunetti mystery.  Venice, opera, family, politics, history—all of Leon’s loves are burnished with both nostalgia and the usual cynicism in this latest novel. Here, against Brunetti’s wholesome home life, loving and hopeful, is contrasted the very skewed “love” of a stalker (the mystery is, who is the stalker—which we find out; the why, the twisted, painful heart of the stalker, we will perhaps never understand.)
One reads these mysteries to spend time in Brunetti’s Venice, to appreciate, laugh, and curse along with the characters. One reads for the elegant prose, the wit and insight and idealism.  And the occasional multi-layered pun. Brava, brava, encore, please.
I received an EARC for review from the publisher and Netgalley.




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Ahhh, Venice!

By Its Cover by Donna Leon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Each of Donna Leon’s books is a singular pleasure: a mix of cynicism and good-heartedness; an excursion to the sights, smells, and tastes of Venice; a peek into a happy marriage and family. And of course, because we are beset with crime and bureaucracy, an exercise in both passion and futility.
A theme of her previous book (The Golden Egg) was the power of living language and its gifts, unto possibly defining humanity. A theme of this book is language as history, as artifact, as text. Part of the pleasure of reading Leon is this mix of abstract, intellectual pleasure and the concrete, sensual pleasures of life.

In By Its Cover, Brunetti is called to a library he has not been to since his college days; rare books have been stolen, some defaced (pages cut out & taken) and left in place. It all seems to be the fault of the visiting American scholar, discovered to be a fake. But does the attack on one of the library’s patrons mean there is more going on?
As usual, it’s a leisurely journey to the heart of the mystery, with Brunetti and Paola’s father, the Count, reaching a new accommodation after twenty years; a new relationship appearing for Signorina Elettra; the usual vignettes of home life; and Venice, dear Venice, sinking even faster thanks to the cruise ships.

Recommended for fans. I recommend starting early in the series, for those who haven’t read them, since one of the major pleasures of the series is following the Brunetti family over the passage of time.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the EARC for review!


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The Jewels of Paradise

The Jewels of Paradise by Donna Leon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Finally catching up on some reading--boy was I surprised to find Brunetti missing! A stand-alone, Jewels still has Donna Leon's trademark wit and appreciation of her adopted city, lovely Venice. Caterina Pellegrini is a musicologist whose specialty is Baroque opera. She's been working in England and mightily bored. She jumps at the chance to accept a temporary position back in her hometown. It's all very mysterious, of course. She must examine the contents of two chests purported to belong to a neglected opera composer from the Baroque period--with two heirs chomping at the bit for the money surely to be gained from the verification and sale of their contents. Loved it!

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Donna Leon's new novel About Face

About Face: A Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery by Donna Leon

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I like spending time with the Brunetti family and I always want more of Signorina Elettra, too. The "mysteries" are always background in these novels to me. I've enjoyed every single novel in the series. Reading about Brunetti's work life, kids, Paolina's academic life, the Conte e Contessa, corrupt business & government... is it all so different? I disagree with Tolstoy, I think we are all alike in our pain, sin, and desperation. Perhaps we are all alike in wanting to be happy. Anyway, I enjoy peeking at the happy Brunetti family-this and the character of Venice and the great writing is what keeps me reading.


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