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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
But it took to halfway through the book to get to a point of deserving four stars!
Esta vez no he disfrutado tanto como en otras ocasiones, me ha parecido mucho más flojo que los anteriores, despegado del suelo, banal y un poco insulso. Que no es que la serie del comisario Brunetti sea una joya de la literatura, pero siempre me ha parecido algo más que correcta, entretenida y con su punto "social", a pesar de los "altos vuelos" de algunos personajes. Pero esta vez, no, esta vez me ha decepcionado.
Some will find this too slow, as it takes a while to get to the murder, but I liked the pace. It allowed much more time for the characters and their relationships to be developed, which is what I love most about these books.
This was one of the better of the series. The home/family scenes were well integrated with the crime scenes. The pacing was attention grabbing all the way through.
One of the very best mystery series and this one, #28, is exceptional. And that's all I'm going to say.
Brunetti Investigates Inheritance
Review of the Atlantic Monthly Press hardcover edition (March 2019)
"View of the Grand Canal Santa Maria della Salute and the Dogana from Campo Santa Maria Zobenigo" (c. 1743) painted by Bernardo Bellotto (1722-1780). Image sourced from LitHub
Unto Us a Son is Given is only my 2nd ever Donna Leon / Commissario Brunetti read after being introduced to the series earlier this year via Transient Desires. It is probably not the best idea to read these in reverse order as likely some spoilers will appear. This stood out at the library's Best Bets section at my last visit though and I snapped it up regardless.
Two books does seem to be enough to give an impression of how the Brunetti books are structured though. The books are more about family and the environment of Venice. The crimes are almost secondary and come along very late in the book. The pleasure of these novels is the warm family life of Brunetti and his relationship with his wife and kids. This is such a relief after too many modern books deal with angsty protagonists with tormented backgrounds and issues.
Unto Us a Son is Given has Brunetti being asked by his father-in-law to investigate the planned adoption of a grown man by an elderly friend of their family, who is even a godfather to Brunetti's kids. The suspicion is the 'adoption' is a coverup for the lusts of the old man for a younger companion, and that the adoptee is actually a grifter hoping to inherit the old man's money. Things become even more complicated when another friend of the old man travels to Venice and is murdered. Brunetti has to unravel all the backgrounds in order to arrive at the truth.
I'm definitely planning to continue with more Brunettis in the future, hopefully in chronological order if I can source them. They are an excellent contrast to the Commissario Montalbano series by Andrea Camilleri (my other favourite Italian police procedurals) which are more cynical but which also play up the various comic foibles of their characters. Donna Leon's Brunetti is more warm and her capture of the atmosphere of Venice (where she lived for 25 years) is excellent.
Review of the Atlantic Monthly Press hardcover edition (March 2019)
"View of the Grand Canal Santa Maria della Salute and the Dogana from Campo Santa Maria Zobenigo" (c. 1743) painted by Bernardo Bellotto (1722-1780). Image sourced from LitHub
Unto Us a Son is Given is only my 2nd ever Donna Leon / Commissario Brunetti read after being introduced to the series earlier this year via Transient Desires. It is probably not the best idea to read these in reverse order as likely some spoilers will appear. This stood out at the library's Best Bets section at my last visit though and I snapped it up regardless.
Two books does seem to be enough to give an impression of how the Brunetti books are structured though. The books are more about family and the environment of Venice. The crimes are almost secondary and come along very late in the book. The pleasure of these novels is the warm family life of Brunetti and his relationship with his wife and kids. This is such a relief after too many modern books deal with angsty protagonists with tormented backgrounds and issues.
Unto Us a Son is Given has Brunetti being asked by his father-in-law to investigate the planned adoption of a grown man by an elderly friend of their family, who is even a godfather to Brunetti's kids. The suspicion is the 'adoption' is a coverup for the lusts of the old man for a younger companion, and that the adoptee is actually a grifter hoping to inherit the old man's money. Things become even more complicated when another friend of the old man travels to Venice and is murdered. Brunetti has to unravel all the backgrounds in order to arrive at the truth.
I'm definitely planning to continue with more Brunettis in the future, hopefully in chronological order if I can source them. They are an excellent contrast to the Commissario Montalbano series by Andrea Camilleri (my other favourite Italian police procedurals) which are more cynical but which also play up the various comic foibles of their characters. Donna Leon's Brunetti is more warm and her capture of the atmosphere of Venice (where she lived for 25 years) is excellent.
