Donna Leon Brunetti Series - Where to begin?

I've started to get into good place-based mysteries lately (if you have any recommendations I'd be happy to receive them!). I love how you get transported to the places and feel the grime and grit of it all.

One of them I've been meaning to try out is the Brunetti series set in Venice by Donna Leon. However, I seldom read more than one book in a series, and I know that the first books of a series aren't necessarily the best. So, if I had to read one Brunetti book to start off with, which one in the series should it be?

You have a treat in store with Donna Leon - it's the next best thing to being in Venice. I'd recommend "Death in High Places" or "The Death of Faith" but they're all good. Another place-based mystery series that is excellent is by Stephen Booth and is set in the Peak District of England. As a bonus there is a well-drawn relationship between detectives Cooper, who is native to the district, and Fry, the ambitious and impatient newcomer from Birmingham.

I like the Brunetti series as well. When I was in Venice, I went on a tour of Brunetti-related places!

As to other place-based mysteries, I'd highly recommend Sara Paretsky's V.I. Warshawski series, set in Chicago. They are very well-done.

For me, the best place based crime novels are Ian Rankin's Rebus novels. The city is pretty much a character in its own right.

I also like Mark Billingham's DI Tom Thorne novels, but this might be because I grew up in and now live in his north London stomping ground.

The only problem with the Rebus novels is that there won't be any new ones :)

corneggs,
I am not sure if anyone can tell you which is the best book in a series (or even if a later book is as good on its own as it would be if you had read the series before it - yes, most of them work beautifully but you just miss parts of the story because you had not read the earlier books in the series.) If you read just one book from a series... why don't you skip series altogether... there are enough non-series books around. Just a though.

For place-based mysteries, one good series I've found is Laura Lippman's Tess Monaghan series set in Baltimore. I had the treat of visiting the city while reading one. She really captures the flavor of the locale.

I'm trying a new Pittsburgh-set series by Kathleen George, but I'm not far enough along in the book yet to see if it's worth recommending.

We just had a Book Club discussion of Donna Leon's Death at La Fenice and came up with the following three authors for read-alikes : Grace Brophy, Michael Dibdin and Magdalen Nabb. If you would like to stay in Italy...and who wouldn't?

http://murdermysterymayhem.blogspot.com/2009/07/book-club-review-death-at-la-fen...

The link connects to a list of their books.

My favorite...Dibdin!

Try Andrea Camilleri and his Inspector Montalbano mysteries - I haven't read Grace Brophy, but I like his books even more than those of Donna Leon, Michael Dibdin and Magdalen Nabb.

If you like historical mysteries, Arturo Perez-Reverte gives you a great feel for Spain during the Inquisition - Captain Alatriste, Purity of Blood, The Club Dumas. Other place based authors of mystery writers that I have enjoyed are Laura John Rowland for a peek into the world of samurais and Japan feudal system, Nevada Barr's Anna Pigeon series for a tour of the various wildlife and national parks in the US, to name a few.

As for Donna Leon, all her books are good but I especially enjoyed Death at La Fenice.