Members agreed that reading this novel was enjoyable, like watching a detective show such as Midsomer Murders or Death in Paradise.
Those who have read other Leon novels agreed it was formulaic, but like the books of Janet Evanovich or Alexander McCall-Smith, sometimes knowing what you are going to get, something with familiar characters and non-taxing story line, is just what you need to escape and relax.
So this is not a gripping page turner. It meanders from the plot at times to provide some of the characters' commentary on modern life in Venice and to give you glimpses of Brunetti's work and family, building your image of him as a likeable middle-aged guy who loves his wife, is concerned for his children and whose regular daily routines are enviably undertaken against a backdrop of glorious landmarks, bridges, canals, streets, plazas and alleyways of the city.
The plot is not especially plausible at times, nor is the bad guy all that difficult to guess at, if you are paying close attention from the start. But it had enough to interest members to keep reading. It also has a feel good ending which gives you hope for the future of the young girl, Manuela, and which may inspire you to read other titles in the series.
Who is Donna Leon?
American crime writer, Donna Leon was born in 1942 in New Jersey USA where her grandfather had a dairy farm.
She graduated with an English degree at Caldwell College. She was deciding what to do next when a friend invited her to join her in Italy. The plane came in over Venice and she fell in love with the city at first sight.
She subsequently travelled around the world, working as a copywriter in New York and London, a travel guide in Rome, and an English lecturer in universities in Iran, China, and Saudi Arabia.
She was working on a PhD in Iran in the late 1970s but never finished her dissertation on Jane Austen because the revolution broke out and she lost her papers when she was hurriedly evacuated.
Years later she ended back in Venice and, as an opera lover, became friends with the conductor at the Venetian Opera House, Teatro La Fenice. One day at the opera house they joked about how easily someone could kill a conductor in his private dressing room located deep within the building.
Leon was inspired and she wrote a novel, Death at La Fenice, published in 1992, which won a Japanese writing contest. And so Commissario Guido Brunetti was born and went on to make her books, all set in Venice, best sellers.
(She has refused to allow them to be translated into Italian because she doesn't want the locals to read them, describing herself as "a coward".)
Donna Leon lived in Italy for many years, but now lives in Switzerland and is a Swiss citizen. She left Venice because for her it had become too polluted with too many tourists, but she still visits. She has remained single saying she has always been "too restless" for marriage.
In March this year her 32nd novel in the series, So Shall You Reap, was published. She will turn 81 in September.
If you want to read the novels in order, visit: https:// deadgoodbooks.co.uk
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