Discover Donna Leon, the mystery writer who takes us to Venice

The Commissario Brunetti series is sometimes a police procedural, sometimes a whodunit, sometimes a comic opera, and occasionally plays like "Father does not know best". Brunetti has married into a privileged and titled family, which alternately aggravates and assists him. His wife Paola is a literature teacher and mother to his two children Raffi and Chiara. We get to go home with Brunetti for lunch and dinner as he escapes the petty bureaucracy of the Polizia. These trips home make the salivary glands work overtime as Leon describes the food and wine that flow onto the Brunetti family table. The table talk with family and the bedroom talk with Paolo provide a homely familial grounding for Brunetti.

I'm really glad that Donna Leon discovered and settled in Venice, the city surrounded by water. Otherwise Commissario Guido Brunetti of the Venice Polizia might have become Lieutenant George Brown of the Newark Police. That might have worked out, since Leon was born in New Jersey. But as an American expatriate in Venice for over 20 years, Donna Leon has absorbed the Venetian culture and sensibility and translated them beautifully into English.

When Brunetti goes to work, the comic opera takes over. He is a committed policeman. His selective morality allows him to negotiate the tricky path between his superior Vice-questore Patta, a buffoon who impedes, his wife's strong pull to the left and Brunetti's drive to bring some sort of justice to an often unjust society. Brunetti would be lost without policemen like Sergente Vianello to assist in the legwork and Signorina Elettra, Patta's secretary, who works research magic and can manipulate Patta.

The reality of daily life makes Guido Brunetti cynical, but his soul won't allow him to quit. Donna Leon writes the life of a man that you would like to know and spend time with. He is a perfect series character, and this is a great series. If you can't travel to Venice, this series is a very good trip for the mind.

Savor the series, one book at a time. Use your library, Amazon, and used book stores to scout out the series. Most of Donna Leon books have been reprinted by US publishers in trade paperback editions.

1. Death at La Fenice, 1992
2. Death in a Strange Country, 1993
3. Dressed for Death (UK Title: The Anonymous Venetian), 1994
4. Death and Judgement (Also published as: A Venetian Reckoning), 1995
5. Death in High Water (Also published as: Acqua Alta), 1996
6. The Death of Faith, 1997
7. A Noble Radiance, 1998
8. Fatal Remedies, 1999
9. Friends in High Places (Silver Dagger Award), 2000
10. A Sea of Troubles, 2001
11. Willful Behaviour, 2002
12. Uniform Justice, 2003
13. Doctored Evidence, 2004
14. Blood from a Stone, 2005
15. Through a Glass, Darkly, 2006
16. Suffer the Little Children, April 2007

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