Drawing Conclusions

A Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery

By: Donna Leon

Narrated by: David Colacci

Late one night, Commissario Guido Brunetti's telefonino rings. A woman's body has been found in a Spartan apartment on Campo San Giacomo dell'Orio. Brunetti sees some signs of force on the old woman, but they could just as easily have been from the radiator near where she fell. When the medical examiner rules that the woman died of a heart attack, it seems there is nothing to investigate. But he can't shake the feeling that perhaps the woman was threatened.

Conversations with the woman’s son, her upstairs neighbor, and the nun in charge of the old-age home where she volunteered do little to satisfy Brunetti’s nagging curiosity. With the help of Inspector Vianello and the ever-resourceful Signorina Elettra, perhaps Brunetti can get to the truth and find some measure of justice.

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

Not as good as prior books

I love this series. This is the first book I have listened too and thoroughly enjoyed it.

The wrap up at the end was painful. Really painful and many questions for me. Primarily, what happened to the dead woman’s art work? It’s gone. The elderly man did not take it. So who did?

Characters were great and Venice descriptions spectacular! But the loose ends is something I am not used too from this series and I was waiting for the twist!

Outstanding!

As always, she does not disappoint. Leon knows how to captivate and draw you in. The characters are like old neighbors and family, the scenes are like postcards on your fridge.
Can't wait for the next installment of Commissario Brunetti's most interesting adventures.

Compelling story

This is my first Donna Leon book and I will definitely read or listen to more of her works. The story is complex and most of the characters are finely drawn. Leon has a lot of insight into the human character and what drives us. David Colacci is the perfect narrator for this work.

Another reliably quality read by Donna Leon

We’ve read many of the Brunetti mysteries and love the way they keep taking us back to Italy. The narrator is a compliment to the experience and I thoroughly enjoyed the story

A Rare Disappointing Novel by Donna Leon

A slowly developed, convoluted plot drowned in bureaucracy procedures and cluttered with financial minutiae. The usually brilliant Donna Leon gets mired in multiple story lines with boring supporting characters that not even the iconic Commissario Guido Brunetti, Signorina Electra, and Professora Paola Brunetti can save. Really disappointing.

A master'stouch

These stories, with their intricate. plotting and the depth & individualization of the each character are masterly. My distress when reading them is the slanted morality and unrelenting darkness caste on human nature.

Worth a listen, but

a somewhat disappointing entry into this excellent series. Well-narrated as ever by David Colacci, and filled with the familiar characters and local color, I found that the plot didn't gel on this one. A retired teacher is found dead in her apartment and in the course of the investigation it is revealed that she worked with two service agencies: a home for the elderly and a group which provides abused women refuge and a new start. Although interesting dirt is discovered in both camps, the mystery tailed off without real resolution and leaving a number of loose ends. Brunetti seems a bit tired.

Interesting

These stories do not revolve around the police procedures that lead to capturing the murder, but seem to be more in the way of delving into human behaviors. The scenario is a story within a story more about clues leading from one point to another than about finding and pursuing the murderer. I am captivated by the style of Brunetti's investigation and the subsequent revelation of how the characters approach whatever caused the murder in the first place.

Complexity of life situations

I am addicted to Donna Leon books because of her complex characters and presentation of ethical quandaries, not to mention the conciseness of her endings.

Italian accent doesn't work for me

The characters aren't Italian speakers speaking English. They're Italian speakers speaking Italian. Seems weird.