by Donna Leon
Part of Commissario Brunetti, book 27
First published 2018
Commissario Guido Brunetti faces trouble from multiple directions. Vice-Questore Patta warns him about information leaking from the Questura. Then a friend of his wife Paola arrives with fears about her son's drug use, hoping Brunetti can help. The situation turns serious when the woman's husband, Tullio Gasparini, suffers a severe brain injury after falling from a Venetian bridge at midnight. Brunetti suspects a connection between the accident and the boy's suspicious behavior. His investigation leads him down contradictory paths as he works alongside the sharp Commissario Claudia Griffoni and relies on the clever assistance of Signorina Elettra, Patta's resourceful secretary. Bureaucratic obstacles frustrate Brunetti at every turn, threatening to expose Elettra's unofficial methods. He finds stability in his family and his love of classical literature, particularly Sophocles' Antigone. The ancient tragedy illuminates his current case, revealing how good intentions can produce devastating results. Brunetti discovers that what appeared to be a simple accident masks a complex fraud with far-reaching consequences.
Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, detective
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, bureaucracy, found-family
Setting: Venice, Questura
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
272 pages · Hardcover · Atlantic Monthly Press