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Fiction.
Mystery.
Thriller.
HTML:"By far the best" in the New York Timesâ??bestselling, Macallan Silver Daggerâ??winning series featuring Venetian detective Commissario Brunetti (Evening Standard).
In this vivid and atmospheric mystery, Commissario Brunetti is visited by a young bureaucrat investigating the lack of official approval for the construction of Brunetti's apartment years before. What began as a red tape headache ends in murder when the bureaucrat is later found dead after a mysterious fall from a scaffold. Brunetti starts an investigation that will take him into the unfamiliar and dangerous areas of drug abuse and loan-sharking, and will reveal, once again, what a difference it makes in Venice to have friends in high places.
"Beautifully written and immaculately plotted, Friends in High Places is further proof still that Leon can do no wrong." â??Scotsman
"Carefully plotted and full of colorful as well as sinister characters, this is crime writing of the highest order: powerful, relevant and all too full of human failings." â??The Guardian
"Leon tells the story as if she loves Venice as much as her detective does, warts and all. The plot and subplots unfold elegantly; beauty and the beast march hand in hand, and the result is rich entertainment." â??The Sunday Times (London)
"Leon's best so far . . . I don't think I could really understand a crime fan who didn't love Donna Leon." â??Scotland on Sunday
"Leon is a skillful plotter . . . Brunetti is a nicely shaded creation, a moral man who is also all too human. Friends in High Places is a splendid read, clever and provoking." â??… (more)
Donna Leon's Commissario Brunetti books are always a pleasure. I like the man, I like his family, I love the meals he eats, and I always become involved in the plot. In a country where corruption and Mafia-led intrigues are the norm, Brunetti himself is incorruptible, but he's a fallible and entirely likeable detective.
This time, he has a moral dilemma himself. Does he really have title to his apartment? And if not, should he pull the strings to regularise his position? While he's mulling things over, the official who gave him the news that his flat might not in fact 'exist', dies in an accident. Or is it murder? Brunetti elects to find out, and discovers more than he bargained for. No spoiler alerts here. Simply this. If you like Italy, if you like Venice, if you enjoy a good and involved thriller with believable characters, read this one. ( )
Friends in High Places is Book #9 in Donna Leon’s Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery series. This is a well-written, well-plotted series where the city of Venice is a main character and the morality (or lack of) and cultural ambiguities of Italian culture take center stage. Commissario Brunetti wrestles daily with the criminality, greed and lack of justice in his beloved city. I am a big fan of the series but I would like to see him ‘win’ once in awhile. ***** ( )
The 9th novel in the series delves into the building market of Venice - suddenly it seems like Brunetti's apartment is actually illegally built - and some paperwork was never done thus leaving it into a legal limbo. Of course there is always an easy solution - get the father-in-law to assist and the paperwork will show up but Brunetti is too proud so decides to try to solve the issue using his own connections instead (one needs to appreciate the fact that everyone knows that this needs solving by connections and bribes and noone even thinks of other options...). Then the man who brought the news is found dead and Brunetti decides to dig a bit deeper - and finds not just the expected corruption but a much bigger scandal at the bottom of the building planning bureaucracy of the city. Not that one is too surprised of course. Add some money-lenders and people with no options and the story turns ugly very quickly. And yet, it stays very Venetian. ( )
. . . Ah dove Sconsigliato t'inoltri? In queste mura Sai, che non è sicura La tua vita
Where are you going so rashly? You know that within these walls Your life is not safe. -- Lucio Silla Mozart
Dedication
for Christine Donougher and Roderick Conway-Morris
First words
When the doorbell rang, Brunetti lay supine on the sofa in his living room, a book propped open on his stomach.
Quotations
Information from the Dutch Common Knowledge. Edit to localize it to your language.
… Ah dove Sconsigliato t'inoltri? In queste mura Sai, che non è sicura La tua vita Waar ga je zo snel naartoe? Je weet dat je je leven Binnen deze muren niet zeker bent.  Lucio Silla Mozart
Last words
Though his boat lay in the shallow waters, its scorched masts just breaking the surface, Giulio Bottin was not there, nor was his son Marco, eighteen years old and already part owner of the 'Squallus,' which lay burnt and dead at the bottom of the harbour of Pellestrina on this suddenly chill springtime morning.
Information from the Dutch Common Knowledge. Edit to localize it to your language.
De Amerikaanse Donna Leon (New Jersey, 1942) werkte als reisleidster in Rome en als copywriter in Londen. Ze doceerde literatuurwetenschap aan universiteiten in Iran, China en Saoedi-Arabië. Na vele jaren in Italië te hebben gewoond, heeft ze zich nu in Zwitserland gevestigd, van waaruit ze nog regelmatig Venetië bezoekt. Haar boeken werden wereldberoemd door het charismatische personage van commissario Brunetti.
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Information from the Dutch Common Knowledge. Edit to localize it to your language.
Fiction.
Mystery.
Thriller.
HTML:"By far the best" in the New York Timesâ??bestselling, Macallan Silver Daggerâ??winning series featuring Venetian detective Commissario Brunetti (Evening Standard).
In this vivid and atmospheric mystery, Commissario Brunetti is visited by a young bureaucrat investigating the lack of official approval for the construction of Brunetti's apartment years before. What began as a red tape headache ends in murder when the bureaucrat is later found dead after a mysterious fall from a scaffold. Brunetti starts an investigation that will take him into the unfamiliar and dangerous areas of drug abuse and loan-sharking, and will reveal, once again, what a difference it makes in Venice to have friends in high places.
"Beautifully written and immaculately plotted, Friends in High Places is further proof still that Leon can do no wrong." â??Scotsman
"Carefully plotted and full of colorful as well as sinister characters, this is crime writing of the highest order: powerful, relevant and all too full of human failings." â??The Guardian
"Leon tells the story as if she loves Venice as much as her detective does, warts and all. The plot and subplots unfold elegantly; beauty and the beast march hand in hand, and the result is rich entertainment." â??The Sunday Times (London)
"Leon's best so far . . . I don't think I could really understand a crime fan who didn't love Donna Leon." â??Scotland on Sunday
"Leon is a skillful plotter . . . Brunetti is a nicely shaded creation, a moral man who is also all too human. Friends in High Places is a splendid read, clever and provoking." â??
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Wikipedia in English
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This time, he has a moral dilemma himself. Does he really have title to his apartment? And if not, should he pull the strings to regularise his position? While he's mulling things over, the official who gave him the news that his flat might not in fact 'exist', dies in an accident. Or is it murder? Brunetti elects to find out, and discovers more than he bargained for. No spoiler alerts here. Simply this. If you like Italy, if you like Venice, if you enjoy a good and involved thriller with believable characters, read this one. (