Earthly Remains

Brunetti needs a break. When he acts impulsively on behalf of a colleague, he ends up at the hospital. The doctor prescribes two weeks off, renewable to a third. Paola knows the perfect place--in a family friend's home on an island in the laguna. Brunetti wants to row, and he discovers the caretaker once rowed with his father to win a championship. The caretaker takes him rowing as he sets out to take care of his bees. Much of the novel focuses on Brunetti's break, but when the caretaker doesn't return on a stormy night, concerns set it. Although ruled an accident, Brunetti automatically begins to investigate with the help of his colleagues. While it's light on mystery, it's strong on atmosphere. Ethical concerns, particularly relating show more to nature and the environment, are almost always a part of Leon's novels, and this one focuses more on that than the mystery. Fans of the series will enjoy it. Those seeking a stronger mystery element may be disappointed. I loved it, and David Colacci's narration always makes it better! show less

As well-written and engaging as her previous books, in EARTHLY REMAINS Donna Leon takes Venice Commissario Guido Brunetti on a different path than his previous stories. At the beginning of the story, Guido realized that the police officer with him was about to attack the man with them, the one who might have been responsible for the death of a young woman. Acting quickly to diffuse the situation, Guido faked a heart attack. The trick worked, but Guido didn’t know how to let them know he wasn’t really ill. So he was taken by ambulance to the hospital where the doctor insisted that he be tested.
After looking at the results of the tests, the doctor realized Guido had not had a heart attack but had high blood pressure. She said he was show more suffering from exhaustion caused by stress which might lead to a heart attack. She recommended that he take two or three works off to give himself a chance to recuperate.
Guido decided to go to Sant’Erasmo, a nearby island where one of his wife’s relatives had a home available for his use. The escape worked wonders. He looked forward to rowing and reading the Greek and Latin classics he hadn’t reread for awhile. Davide Casati, the caretaker of the property, and his daughter, Federica, took care of his every need: food, laundry, housecleaning by Federica and daily row boat trips with Davide, whose wife had died four years earlier and whose grave he visited at least once a week. He blamed himself for her death.
Davide was also a beekeeper. On one of their trips, Davide became very upset when he saw that his bees were dying. Then, one day, he told Guido that he would not be available the following two days because he had business to attend to. A violent storm swept through that night and he did not return. No one knew where he had gone.
Federica asked Guido’s help in locating her father and, with the help of the local authorities, he set out to do just that, interviewing people of the area and others that Davido had known in the past. In the process, hidden secrets began to surface.
The Commissario Guido Brunetti series is a welcome relief from the profane, violent, bloody, car chasing scenes typical in many modern mysteries. The main villains are the politicians and those with connections to them especially his boss, Vice Questore Guiseppi Patta. His long-time helpers, particularly Ispettore Lorenzo Vianetti, Claudia Griffoni, and his boss’s well-connected secretary, Signorina Elettra Zorzi play important roles. Surprisingly, when he talked on the phone with his wife Paola, he didn’t ask about their children.
Interesting observations:
“When the young man failed to react adequately to his self-effacing superiority, the lawyer ceased to use the plural when addressing the two men.”
When Brunetti returns to his office on his way home after being released from the hospital, he assumed the position of a sick man. “Patta, in his ineffable way, displaying the tact and discretion that had for years endeared him to his colleagues, seeing Brunetti, stopped dead and demanded, ‘What’s wrong with you now?’”
“The boat pulled in and tied up, and the early crowd of tourists disembarked, going off in search of their Indonesian-made Burano lace and Chinese-made Murano glass, certain that, out here on a genuine Venetian island, they’d be sure to get the real thing. And at a better price.”
“It’s always the odd, unpredictable things that set us off....Grief lies inside us like a land mind: heavy footsteps will pass by it safely, while others, even those as light as air, will cause it to explode.”
“His thoughts slid away and he considered why teasing cripples was so much worse than hurting them. They were cripples because their bodies had been damaged in some way, not their dignity. Teasing attacked any pride that had managed to survive.”
My main complaint with Donna Leon’s book is her unnecessarily short chapter. Often two or three chapters are immediate continuations of the previous chapter. I usually take away one star for that. However, in this case I will not do this because the book is dedicated “For Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. show less

Underlying the crimes committed in this novel, is an in-depth look at the problems plaguing modern day Venice. Davide Casati is haunted by the role he has played in compromising the ecology of Venice, in causing the death of his bees, and perhaps even the death of his wife.

Out rowing with Casati every day while he is taking recuperative leave Guido Brunetti becomes aware of the Casati's troubled mind, and when Casati is found drowned he decides to find out what happened in his past.

Once again Donna Leon takes an issue that is troubling modern Venice,embeds some crime fiction in it, and then makes us think about the bigger picture, issues that make even have global implications.

An excellent read.

