by Donna Leon
First published 2017
Commissario Guido Brunetti attends a performance of Tosca at Venice's La Fenice opera house. The star soprano Flavia Petrelli receives thunderous applause, but backstage she discovers her dressing room buried under yellow roses. An anonymous admirer has been sending these flowers across Europe, from London to St. Petersburg to Amsterdam. What once seemed like harmless devotion now feels menacing. Flavia confides her growing fear to Brunetti over dinner at his family's palazzo. She no longer feels flattered by the excessive displays. When a promising young Venetian singer catches Flavia's eye and then suffers a brutal attack, Brunetti realizes the danger runs deeper than either anticipated. The commissario must decode the twisted psychology of obsessive fandom before violence escalates. Flavia once stood accused of murder in this same opera house years ago. Now she may become the victim.
Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, thriller
Vibes: atmospheric, intimate, suspenseful
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, cat-and-mouse
Setting: Venice, La Fenice
Period: Contemporary
336 pages · Pocket Book · Points
Content warnings: violence