Synopses & Reviews
The latest case in Donna Leons bestselling Brunetti mystery seriesone of the most exquisite and subtle detective series ever (The Washington Post) The Philadelphia Inquirer called Leons incomparable creation Commissario Guido Brunetti the most humane sleuth since Georges Simenons Inspector Maigret. Its no wonder then that Leons legion of fans continues to grow with each new book thats published. In Through a Glass, Darkly, Brunetti investigates the murder of a night watchman, whose body is found in front of a blazing furnace at Giovanni De Cals glass factory along with an annotated copy of Dantes Inferno. Did the cantankerous De Cal kill him? Will Brunetti make the connection between the work of literature and the murderer in time?
Review
"I struggle to think of other series authors who are as dependable as the excellent Leon....I finish a Leon book feeling not only that I have read a satisfying detective story, but that I know what life in Venice is like for the ordinary people who live and work there." Philadelphia Inquirer
Review
"Spring comes to Venice...promising renewed life to a city that has always been more in love with death. By adopting this mixed message as the theme of her story, Leon once again shows her sensitivity to the eternal tug that defines the Venetian character." Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review
Review
"Brunetti's complex character is deftly drawn as are the characters who recur..." Los Angeles Times
Review
"Leon's gentle pace allows conversation and atmosphere to develop so full and rounded that you can taste the coffee and smell the flowers by means of which romantic Brunetti measures the seasons." The Washington Post Book World
Review
"Every character, every line of dialogue, every descriptive passage rings true in a whodunit that's also travel essay, political commentary and existential monologue." Publishers Weekly
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"Leon shows once more why she has no serious rivals in the art of unfolding mysteries in which the killer's identity is the least interesting detail." Kirkus Reviews
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"A reader can easily feel like they are standing with the soles of their feet in Venice, Italy....Donna Leon's trademark style creates suspense while also giving the reader a deeper understanding of the circumstances surrounding the mystery." BookReporter.com
Synopsis
Commissario Brunetti and his assistant Vianello secure the release of an environmental protester, only to be faced by the fury of the man's father-in-law, a cantankerous glass factory owner, in this fascinating novel that combines politics and culture.
Synopsis
The latest case in Donna Leon's bestselling Brunetti mystery series "one of the mostexquisite and subtle detective series ever" (
The Washington Post).
The Philadelphia Inquirer called Leon's incomparable creation Commissario Guido Brunetti "the most humane sleuth since Georges Simenon's Inspector Maigret." It's no wonder then that Leon's legion of fans continues to grow with each new book that's published. In Through a Glass, Darkly, Brunetti investigates the murder of a night watchman, whose body is found in front of a blazing furnace at Giovanni De Cal's glass factory along with an annotated copy of Dante's Inferno. Did the cantankerous De Cal kill him? Will Brunetti make the connection between the work of literature and the murderer in time?
About the Author
A New Yorker of Irish/Spanish descent, Donna Leon first went to Italy in 1965, returning regularly over the next decade or so while pursuing a career as an academic in the States and then later in Iran, China and finally Saudi Arabia. It was after a period in Saudi Arabia, which she found ‘damaging physically and spiritually’ that Donna decided to move to Venice, where she has now lived for over twenty years.
Her debut as a crime fiction writer began as a joke: talking in a dressing room in Venice’s opera-house La Fenice after a performance, Donna and a singer friend were vilifying a particular German conductor. From the thought ‘why don’t we kill him?’ and discussion of when, where and how, the idea for Death at La Fenice took shape, and was completed over the next four months.
Donna Leon is the crime reviewer for the London Sunday Times and is an opera expert. She has written the libretto for a comic opera, entitled Dona Gallina. Set in a chicken coop, and making use of existing baroque music, Donna Gallina was premiered in Innsbruck. Brigitte Fassbaender, one of the great mezzo-sopranos of our time, and now head of the Landestheater in Innsbruck, agreed to come out of retirement both to direct the opera and to play the part of the witch Azuneris (whose name combines the names of the two great Verdi villainesses Azucena and Amneris).