Lovely and interesting setting and quirky characters made this a fun read. Members went on to read more Brunetti mysteries. ( )

The most famous conductor in the world is found dead of cyanide poisoning in his dressing room during the intermission of La Traviata. This is our introduction to Guido Brunetti, a commissario of police in Venice.

I understand why so many have fun with this series—it's fast, colorful, populated with engaging characters, and managed to avoid what I thought was the inevitable ending.

I'll definitely be back for the next one in this series. ( )

I'd heard that this was the most highly rated of Leon's detective fiction and I can well believe it.

Brunetti is a marvellous creation and his family life nicely contrasts with his working life without becoming overly sentimental or trite.

I don't often smile while reading this sort of fiction but I was amused by Brunetti's wry comments about Venice's faded glory and the country's inimitable 'justice' system.

A really nicely written and nicely paced piece of work by Donna Leon.e ( )

When a world famous conductor is discovered dead between acts at the La Fenice in Venice, Police Comissario (Chief Inspector) Guido Brunetti is called in to investigate. Discovering that the victim was poisoned by cyanide, Brunetti has several suspects. His interrogations take him throughout the city navigating not only through the canals and picturesque sights of Venice but also the dark side of his victim's past.
Guido Brunetti is a well-developed character with considerable aptitude in his profession shown by wry observations and discerning opinions. His family life should be mundane, but appears delightful and fulfilling as well as humorous (while playing Monopoly the Commissario's wife is shown as a compulsive thief).
This charming Italian Policeman unemotionally separates the complex tangles entwined in this squalid tale by using his abilities to read body language, long silences along with other psychological tools, and carefully devises an amazing and fulfilling solution. ( )

Moving swiftly along at my escargot reading pace, I believe I'm the last of my LT friends to review this book. I would have to be some kind of doofus (if in fact there are "kinds") to recap the story, so I'll limit myself to impressions.

This was a "police procedural" in its purest sense: Leon stayed focused throughout the book on the investigation of a murder and the techniques Brunetti used to solve it. Leon accomplished in 278 pages what takes Jonathan Kellerman (the Alex Delaware series) and Ian Rankin (the John Rebus series) 500 or more because the latter two writers spend way too much time with extraneous blather: what-iffing, cop shop politics, and protaganists with 10,000 personal problems. (Boy, that was a long sentence!)

Leon is a mistress of characterization. Yes, she uses a brief physical description and dialog to define her characters, but she goes much further with their attitudes, body language, and personal foilbles. More than once I thought that the rude prima donna, Flavia Petrelli, could use a good prima spanking. Leon is equally adept at the tragic (Signora Santina and her sisters) and the humorous (Patta, the ultimate police bureaucrat).

Ultimately, the book revolves around Guido Brunetti, a seasoned investigator who not only relies on his gut feelings but also has a psychologist's bag of tools. Observation of body language, listening instead of talking, long periods of silence, and purposeful obtuseness are all powerful methods of questioning. I never found one interview that was boring, even if it led to a dead end.

Two caveats about this book:

1. Don't take the #5 boat if you really need the #8 because God only knows where you'll end up.

2. Don't play Monopoly with Brunetti's wife Paola because she steals from the bank. ( )