My wife, retired from the library, still reserves mysteries for me to read. She picked the latest in a series I've never heard of before.
The story works ok without knowing the backstories of all the characters. It doesn't take long to get a handle on the established relationships, and now I kinda wanna see how the characters met all those books ago.
The murder is run-of-the-mill, but well told in a satisfactory way.
The story works ok without knowing the backstories of all the characters. It doesn't take long to get a handle on the established relationships, and now I kinda wanna see how the characters met all those books ago.
The murder is run-of-the-mill, but well told in a satisfactory way.
If you're looking for a page-turning crime novel, this book--and this series--are not for you. The leisurely pace of a Donna Leon novel ignores all desire for rapid-fire detecting. Instead we get Commissario Guido Brunetti on his sofa at home, re-reading The Trojan Women and musing on how, thousands of years after the fall of Troy, we're still going to war, slaying men and brutalizing the women and children survivors. We get dinner table discussions about morality and ecology, and friends having coffee at Florian's on the Piazza San Marco, discussing a deceased friend. We get Brunetti and his colleagues pushing paperwork around until Signorina Elletra returns from her vacation, and long walks around the districts of Venice, where the natives eye askance the changes brought by immigrants, tourists and mainlanders.
This plot revolves around an aging friend of Brunetti's father-in-law. The elderly gay man, Gonzalo, a former art gallerist of renown, is set on adopting a "son"--his latest love interest and a probable golddigger--which under Italian law will leave the younger man with full rights to his "father's" estate. So when the adopter dies suddenly, Brunetti steps back from the distasteful project of looking into the young man and his grift; it is moot. Then Gonzalo's oldest friend arrives to arrange a memorial service--and is strangled in her hotel room. Did she know something about Gonzalo that put her life in danger? And was Gonzalo's new heir involved?
If you haven't read a Brunetti mystery, start at the beginning. The pleasures of time spent in Brunetti's Venice have little to do with murder or detection, and everything to do with the slow pace of life lived in the walkways and waters of La Serenissima. The familiar characters are like old friends at this point in the long-running series. Enjoy.
This plot revolves around an aging friend of Brunetti's father-in-law. The elderly gay man, Gonzalo, a former art gallerist of renown, is set on adopting a "son"--his latest love interest and a probable golddigger--which under Italian law will leave the younger man with full rights to his "father's" estate. So when the adopter dies suddenly, Brunetti steps back from the distasteful project of looking into the young man and his grift; it is moot. Then Gonzalo's oldest friend arrives to arrange a memorial service--and is strangled in her hotel room. Did she know something about Gonzalo that put her life in danger? And was Gonzalo's new heir involved?
If you haven't read a Brunetti mystery, start at the beginning. The pleasures of time spent in Brunetti's Venice have little to do with murder or detection, and everything to do with the slow pace of life lived in the walkways and waters of La Serenissima. The familiar characters are like old friends at this point in the long-running series. Enjoy.
This is a Brunetti's story where the omicide happens almost at the end of the book and still I consider it one of the best I have read this far. I am even thinking about reading Eschilo as he did in the novel, just to get again this feeling of his life in Venice, where everything is different even if nothing changes. I liked this book a lot, but it is not your usual thriller....
Questa storia che come al solito vede come protagonista Brunetti, si articola intorno ad un omicidio che avviene nel finale, ma resta uno dei migliori romanzi della Leon che ho letto fino ad ora, sto anche riflettendo se mettermi a leggere Eschilo come lui, in modo da riassaporare quella sensazione di una Venezia dove tutto cambia, ma niente é diverso. In sintesi questo libro mi é piaciuto anche se non si puó considerare un giallo standard.
THANKS NETGALLEY FOR THE PREVIEW!
Questa storia che come al solito vede come protagonista Brunetti, si articola intorno ad un omicidio che avviene nel finale, ma resta uno dei migliori romanzi della Leon che ho letto fino ad ora, sto anche riflettendo se mettermi a leggere Eschilo come lui, in modo da riassaporare quella sensazione di una Venezia dove tutto cambia, ma niente é diverso. In sintesi questo libro mi é piaciuto anche se non si puó considerare un giallo standard.
THANKS NETGALLEY FOR THE PREVIEW!
Every one of Donna Leon's Venetian mysteries has both charm and realism. This is no exception. I am in love with all the characters and they don't disappoint in this new title.