In this volume, as in all the other volumes in this excellent series, I learned something more about Venetian culture and what it is to live in Venice. Brunetti’s Cookbook, recipes by Roberta Pianaro, culinary stories by Donna Leon (Published previously in the United Kingdom as A Taste of Venice: At Table with Brunetti, William Heinemann, London, April 2010; Atlantic Monthly Press, New York, hardcover, May 2010) Donna Leon guides us through Venice like James Ellroy through Los Angeles or Manuel Vázquez Montalbán through Barcelona: with an eye used to detect what lies behind the façade.” — Le Figaro (Paris)

In the thirty-second installment of Donna Leon’s bestselling series, a connection to Guido Brunetti’s own youthful past helps solve a mysterious murder On a cold November evening, Guido Brunetti and Paola are up late when a call from his colleague Ispettore Vianello arrives, alerting the Commissario that a hand has been seen in one of Venice’s canals. The body is soon found, and Brunetti is assigned to investigate the murder of an undocumented Sri Lankan immigrant. Because no official record of the man’s presence in Venice exists, Brunetti is forced to use the city’s far richer sources of information: gossip and the memories of people who knew the victim. Curiously, he had been living in a small house on the grounds of a palazzo owned by a university professor, in which Brunetti discovers books revealing the victim’s interest in Buddhism, the revolutionary Tamil Tigers, and the last crop of Italian political terrorists, active in the 1980s. Si buscáis acción trepidante o una investigación policial al uso, no lo vais a encontrar aquí. Esta no es una historia para devorar, si no para saborear lentamente (como si de uno de los deliciosos platos preparados por Paola se tratase): sus palabras, sus cafés, sus calles. Venecia y Brunetti, una vez más, no decepcionan.

What is unsettling is that Guido spoke to the man only the day before his death, while trying to do his father-in-law a favour. Those who know Inesh Kavinda well pronounce him a good, kind man, so Guido is puzzled to find “the books he’d seen on the shelves: they were morally at odds with the man described to him” on topics like the Tamil Tigers and the Italian terrorists of the 1980s.

The beginning was the most fast pace and one of the sweetest parts of the book. They were called to the gay pride parade because there this year was a fight. Times are changing. Acceptance of people’s preferences and differences are opening up. The bulk of the time there was about a peaceful and kind undocumented Sri Larkin immigrant named Insen who was living in a guest house on a mansion’s property. And about his dog Sarah. There was a female Benediction monastery behind it on the compo who had a lovely garden with fruit trees. The garden by the mansion was overgrown and the mansion itself was very rundown. The couple who lived there were very badly matched. It was sad. A hand was found first in the water and that led to the finding of Insen’s body. Who is he? What’s he doing in Venice? Why undocumented? Was he a Tamil Tiger? And other questions were raised. The modest building on the Fondamenta San Lorenzo which houses the Questura is likely to become as much a tourist attraction as the Quai des Orfèvres.” — Times Literary Supplement (London)

Donna Leon is the ideal author for people who vaguely long for a good mystery. That Leon is also a brilliant writer should only add to the consistently comforting appeal of her Venetian procedurals featuring Commissario Guido Brunneti. Leon allows her warmhearted detective to take what solace he can from the beauty of his city and the homely domestic rituals that give him the strength to go on.” —Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review

Donna Leon depicts the characters, food, culture, and people of Venice with a knowing eye for ‘just the right’ detail.” —Jennifer McCord, Bookreporter.com

Donna Leon Book Releases 2023/2024

As always an insightful foray into Venetian life, the past, the various laws of inheritance, including titles, and of course food. I did finish the book, with a little skimming, but I found it a disappointent. It’s not bad, but it’s not that great either, I’m afraid. People who have animals tend to be calmer, especially if they are dog people." Then, reflecting on this she added, "it's cat people who can be strange sometimes."" The good news is that she ages him – so there is a sense of realness about her characters, which makes him and others believable. Guido Brunetti loves his city and his family. He cares about the people he works with (but not those he works for) and makes the most of friendships and good food and wine. We know there will be a murder in the book but it takes a while for Leon to get us there - a gentle path with everyday events that need Guido's attention.