9. Friends in High Places by Donna Leon In this Donna Leon novel, Commissario Brunetti just found out that officially his apartment doesn’t exist. What begins as an annoying hassle ends in tears when the now scared government official is found dead after a suspicious fall from a scaffold. The implications are way more significant than the disputed legality of his apartment. Guido Brunetti’s inquiry takes him into dangerous territories of Venetian society and unfortunately he realizes you need friends in high places. |
8. Fatal Remedies by Donna Leon In this Donna Leon book Brunetti’s own career as an inspector is under serious threat. There is an act of vandalism in the chilly Venice dawn and the culprit is Paola Brunetti, his wife! In the mean time, his superiors want Commissario Brunetti to solve a bold robbery as quickly as possible. The daring crime links to a mysterious accidental death and perhaps it even has mafia ramifications. But how is his family associated in any way with all that? |
7. A Noble Radiance by Donna Leon In this Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery workmen accidentally dig up a gruesome grave in a small village at the foot of the Italian Dolomites. The body is badly decomposed but a ring found nearby leads the inquiry to one of the oldest aristocratic families in Venice and the kidnapping of Roberto Lorenzoni, their only son and heir. Inspector Brunetti must move in the highest circles of Venetian power to uncover the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of Lorenzo and face the deep family grief. |
< | 6. Quietly in Their Sleep by Donna Leon A young nursing sister leaves her convent after five of her patients die unexpectedly and goes to see Commissario Brunetti. He recognizes her as the nun who took care of his elderly mother and promises to make some inquiries. At first, Inspector Brunetti finds no signs of any obvious crime. Is the former nun simply trying to disguise that her vocation vanished? Or has she truly discovered something that puts her life in real danger? |
5. Acqua Alta by Donna Leon An American art historian suffers a terrible beating and Inspector Brunetti must negotiate the treachery acqua alta typical of Venetian winters and the torrential rains to help her old friend. Dr Brett Lynch lives with another woman, the renowned diva of La Scala Flavia Petrelli. Brunetti is fascinated by the extraordinary talent of the singer and he seems free from any prejudices against the unconventional relationship between the two women. What’s the meaning of the message that came with the assault: “Don’t keep that appointment with Dottor Semenzato.” |
4. Death and Judgment by Donna Leon In the fourth book of the Commissario Bruneti series a Romanian truck crashes and spills its hazardous cargo in the Italian Dolomites near the Austro-Italian border. Meanwhile a well known lawyer is found dead aboard a train bound for Venice. Inspector Brunetti believes that both tragedies are connected in some way and in the course of his inquiries he stumbles upon a sordid bar that holds the key to a vast crime network that stretches far beyond the Venetian lagoon. |
3. Dressed for Death by Donna Leon In this classic Donna Leon mystery Guido Brunetti is dying for a family vacation in the mountains but due to a ghastly murder he has to put his plans on hold. The discovered body is so badly beaten that it is almost impossible to identify. Commissario Brunetti makes inquiries all over Venice to find someone that knew the dead man who probably was a transsexual prostitute. A sudden call promises critical information provided Brunetti agrees to meets with the caller in the middle of the night… |
2. Death in a Strange Country by Donna Leon In this mystery book the body of a young man fished out of a Venetian canal makes the Venetian police think that he was the victim of a violent mugging but Commissario Brunetti doesn’t buy it. He finds it much too convenient. An object he founds in the victim’s apartment leads him to the conclusion that the murder case is surrounded by a high-level conspiracy. Inspector Brunetti is now convinced that someone is taking great care to fabricate a fake solution to the crime. |
1. Death at La Fenice by Donna Leon In the first book of the Commissario Brunetti series there is a violent and horrendous crime as Helmut Wellauer, an internationally renowned conductor, dies painfully of cyanide poisoning during a performance of the opera La Traviata. Inspector Brunetti has seen it all, but even he is appalled by the large number of enemies Wellauer made on his way to the top. How many of them would be capable of going from words to action and murder him in such a way? |