A Sea of Troubles

A Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery

By: Donna Leon

Narrated by: David Colacci

On a beautiful spring morning on the island of Pellestrina, south of the Lido on the Venetian lagoon, a small fishing boat moored at the docks suddenly explodes. When it becomes clear that the fire was deliberately set and the boat’s owners brutally murdered, Commissario Brunetti tries to dig up information from Pellestrina’s close-knit - and closemouthed - citizenry. But it is with mixed feelings that he accepts Signorina Elettra’s offer to visit her relatives there and search for clues. Though loyal to his beloved wife Paola, he has to admit that less-than-platonic emotions underlie his concern for his boss’s spirited secretary.

Death in Venice: investigate more of Guido Brunetti's cases.©2001 Donna Leon and Diogenes Verlag AG, Zurich. All rights reserved. (P)2011 AudioGO

Small Village Life

I enjoyed the Italian accents and the names of places. Great characters too. Good writing.

A sea of Troubles

This Donna Leon book was a great book to listen too! The narrator did a great job. The ending was exciting and the story line did not disappoint the listener.

Looking forward to the next in the series

As is her custom, Donna Leon’s books cover real life situations that are complicated and are rife with ethical quandaries. The conversations between characters and their differing viewpoints is particularly thought-provoking. The narrator is top-notch.

A Sea of Troubles

I thought I wasn't going to be into this book that much because I'm usually not into books or shows or movies that are aquatic themed but I did really enjoy this one.

Slow to start, exciting at end

This is story you need to stay with as it does begin slowly and even a bit repetitive but then picks up speed. My biggest issue was keeping the characters names straight since the Italian names sound similar to me and if I was reading I could see the different spellings but listening was more difficult for me. That said I did like the narrator and his voice.

Fantastic

I felt as if I was in the storm. Amazing that Leon can write as if you are there.

Fun, Servicable Brunetti Mystery

I agree with the reviewer who found Electra's loss of composure out of character. I must strongly disagree with the reviewer who preferred the Crossley narration of another Leon novel. Narrators, like actors, must be cast with great care. A miscalculation can ruin the performance. Such is the case with Leon's Brunetti novels. Colacci's command of the accent and the voice he gives to the recurring characters is brilliant.

Steven Crossley is a fine performer. His narrations of Connie Willis' To Say Nothing of the Dog and, appropriately, Jerome's Three Men in a Boat were inspired. However, there is no sense of the Venetian setting in Crossley's narration of Willful Behavior and the mispronunciations (see prior reviews) are a bit ear-grating to listeners of this series. These problems may be down to the direction. However that may be, this listener is of the strong opinion that Colacci is the (far) more preferable narrator for the Brunetti series.

Colacci brings real life to Leon.

Italian culture and humorous insight are always the highlight of Donna Leon's stories and Colacci brings them to life.

Very exciting

Liked the romantic experience of our favorite researcher and the lessons of over fishing for those in a small village

Classic Mystery

Donna Leon never disappoints, Guido Brunetti and his team are back for another case of murder. It is a well constructed murder mystery and this time we see Senorina Ellectra in action. The only disappointment for me was that I missed spending time with the Brunetti family. Other titles by Donna Leon have more of this. I love the family scenes over lunch and dinner.

David Colacci does an excellent job, as usual.