Monday, March 13, 2017

Death at La Fenice by Donna Leon


Summary from Goodreads:

                There is little violent crime in Venice, a serenely beautiful floating city of mystery and magic, history and decay.  But the evil does occasionally rear its head in the jurisdiction of Guido Brunetti, the suave, urbane vice-commissario of police and genius at detection.  Now all of his admirable abilities must come into play in the deadly affair of Maestro Helmut Wellauer, a world-renowned conductor who died painfully from cyanide poisoning during an intermission at La Fenice.

     But as the investigation unfolds, a chilling picture slowly begins to take shape—a detailed portrait of revenge painted in vivid strokes of hatred and shocking depravity.  And the dilemma for Guido Brunetti will not be finding a murder suspect, but rather narrowing the choices down to just one!

My Thoughts:

     This was my March read for the Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading for Fun Challenge; read a book set somewhere you have never been but always wanted to visit. Italy in general intrigues me and not just for the pasta and pizza but that helps! The art and the history and it all just looks so beautiful!
     Guido Brunetti is a very likable character. The Good Reads description mentions he is intelligent and suave…I agree on half of that! He is definitely intelligent but he did not seem suave to me at all. Guido is a very relatable character in that he is very good at his job but on the personal front he is just another human fumbling through marriage and parenthood trying to do his best. 
                The mystery and story are well put together and I never knew for sure “who dunit”.  You will like some of the characters and you will hate some of them.  Some will make you very suspicious and some will make you laugh but you will suspect every single one of them.  I did not see the end coming until Brunetti did and that makes for a great mystery in my opinion. 
                I enjoyed the setting of Venice and not just the descriptions of the buildings. Donna Leon gives you the feeling of the people, the atmosphere, and the way of life in Venice that tourists probably never get on vacation.  This is the first in a series of nearly 20 books!!! I will definitely be continuing on with this series and knowing there are that many just makes me happy. J  4/5 stars


Author's site: http://www.donnaleon.net/

No comments:

Post a Comment