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A review by usbsticky
Death in a Strange Country by Donna Leon
4.0
This is my 3rd Brunetti book and he's like an old friend now.
Setting: He is a police commissario in Venice, ably assisted by his sergeant and secretary and obfuscated by his boss. Other supporting characters include his family of wife, daughter and son.
As with many police detective series that I've read, I like the settings and character a lot. The story itself can be sometimes slow. These books aren't thrillers but are police procedurals where the police work through their cases with slow and steady footwork.
Spoilers ahead (this is more for my reference than anything else):
There are two cases here:
1) A rich connected Milanese industrialist finds himself in financial trouble after one of his armament shipments is stolen by pirates. He engineers a fake break in by a local small timer to steal 3 expensive paintings so that he can collect the insurance money (and probably sell the paintings privately).
2) An American soldier is found dead in Venice. Investigation reveals that he is a public health sergeant. Brunetti finds his lover and commanding officer. Later on she is also killed and covered up as an overdose. Brunetti finds a kindred spirit in a Carbinieri major at the US military base. Together they find that the US military and an Italian businessman are complicit in dumping dangerous US military garbage in the Italian wilderness. But the criminal is too powerful and connected to be held accountable.
Brunetti even tries to enlist the help of his father-in-law who is nobility and also connected at the highest levels. But his FIL's hands are tied as pretty much everyone is corrupt and he laments the fact. In the end, the garbage dump is covered up, the murders are blamed on the thief of the paintings and the Carbinieri major is punished by being sent to Sicily.
I guess there is a lot of commentary of the state of affairs in Italy. There is also some discussion of the mafia and the differences between the northern and southern Italians. Overall I enjoyed the book because of the setting and the characters.
Setting: He is a police commissario in Venice, ably assisted by his sergeant and secretary and obfuscated by his boss. Other supporting characters include his family of wife, daughter and son.
As with many police detective series that I've read, I like the settings and character a lot. The story itself can be sometimes slow. These books aren't thrillers but are police procedurals where the police work through their cases with slow and steady footwork.
Spoilers ahead (this is more for my reference than anything else):
There are two cases here:
1) A rich connected Milanese industrialist finds himself in financial trouble after one of his armament shipments is stolen by pirates. He engineers a fake break in by a local small timer to steal 3 expensive paintings so that he can collect the insurance money (and probably sell the paintings privately).
2) An American soldier is found dead in Venice. Investigation reveals that he is a public health sergeant. Brunetti finds his lover and commanding officer. Later on she is also killed and covered up as an overdose. Brunetti finds a kindred spirit in a Carbinieri major at the US military base. Together they find that the US military and an Italian businessman are complicit in dumping dangerous US military garbage in the Italian wilderness. But the criminal is too powerful and connected to be held accountable.
Brunetti even tries to enlist the help of his father-in-law who is nobility and also connected at the highest levels. But his FIL's hands are tied as pretty much everyone is corrupt and he laments the fact. In the end, the garbage dump is covered up, the murders are blamed on the thief of the paintings and the Carbinieri major is punished by being sent to Sicily.
I guess there is a lot of commentary of the state of affairs in Italy. There is also some discussion of the mafia and the differences between the northern and southern Italians. Overall I enjoyed the book because of the setting and the characters.