Transient Desires

I am a huge fan of Donna Leon’s Commissario Guido Brunetti series. I look forward each year to a new one; this is her thirtieth.

The cases, while always intriguing, are almost secondary to the wonderful characterizations and musings and observations of life, especially Venetian life, by Brunetti. So nice to visit again with all the familiar actors, flamboyant Signora Elletra, strong and wise Paola, philosophical Guido, comical Patta, capable Griffoni, loyal Foa.

This case unfolds after two young American women injured in a boating accident are anonymously deposited on the dock outside the hospital. Is that all there is to it? Ah, no, for this is Venice, and there is always more to the story.

I think this was one of my favorite of the show more series. It was a fast read, but I tried to take time to savor my time in Venice. Leon is an excellent writer, sharing wit and wisdom. For anyone new to Brunetti, this certainly can be read as a stand alone, but why deprive yourself? Go back to the beginning of the series and enjoy getting to know all of these memorable characters.

During these days of restricted travel, I enjoyed revisiting the landmarks of La Serenissima, stopping here and there for a coffee, brioche, glass of wine, or, my favorite, an Aperol spritz. show less

Two young American women are found badly injured on the dock of a hospital in Venice; CCTV footage shows two young men coming to the dock by boat and leaving the women there. As Commissario Guido Brunetti and his colleague Claudia Griffoni investigate, they learn much they did not know about piloting different types of boats around the city and the different types of waters surrounding it, settings redolent with myriad ways of smuggling goods - and people - undetected…. As with all of the Brunetti books (of which this is the 30th!), the joy in reading Ms. Leon’s work lies in both the sense of her beloved city itself and the ways in which her thoughtful detective grows and changes throughout the series, not always in a positive show more direction. Brunetti’s relationships with his wife and children, and with his colleagues, are always deep and rich; perhaps even more so are the chance encounters he has with denizens of his city, all of whom contribute to the complexity and uniqueness of Venice. My only quibble here is that the book ends too soon - I want to know what happens next, which of course is high praise indeed for a novel. I recommend Ms. Leon’s writing at any time, although as with all long-standing series, starting from the beginning (“Death at La Fenice”) is the most satisfying. Very highly recommended! show less

When Brunetti reads a story in the paper about two badly injured American women, left outside the hospital, he is curious. Together with his colleague, Claudia Griffoni, he looks into why they were abandoned and who left them there. Discovering the who is easy enough but the pair soon discover something darker regarding one of the men involved. Soon they are coordinating with the Carabinieri and the Coast Guard to bring about the end of a heart-wrenching crime.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again here. I adore this series. I look forward to each new book in much the same way a child looks forward to Christmas. I’m loathe to use trite phrases like it being an intelligent crime series for that suggests that other crime novels show more are not intelligent, which is certainly not the case. What I will say is that there is no mistaking that the reader has a Brunetti novel in their hands, even if all of the names were removed. There is an atmosphere, a sense of place and an unquantifiable feeling that comes with settling down with a Leon book. They often revolve around a non-crime, following on from a comment, or passing interaction with a person that leads Brunetti down a path, one that is sometimes one-way, with no sign of justice at the end.

In Transient Desires the accident leads Brunetti and Griffoni away from the hospital the young girls are left at and across the water to a much darker secret, ready to be uncovered. This is Leon at her best, uncovering the layers of a story, letting it unfold organically. There are no red herrings for the reader to stumble upon. The story evolves for the reader as it does for Brunetti. There are no disappointing threads that aren’t tied up. The ending when it comes is abrupt but fitting, the culmination of an investigation carried out with dogged determination.

This instalment was very much focussed around Brunetti, Griffoni and their investigations. There are fleeting glimpses of Signorina Elettra, who works her magic and find information the Commissarios need with the fewer questions asked the better. Brunetti’s family are seen at only a few of the signature dinner scenes. Whilst Paola, Brunetti’s wife, features only briefly, she is there as Brunetti’s sounding board, solid ground and sometimes devil’s advocate.

In some of the past books, the crime that has been committed is not always one in which the reader, or indeed Brunetti, would like to see avenged. These are stories of accidents, of being in the wrong place at the wrong time or of good intentions gone bad. However, in Transient Desires, there is a case of clear cut evil, one that all involved, either those in the book or those holding it, want to be avenged.

I thoroughly enjoyed my return trip to Venice. It is always a pleasure to spend a few hours in the company of Guido Brunetti, even if that visit invariably takes a dark turn and heart-breaking turn.

Transient Desires is the 30th Guido Brunetti novel. Donna Leon has celebrated in style with a story as good as any of the preceding 29 novels. If you are a fan of this series you won’t be disappointed. If you have yet to discover the joys the series brings, I’d urge you to pick give it a try.

