Product Description

Donna Leon’s Commissario Guido Brunetti series grows more popular in America with the publication of every new novel. In this installment, Brunetti’s hopes of a refreshing family holiday in the mountains are once again dashed when a gruesome discovery is made in Marghera—a body so badly beaten the face is completely unrecognizable. Brunetti searches Venice for someone who can identify the corpse, but he is met with a wall of silence. Then he receives a telephone call from a contact who promises some tantalizing information. And before the night is out, Brunetti is confronting yet another appalling, and apparently senseless, death.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #24680 in Books
• Published on: 2005-10-04
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

From AudioFile
This is your basic police procedural set in Venice. It features a likeable, methodical detective, Guido Brunetti, who sacrifices his vacation in the mountains to track down a scam and the murderer of a banker disguised as a transvestite. Anna Fields reads the story in a hard-edged, gravelly voice, which fits the plot even if it doesn't please the ear. Donna Leon writes like a female Ed McBain, only the detectives cruise canals and not the mean streets of New York. This is an often slow-paced story, but the plot is plausible and well-conceived. Most listeners will stay with it. D.L.G. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine

The Wall Street Journal
The sophisticated yet still moral Brunetti… proves a worthy custodian of timeless values and verities.

Review
The sophisticated yet still moral Brunetti… proves a worthy custodian of timeless values and verities. (The Wall Street Journal) Brunetti... the most humane sleuth since Georges Simenon’s Inspector Maigret... is a decent man [who achieves] a quiet heroism. (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

Customer Reviews

try donna leon
a "NEW YORKER" book reviewer remarked once on a detective book by DONNA LEON--as being sort of the gold standard for series detective writing--so i tried 2-3 of them--enjoyed quite a lot--but may never read again; or more, of hers.

"Surely those shoes and that dress were not the sort of thing a middle-aged banker wore to the office"
In this novel, also published as "The Anonymous Venetian", besides delivering a tantalizing mystery, Leon deeply explores another aspect of Italian culture: the firmly rooted concepts of "macho" and proud males. When the body of a man is found with his faced bashed in, in a woman's dress, and with makeup and shaved legs, many in the police force decide that the crime is not worth their time. However, those readers that know Commissario Guido Brunetti and his ethical thinking, know that he will put as much effort in solving this case as in any other. Even if the case belongs to another jurisdiction and gets assigned to him shortly before he plans to leave with his family on vacation, Brunetti approaches this with the respect and seriousness he always shows.

The investigation takes Brunetti through a very interesting underworld, where Leon shows her ability for depicting fascinating characters. The twists and turns may be limited in this novel, but the writing style and side aspects are so good that the overall quality of this work is outstanding. As is usually the case in this series, we get to witness a good portion of Brunetti's family life, and his interactions with his witty wife and teenage son and daughter. There is also a side plot that has to do with Patta, Brunetti's supervisor, and the problems he is going through with his wife. These make him the topic of conversation in the police department and will provide the reader with a couple of laughs, especially those that have hated the way he has treated Brunetti in the past.

The food still plays a major role in this novel, and it is very effective in conveying the lifestyle of the main characters. Every time I read one of these books I feel like booking a ticket, going to Venice and experiment these delicacies myself. Those that enjoy mysteries with well-developed and likable characters, plus good depictions of places and cultures, will find this series to be their perfect fit.

An Ironic Murder Mystery Triggers Probing Questions Leading to New Insights
With Dressed for Death (originally titled as The Anonymous Venetian), the Guido Brunetti mysteries reach their full power for the first time. As with Donna Leon's earlier books, Dressed for Death features a corpse that's prepared and deposited to create maximum confusion for the police. That tiny fragment of her style becomes a launching pad for much self-examination by readers about how others think and live, including transvestite "working women" and those who employ them.

The book offers two new aspects to the series that readers will also find rewarding: Vice-Questore Patta is knocked off his smug pedestal when his wife leaves him to live with a pornographer and Patta also hires the astonishingly capable Elletra Zorzi who makes the Brunetti series much more realistic in terms of portraying police procedures.

But this book could have been better titles as, "Vacation Lost." Brunetti is about to leave for two weeks away from stifling hot Venice for the mountains when a man dressed as a woman is found dead outside of an area where female ladies of the night normally operate. For reasons only known to Patta, Brunetti is assigned to lead the investigation in nearby Mestre. Although Brunetti promises to wind up the investigation as soon as possible, he knows that he's unlikely to be able to join his family. But dutiful to a fault, he proceeds to pursue a case that others want squelched.

The investigation takes Brunetti into the seamy world of those who sell their bodies to make a living . . . and where the police are seen as the enemy rather than as protectors. Brunetti finds himself out of his depth until his wife, Paola, asks some penetrating questions that shake Brunetti's self-absorption.

But watch carefully, there are unexpected events and people populating this book . . . and each unexpected aspect has meaning for the story.

Watch out for one more thing: This book may hook you on the series so that you won't be able to escape its appeal. I don't recall reading a third mystery in a series that's as good as this one.

Why? Venice makes the stories fascinating as you see behind the surface that the tourists experience. Brunetti is a fascinating, complex, and admirable character whom you will enjoy as a detective. His family life adds to the spice. The candid assessments of other members of the police also make for much good humor. The criminals in this case are people you'll be glad to see brought to justice. The methods will be equally intriguing. You'll also explore aspects of life you don't normally think about. As a result, Ms. Leon delivers more than you should expect from even a fine mystery.

Ciao!