Donna Leon has long been one of my favorite mystery authors. In her Commissario Guido Brunetti police procedurals, she captures the city of Venice, interweaving the social scene and internal politics. Her mysteries aren't action thrillers driven by events, rather they are well-crafted stories that are more character driven.
'Her' main character, the melancholic police commissioner Guido Brunetti confronts crime in and around his home town of Venice. Each case in this 18 book series, is an opportunity for the author to reveal another aspect of the seamy underside of society. The fact that Brunetti can only go so far in attacking the endemic corruption of the system leaves him deeply cynical, although it does not prevent him from trying again and again.
Brunetti finds solace in the company of his wife, Paola, a hereditary contessa born to one of Venice's oldest families, as well as their growing children, Raffi and Chiara. Paola teaches English literature in the public university system and, despite her background, is very much to the left, still fueled by the spirit of 1968. The domestic warmth of the Brunetti family contrasts with corruption and cruelty that Brunetti encounters at work.
Venice's head of police, Vice-questore Patta, serves as the vain and self-serving buffo, while Sergente Vianello and the all-knowing and well-connected Signorina Elettra, Patta's secretary, assist Brunetti on the ground and through research.
I started reading the series in 2006 when I was planning a trip to Venice. When I finally got to Venice I was amazed at how accurately Leon brought the city to live; she didn't try and romanticize it - Venice was presented for the shining, corrupt, brilliant, fading jewel that it is. Yes, Leon captures the dichotomy.
Before Easter I and read that the latest Leon mystery was in print . . . and guess what the Easter Bunny delivered to my house and placed in MY Easter basket. Others can have their chocolate, I will take a Leon mystery any day.
This is how the mystery is described on the cover flap:
At a dinner party given by his parents-in-law, Comissario Brunetti meets Franca Marinello, the wife of a prosperous Venetian businessman. He's charmed - perhaps too charmed, suggests his wife Paola - by her love of Virgil and Cicero, but shocked by her appearance.
A few days later, Brunetti is visited by Carabinieri Maggior Filippo Guarino from the nearby city of Marghera. As part of a wider investigation into Mafia takeovers of businesses in the region, Guarino wants information about the owner of a trucking company who was found murdered in his office. He believes the man's death is connected to the illegal transportation of refuse - and more sinister material - in his company's trucks.
No stranger to mutual suspicion and competition between rival Italian police departments, Brunetti is nevertheless puzzled by the younger man's paranoid behavior. Eventually Guarino agrees to email a photo of his suspect, but by the time the photograph arrives, he himself is dead. Was he killed because he got too close? And why is it that Franca Marinello has often been seen in company of the suspect, a vulgar man with Mafia connections and a violent past?
Donna Leon's new novel is as subtle, gripping and topical as ever, bringing the sights, sounds and smells of Venice flooding to life. About Face has everything you'd want from a Donna Leon novel: enchanting descriptions of and on the city of Venice, the ever morally questionable picture of police work and politics, and the beautiful respite of the happy family life of Brunetti.
The two story lines that make up this solid Brunetti Italian police procedural sort of come together in a final confrontation, but the heart of the tale is the insightful look at the relationships of the hero especially with his cherished wife and children, the change in Brunetti's relationship with his aristocratic in-laws, and the unabashed respect from the cops who work for him.
The underlying theme here is that humans are turning the third planet from the sun into a toxic dump that needs action now. Fans will enjoy Donna Leon’s cautionary environmental whodunit that focuses on the garbage wars - very topical for anyone who has read Italian news over the past few years.
About Face is a superb entry in Leon's wonderful series. I enjoyed every page of it and the ease with which she writes. It is, I think, one of herbest, and the ending should even satisfy those among her reader's who dislike her tendency to ambiguous, messy endings, as here you get the impression that, while it ends unclearly, everything important is revealed at the same time.
As long time visitors will know, I enjoy reading mysteries set in a location I have visited or will visit. Now, Grove Press has published Brunetti's Venice, Walks with the City's Best-Loved Detective, by Toni Sepeda, with an introduction by Donna Leon. This was simultaneously published with About Face. Tourists and armchair travelers can follow in the footsteps of Brunetti as he traverses the city he knows and loves. There are over a dozen walks, encompassing all six regions of Venice as well as the lagoon. This is a must have companion book for any fan of Donna Leon's series.
I guess now I have to plan another trip to Venice to experience the joy of Brunetti's beloved city all over again!
Great review! I really enjoyed About Face and am still reading the Walking Tours. Love visiting Venice vicariously until the next "real" trip!
Signorina Elettra is such an intriguing and mysterious character - I love her!
Posted by: Annie | April 25, 2009 at 08:47 AM
My too Annie - I'd sure like to read her back story one day!
I understand that a German production company is making a series out of the books. Hmmmmm
Posted by: Jerry | April 26, 2009 at 11:20 AM
A few years ago. I watched about five minutes of some TV show based on the books - Brunetti was so different from what I imagine that I couldn't watch it! It might have been British?
Posted by: Annie | April 27, 2009 at 08:16 AM
Jerry, I ordered this book from Chapters (Christmas gift card) and I've been waiting impatiently to get it. I'm a huge fan of Leon's books and this one looks great! Thanks for the review.
Posted by: sandrac | April 27, 2009 at 09:39 PM
I hate when that happens Annie - sadly it is far more common than not.
That is a great use for your gift card. . . . one of my favourite gifts BTW!
Posted by: Jerry | April 28, 2009 at 10:56 AM