Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery series

Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery series by Donna Leon

Read October and November 2023

I listened to several in Donna Leon’s ‘Commissario Brunetti’ mystery series.  I went from really enjoying them and thinking, wow, this is a series I want to go all the way through, to being too disturbed by her content.  

Death at La Fenice - #1 - this was a good one.  It set the stage for an interesting character in the Commissario and his family, plus it was a good mystery.  Loved that Venice was not just the setting, but almost a character in itself.  I do love that.  The story is about a rather nasty conductor who is poisoned during intermission at the La Fenice opera house.  I rated this one 4 stars. 

Death in a Strange Country - #2 - This was pretty good, as well.  It centered around the discovery of an apparent mugging victim in a canal... which led to a conspiracy between the mafia, the government of Italy, and even the US (the dead man was in the military, stationed at a nearby base).  I appreciated the author’s take on environmental concerns, and Venice is certainly a good backdrop for some of those discussions.  I rated this one 4 stars. 

Dressed for Death - #3 - Before Commissario Brunetti can join his wife and daughter on vacation in the mountains, he is called to a murder investigation of a man wearing red women's shoes and a red dress.  This installment did a great job of highlighting what is so often the hypocrisy of some in a ‘morality league’ when they, themselves, are participating in the activities that most draw their public ire.  I rated this one 4 stars. 

Death and Judgement - #4 - This one bothered me.  It was about immigrants who were snuck in to Italy then abused by their ‘coyotes’.  Of course, the women were raped, prostituted, and sometimes killed.  :(  It was just too dark and the inclusion of the Commissario’s daughter in one revelation has haunted me still.  I do realize that this is exactly the kind of thing that happens (horrifyingly so).  But this book was so dark and shocking and without hope in many ways.  That is not what I want or need in my reading time.  So, if you were going through the series and are overly empathetic (as I am) I would suggest skipping this one altogether.  :(  I rated it 2 stars, just because I appreciate the author overall.  I also have not picked up the series again since this one.  Hopefully I will soon - and hopefully there won’t be any more as dark as this one was.  Prior to this book, it was a series that I was quite enjoying.