Death in a Strange Country (Guido Brunetti, No. 2)

Some time ago I wrote in a review of an Ian Rankin book that I wasn't really into crime as a genre. Something's happened since then and it's now my regular stress-busting bit of escapism and I have to 'fess up to being a convert to low-life detective novels(when it's good anyway). Donna Leon is certainly good - Death in a Strange County is the first of her books I've read and there is an enticingly large array of other books by her to move on to. It was a single-evening read and delivered everything it should. Guido (the Venetian policeman) is a good hero - not too macho, not too fey - a palpable person. And Venice - I was there. Leon really manages to evoke the workaday reality of the city. I was unsurprised to find out she lives there as it was every inch the city I know. Great fun, smooth writing, good characterisation and a plausible plot. Just what you need for a holiday.

An American soldier, Sgt. Michael Foster was a public health inspector for the Military base in Vicenza, but early this particular morning he had been found dead floating in a Venetian Canal. Commisario Brunetti investigates, but with a delicate touch. Brunetti boss Vice-Questore Patta is quick to point out that an American who has been killed in Venice would not look good for the tourist trade, this matter was to be cleared up and quickly. Patta was happy to settle for robbery as all evidence point's in this direction, but Brunetti was more inclined to think Murder. Patta is the least of Brunetti problems, his superior he could manipulate but as for the American Military base, they had their own ideas about such an investigation and of course they were more than happy to cooperate but at times were just a little bit to helpful. Someone was going to great pains to cover tracks. Brunetti was willing to play their games as long as it got him to the real motive. This is my third book by Donna Leon in the Brunetti series, once again wonderful, the book flows really well, with a sense of humour in tact. For me again the fictional characters really brings it to life. Already from reading Death at La Fenice, I first meet the Sicilian Vice-Questore Giuseppe Patta, Brunetti's superior his a great character. Patta's main concern is with image, first his own and eventually what looks good for the Venice police. A man who turns in for work around 10am, paperwork looking good on his desk but does he read it. You could almost hear the words cue, action, before anyone enters his office, he gives his all in his performance. Brunetti the man of logic with his loving wife and family. His wife's well connected parents always on hand to help them out. There's nothing like getting on with the in-laws, Brunetti finds them a real source of information. This novel shows to us the corruption of power. a wonderful read.

I continue to be an enormous fan of the Commisario Brunetti series. For those of you who may have missed my earlier reviews, Donna Leon teaches English for the University of Maryland Extension near Venice and has lived in Italy for many years. She portrays the flavor of Italian life vividly, and it's clear that while she must love living there, petty and not-so-petty corruption is rampant. She makes delightfully wicked little comments. For example, the Carabineri major, interviewed by Brunetti on an American army post - not base, that's for the Air Force - waxes on about the characteristics of Americans. They tend to be arrogant, of course, but Americans are really too insecure to be truly arrogant, "unlike the Germans." Classic. Brunetti is walking home through "battalions of ravaging tourists who centered their attacks on the area around San Marcos. Each year it grew harder to have patience with them, to put up with their stop-and-go walking, with their insistence on walking three abreast through even the narrowest calles. There were times when he wanted to scream at them, even push them aside, but he contented himself by taking out all of his aggressions through the single expedient of refusing to stop, or in any way alter his course, in order to allow them a photo opportunity. Because of this, he was sure that his body, back and elbow appeared in hundreds of photos and videos. He sometimes contemplated the disappointed Germans looking at their summer videos during the violence of the North Sea storm as they watched a purposeful, dark-suited Italian walk in front of Tante Gerda or an Onkel Franz, blurring, if only for a moment the lederhosen-clad tourists" with what was probably the only real Italian they would see during their stay. An American soldier, Sgt. Michael Foster, an American public health inspector at the American military hospital in Vicenza, has been found floating in one of the Venetian canals. In an act of true heroism, two policemen jump in the water - the water being so dirty, hence the heroism - and drag him out. Brunetti's superior would like nothing better than to have the case buried, because the idea of an American being killed in Venice would ruin the tourist trade. Brunetti purposefully manipulates his boss into thinking the murder might have been committed elsewhere - must think of tourism, of course - so he can be authorized to travel to the man's post and investigate. An army captain, Dr. Peters, a woman doctor, who had come to Venice to identify the body in the morgue, had vomited from what Brunetti thought was from fear, when she saw how the man had been killed, by a knife plunging directly through the ribs into the heart. He suspects something is rather odd about this case, especially when he finds some cocaine that was not well hidden in the dead soldier's apartment, apparently after it had been thoroughly searched by the military authorities. The case becomes more complicated as both he

As a USAF officer stationed in Northern Italy, this story brought knowing smiles and head-nods as I read it. Ms Leon has lived in this area for years and teaches at one of the American universities located on the major military bases here. Her depiction of the Italian view of our presence in their country was especially enlightening for those of us trying to live in our host nation without acting like "ugly Americans". Even if her characters and plots weren't interesting on their own--which they are--this book would still be worth it for any American living in the Venice area--especially those connected with the military. I've enjoyed all the books I've read by Donna Leon, but this one really hit home--I just hope it's not true!

Rare thing! Write several novels in one. But Donna Leon do it always. One is about murder, second about venice, third about relations. Perhaps this is so unusual in crime stories? I found quite new world of Venetians who are dependant from one another. Everybody plays a role. A minor one or a bigger. It is fascinating. And comissario Brunetti is to solve not only the murder but first of all find a way how to behave how to talk. And watch how he talks. And how much can you say, saying nothing. Great book.