by Donna Leon
Part of Commissario Brunetti, book 26
First published 2017
Commissario Guido Brunetti loses control during an interrogation with a suspect linked to a young woman's drug death. The outburst leaves him shaken and needing distance from Venice's suffocating corruption and endless problems. His wife Paola arranges for him to stay at a family villa on Sant'Erasmo, a large island in the lagoon. Brunetti plans quiet days of rowing and evenings reading Pliny's Natural History. The peaceful retreat works until a violent storm strikes the island. Davide Casati, the house caretaker who has become Brunetti's friend, disappears without explanation. Despite being on leave, Brunetti cannot ignore what happened to Casati. He abandons his rest to search for answers about the missing man. The investigation pulls him back into the world he tried to escape, testing whether he can find truth and justice while recovering his own equilibrium.
Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, detective
Vibes: atmospheric, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, fish-out-of-water
Setting: Venice, Sant'Erasmo
304 pages · Hardcover · Atlantic Monthly Press