Highly recommended. show less

Two girls are left on the deck behind a hospital and only a chance (and a smoking habit) makes sure that they are found quickly - both are beaten up and require medical assistance. Brunetti and Griffoni try to find out what happened and before long they find the boys/young men who left the girls. And as is usually the case, not everything is how it looks.

Before long, this almost innocent occurrence gets tied to a harrowing tale of human trafficking, the Nigerian mafia and death. And for the first time in the series, Claudia Griffoni's home town becomes important - first when they meet someone else from the same place and then when not being from Venice makes it easier to figure out how to track down someone's history.

Usually in the show more series the Questura's detectives and policemen work on their own - they may leave Venice for the neighborhood towns but the stories tend to stay local. This time they get help both from the Carabinieri and the Coast Guard - despite starting in Venice and involving Venice citizens, the crime is a bit wider-scoped and there is a need for the special knowledge and skills of all the groups.

All that made this a different novel in a lot of ways but even with the differences, it is a Brunetti story - with the family and the HQ dynamics; with Venice's canals and tourists.

It is a post-COVID novel without being obvious about it - there are a few throw-away thoughts and utterances to tell you so (a thought about seeing what the city was without tourists, someone mentioning that they hoped that the cruise ships had all died and the thought about the retired doctors and nurses which came back to help despite knowing that their colleagues had died were the three I caught; there may have been more). Venice is almost back to normal but not completely. It may be a bit too early in the real world but I like how Leon handled the whole situation.

I liked this one more than I liked the previous one - even though it has a lot of us vs. them (some of it leading to Brunetti considering if he can even trust Claudia), it actually belonged in the novel - and the resolution of most of it should make it almost impossible to get back to the weirdness of it in the next novel. Or so one hopes. show less

Venice’s Commissario Guido Brunetti almost ends up out of his depth in this installment in the long-running series. As Brunetti and his colleague Claudia Griffoni look into a nighttime accident on the laguna in which two American young women were badly injured, they soon identify the Italian young men who abandoned them near a hospital. As they learn more about the young men, they see that one of them is extremely frightened of his uncle/employer. Brunetti eventually discovers the reason for the young man’s fear, and it’s worse than he imagined. He calls in favors with other agencies to try to put a stop to the criminal activity he uncovered.

Most of the time, Brunetti must be satisfied with learning the truth rather than seeing show more justice served. This time, the criminals are caught in the act, but it may be a Pyrrhic victory. This case seems to be out of Brunetti’s jurisdiction, and Griffoni is his only colleague who makes more than a brief appearance in the novel. I missed Signorina Elettra, Vianello, and even Vice Questore Patta. And where was Lieutenant Scarpa? I hope he’s not quietly plotting more trouble for my favorite Commissario! show less

Shady Boating in Venice
Review of the Atlantic Monthly Press hardcover (March, 2021)

Transient Desires is great on the atmosphere of Venice, Italy with its police reliant on various boats in order to go about their duties. The images alone of taking a Venice public transportation vaporetto (little steamer) to the next interview is unique for any police procedural that I have ever read. It is almost a cozy with the comfortable settings of Brunetti's family and their home meals, but there is still a dark edge to this investigation which is only gradually revealed. The case starts off with what seems like a boating accident, where two American tourists are dropped off at a hospital boat dock by two locals who do not stick around to explain show more themselves further. The reason that the boatmen were reluctant to come forward is gradually pieced together by Brunetti and his colleagues Claudia Griffoni & Elletra Zorzi.


View of the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy with the Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute centred in the background. Image sourced from Fine Art America.

Transient Desires does come with a very abrupt ending. See some reviewers that said they tried to search for missing pages or chapters. The case is still solved to all intents and purposes though, and thus avoids one of my Unsatisfactory Ending Alerts™. I will enjoy a return visit to Brunetti and Venice when I next get a chance.

Although Transient Desires is the 30th book of the series, it is my 1st ever Commissario Brunetti. Thanks to Karan for the introduction to this series. show less

I may be getting tired of the somewhat prissy Venetian Commissario Brunetti. In the latest installment he delves into and manipulates the psyche of his suspects while wondering about the fragility of the young. He can’t help drawing parallels with his own children and is forever perplexed. He admits shame for judging a colleague by a mere accent and then weaves it into a larger complexity of bigotry which can deprive a population of friendship and the hope of common humanity.

Interesting how so many arguments popped up about oblique things supported by tangential facts used in justification of almost anything. How did he miss “the coronation of the non sequitur?” And precisely what does that have to do with the crime at hand? What show more indeed - no answers here.

OK, Brunetti is still reading the classics, Tacitus in this case and promulgating trusting only “the unvarnished truth.” Another parallel, more obscurity. But it makes Brunetti more interesting, more fallible, just a slightly bit more fussy but never less perceptive. Clarity comes from listening and understanding the concept and hopelessness of “a love that dared not speak its name”.

Then the alienation, the confrontation, the last page and dang where is the ending? I kept turning the page but there were no more words.

Thank you NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for a copy. show less