I love Commissario Brunetti, and I love the picture of Venice that Donna Leon always conjures up. The alleys between ancient buildings, those palazzi themselves, the little bars Brunetti frequents.... and so on and so on. So even before I get involved in the plot, I'm absorbed by her books. This however is a good story. The conductor who's murdered during the interval at a performance at la Fenice. Whodunnit? His wife? That soprano? Her lover? As ever, the result of Brunetti's investigation is an unexpected one, and convincing. Read it. ( )

An excellent procedural. The mystery at the center unfolded gradually and naturally. The commissario at the center of the story was a fairly complex character and the hints of day to day life in Venice were
Great.Especially enjoyed the resolution ( )

This is the first novel of Donna Leon that I’ve read. It was recommend by my book group.

Commissario Guido Brunetti is called to investigate the death (via cyanide poisoning) of world famous conductor Maestro Helmut Wellauer, who died during intermission at the opera house, La Fenice.

There are a few suspects- like the soprano Signora Flavia Petrellli, or her girlfriend Brett Lynch. Or the widow, Mrs Elizabeth Wellauer. Or the former diva Signora Santina, who was a former lover of the Maestro, who was involved in the death of Signora Santina’s sister.

We learn about Brunetti’s wife, children, wealthy in- laws and his annoying boss, Giuseppe Patta. And of course we learn about Venice.

It was a good book. Slower paced until the end. ( )

To be honest, that title was enough to grab my attention, and I didn’t need to bother checking the synopsis or encomia on the back of the book. I remember buying this some thirty years ago, and being immediately won over by the combination of the glorious Venetian setting and the character of Guido Brunetti as an engaging lead detective. In the interests of transparency, I would have to admit that I did eventually become rather tired of the series, but that was several volumes in.

Rereading this first instalment after so long I found it still held much of its original enchantment. Brunetti is a winning character – intelligent, articulate (in several languages) and compassionate, he would seem to be a model policeman, and one who lacks any of the dysfunctional foibles of so many fictional detectives. Indeed, perhaps the only concession to police procedural cliché is his fractious relationship with his utterly useless boss, Vice-Questore Patta.

The book follows the investigation into the sudden death of Helmut Wellauer, an internationally esteemed conductor during the first interval in a performance of La Traviata at the famous opera. It is soon apparent that his demise was murder by cyanide poisoning. Brunetti is called to the scene, and gradually discovers that the maestro had not been popular with his fellow performers, and despite his musical genius, he had been a particularly unpleasant man. The investigation throws up various shadows from the conductor’s past, sending Brunetti along a number of different, equally plausible trails.

Donna Leon does a marvellous job of conveying both the Venetian setting, and the fierce sense of independence from the rest of Italy that Venetians feel. I don’t think I will bother re-reading many more in this series, but this one certainly stood the test of time well. ( )

An entertaining mystery set in a unique and iconic location--from the viewpoint of a grizzled local homicide detective who also manages a rather normal domestic life (normal for what we imagine about Venetian living anyhow). I offhandedly suggested the solution on this one to my partner about 100 pages into things--though the exact rationale for that solution, the precise motive that gets us there, proves the mystery in the end. I enjoyed this mystery overall, though personally I would have enjoyed a bit more of the life, food, and ambiance of the city made it into the story. The detective's (and one assumes, the author's) disdain for industrial capitalism--and the reductio ad absurdum definition of capitalism proffered tangentially in the middle of the story--is an irrelevant and annoying aside within what is otherwise a pleasant enough read. ( )