Through a Glass, Darkly: A Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery (The Commissario Guido Brunetti Mysteries, 15)

by Donna Leon

Book Overview

On a luminous spring day in Venice, Commissario Guido Brunetti and Inspector Vianello play hooky to help get Vianello's friend Marco Ribetti--an environmental activist arrested during a protest... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0871139375
• ISBN13: 9780871139375
• Release Date: April 2006
• Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 1.0" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

Disappointed.

Book was listed as Like New. Book which arrived was NOT Like New. The spine is cracked, there is edge chipping, the inside covers and pages have yellowing, and the book is cracking apart between pages 158-159. At best this book should have been listed as good condition. The shipping was fast and the packaging was good.

To View the Source of the Evil Thing

Through a Glass, Darkly (Commissario Guido Brunetti Mysteries) In the Commissario Guido Brunetti Series by Donna Leon, the reader develops a relationship with a thoughtful Police investigator who is sustained by his family and daily makes his way through political challenges of the Police Department and of the city of Venice. THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY is the tale of a murder at the furnace of a Glass Factory with it's own history. Brunetti gathers information about the scene and the individuals involved and, as usual, considers surface appearances and the pressing demands of the law, but searches as well for a justice beyond the law and for the real source of evil.

Guido Does It Again

There are some who do not like Donna Leon's Guido Brunetti Mysteries because almost none have a "we got our man" ending. However, I find the finale of Leon's books very true to life and cannot wait to always read the next one. I feel I now know Venice well, like Brunetti, as he walks the streets and enjoys a coffee in a sidewalk Venetian cafe. Leon takes us on a journey of mystery, while still feeling like a tourist in Venice. We ride the canals with Brunetti, go to work in his office and empathize him,his boss Patta. Donna Leon makes sure we are really a part of solving each mystery. I loved this book as I have all of her work. I've read eight to date.

Happiness

As a recent trip to Venice inspired my thirst for anything to do with Venice and my veracious appetite for reading, a friend turned me on to Donna Leon. I am so happy to be reading about places that I visited.

Brunetti rules

As always, the subtleness of Brunettie's character continues and the formula for mixing mystery, family, location, and all those other good things works so well. Thank you Donna Leon!

Leon's vision is unclouded!

Sometimes, it's best not to work "by the books." Thus, with spring fever permeating the Pearl of the Adriatic, Commissario Guido Brunetti and team begin an investigative adventure on their own, or at least one not officially sanctioned. In Donna Leon's latest Brunetti novel ("Through a Glass Darkly"), we find the Commissario once again keeping his eyes peeled for Venetian crimes, especially of corruption, social injustice, and, of course, murder. His assistant Vianello introduces Brunetti to a friend who's just been arrested for protesting on the island of Murano against environmental pollution. It's a simple matter and the friend Marco is soon released; however, this sets the whole story in motion: a story of corruption and, yes, murder. It's not until the murder, of course, that the police become officially involved. Marco's father-in-law, who clearly hates Marco, is an owner of one of Murano's famous glass factories. The enmity lies, perhaps, in the fact that Marco is an environmental engineer and is clearly against unlawful pollution of the laguna. The rabid, aging father-in-law is a bully who's clearly out of control, or as Vianello observes he "a choleric man." Complications arise and Leon is up to her usual level of brilliance in handling first rate police procedurals. An employee of the glass factory is found dead and, as Brunetti suspects, it's a suspicious death. The employee has been most vocal about the hazards of the factory, environmentally, and blames his daughter's tragic illness on the pollution. Painstakingly, even cleverly, Brunetti and his team at the Questura bring the case to a close and once again Leon's literary magic prevails. Aside from her general plot outlines, Leon's greatest strength seems to lie in her ability to provide great depth to her characters, especially Brunetti, a police officer at once intrepid and all the time human, a man in a profession where integrity is not always a given. Each of the Leon episodes in this series provides additional depth to him and his family. And Leon`s pointed observations of the city and how it's run ("The matter lapsed, merging into the stream of gossip that flowed through Venice, much of it no cleaner than the water that flowed in the canals.") makes one wonder if the Italians actually read her books. Still, it's clear that she loves her overseas home (who wouldn't?) but, a bit like Cassandra outside the gates of Troy, her cries of corruption and incompetence seem largely to go unheeded! In this 15th episode, we find that the author keeps the series open, and we can only hope she'll pick up the pace. Will it really be another year before her next Brunetti novel? (Billyjhobbs@tyler.net)