Donna Leon knows Venice so well that her mystery novels always give a different aspect of life in that enchanted city. In this one it is opera. She is in fact returning to her very first book Death at La Fenice which dealt with Italy’s finest living female soprano. In this new book she gives a menacing account of what this soprano is threatened with this time.
The detective is once again Commissario Guido Brunetti. We have gotten to know Brunetti in the thirty books Leon has written about him, as well as his sharp-witted wife, and amusing children. Leon concentrates on the musical world, however. She has lived for thirty years in Venice and knows a lot about the pressures of producing opera and takes us backstage for much of the time.
Donna Leon has won many awards for her detective stories. The Commissario Guido Brunetti mystery series is internationally known. This is another one to enjoy.
Reviewed by Anne McDougall