When Commissario Guido Brunetti seriously overreacts to a situation at work, he realizes that he needs a break and at his wife Paola’s urging, he agrees to spend a few weeks on a different island in the Venetian Laguna, where he can stay with one of her relatives and devote himself to rowing and reading. He soon settles into this way of life, becoming friendly with the mostly silent relative, Davide Casati, but when the latter is discovered drowned, tangled up in the ropes of his own boat, Guido discovers that his penchant for investigation is stronger than he knew….This is the 26th Brunetti book and, as with its predecessors, there’s a lot to savour here. For example, I never even knew that there were more islands in the lagoon show more than Venice itself! Brunetti is as compelling a character as ever, and as the story proceeds, we learn more about the intricacies of Venetian life and bureaucracy, all through Ms. Leon’s lyrical writing. Highly recommended. show less

Earthly remains—a cautionary tale!

A young girl has died in hospital. Antonio Ruggieri, aged Forty-two and a lawyer from an influential Venetian family, who gave the girl the pills, has come to the Questura for an interview. He’s slick, assured and speaks disrespectfully about the girl.
His assistant Pucetti is angered and makes a move he shouldn’t. Staging a heart attack to stop Pucetti brings about other problems that Brunetti hadn’t considered.
Brunetti takes time off and spends it out on the laguna at the end of Sant’Erasmo at a villa of Paola’s Aunt Costanza.
Caretaking the house is Davide Casati, a famous rower who rowed with Brunetti’s father. Casati takes Brunetti rowing and shows him his bees out beyond on the laguna. show more The bees are dying.
Not long after this Casati is found, in his boat dead presumably injured when caught in a storm
Brunetti investigates. Things are not as they seem, but where is the proof.
It seems to me Leon looks at the injustices perpetrated by the powerful and then continued by those who don’t look at the costs with this novel
A girl dies. Why?
Casati dies. Why?
Bees are dying. Why? This last very much defines the story as we look to the past, investigate the now and are fearful for the future!
A very different Brunetti tale. Brunetti is internalising things. He’s worn down and much given to philosophising about his beloved Vienna, the nature of man and consequences.
I found this Guido Brunetti story looks at who the the man is, and in doing so, we learn more bout our favourite Venetian commissario.

A Grove Atlantic ARC via NetGalley. show less

When an interview with a suspect threatens to get out of hand, Commissario Brunetti takes action to prevent a colleague from making a potentially career-ending mistake. Brunetti finds it difficult to extract himself from the chain of events he set in motion, and it results in a medical leave of absence from the Questura. He decides he wants to spend his days rowing on the laguna. One of Paola’s relatives owns a villa on one of the islands, and he accepts an offer to stay there. The caretaker, Davide Casati, turns out to be an old family friend, and he welcomes Guido’s companionship on the water. As the days pass, Davide opens up about the wildlife, and especially the bees he tends on various islands. He is alarmed when some of the show more bees die en masse, but his explanation is cryptic and unsatisfactory. Davide’s sudden death during a violent storm has Brunetti searching for answers.

After a couple of novels where justice actually prevails, Leon returns to her typical format where truth doesn’t lead to justice. Brunetti is driven by the pursuit of truth, but it seems to be getting harder for him to live with the failures of the justice system. show less

Commissario Guido Brunetti is compassionate, well-educated, and gentle. When he acts impulsively to protect a fellow officer from making a costly mistake, Brunetti sets in motion a series of events that will have far-reaching consequences. First, he is told to take a two-week leave from his job at the Questura. His wife makes arrangements for him to stay at a villa on the island of Sant'Erasmo. While there, he will have little to do except read and enjoy nature's beauty. The caretaker, Davide Casati, is an old friend of Brunetti's late father; Davide and Guido spend time rowing, swimming, and slowly getting to know one another. Casati is reserved and often despondent, still grief-stricken over the death of his much-younger wife, Franca, show more four years earlier. At least, he has his beehives to tend; he is passionate about beekeeping. However, when Casati notices that some of his bees have begun to die, he decides to run tests to find out what may be killing them.

"Earthly Remains," by Donna Leon, begins slowly but steadily picks up steam, especially in the second half. We enjoy spending leisurely days and nights with Brunetti as he reacquaints himself with his beloved books (he is a big fan of Pliny and other ancient writers), gazing at beautiful sunsets, and engaging in vigorous exercise. When a tragic and deeply shocking event interrupts Brunetti's vacation, he enlists the help of the always accommodating Signorina Elletra (whom he depends upon for her incredible ability to ferret out information) and, along with his fellow detectives, Claudia Griffoni and Inspector Lorenzo Vianello, launches an investigation that will uncover dark and dangerous secrets that have been hidden for decades.

Leon's brings her central characters to life against the backdrop of the sights and sounds of Venice and its surrounding islands. Davide Casati is a tormented man whose past transgressions give him no peace; Brunetti's conscience will not rest until he gets to the bottom of a complex case that he believes it is his duty to solve; and Guido's colleagues, Griffoni and Vianello, help Brunetti immensely by using subtle psychological ploys to get witnesses to speak freely. The author goes far beyond the standard mystery formula when she raises questions about why people harm, not just one another, but our environment, as well. "Earthly Remains" is an excellent vehicle for Guido Brunetti, whose wisdom and tenacity impel him to dig deeply for truths that have long been buried under a mountain of lies. show less