by Donna Leon
Part of Commissario Brunetti, book 2
First published 1993
Commissario Guido Brunetti starts his morning staring at a dead young man pulled from a stinking Venice canal. The evidence screams robbery gone wrong, but Brunetti smells something rotten beyond the fetid water. The obvious answers feel too neat, too convenient for a veteran detective who has learned to distrust simple solutions in a complex city. When investigators search the victim's apartment, they uncover something that points toward a conspiracy reaching into high places. Brunetti realizes someone has gone to considerable trouble to wrap up this case with a bow, presenting the police with a perfect explanation that requires no further digging. The more convenient the solution appears, the more determined Brunetti becomes to strip away the lies. In Venice, where ancient stones hide modern secrets, nothing is ever as straightforward as it seems.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, detective
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: complex-mystery, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Venice
373 pages · Paperback · Penguin Group USA