In this volume, as in all the other volumes in this excellent series, I learned something more about Venetian culture and what it is to live in Venice. While there is an interesting plot, don’t read this book for fast action, but rather savor the words and thoughts, the pace of daily life in La Serenissima. And note that Brunetti’s mother has a lesson modern politicians would do well to heed. Give Unto Others starts with a simple premise. Commissario Brunetti is asked by a childhood acquaintance to look into the behaviour of her son-in-law, who is described as having said something to frighten her daughter. Brunetti takes it upon himself to make unofficial enquiries and enlists his most trusted allies: Inspector Claudia Griffoni, Sergeant Lorenzo Vianello and computer expert Signora Elettra Zorzi into the investigation. It is gradually revealed that there is indeed a crime behind the scenes, but that the reason for Brunetti being asked for a favour was more diabolical than initially thought. Give Unto Others as the 31st book of the Commissario Brunetti series is unlikely to be filmed, as the long running German TV series wrapped up after 26 films with the episode Stille Wasser (Quiet Waters) (2019) based on book #26 Earthly Remains (2017). It might take a day or two,’ Signorina Elettra answered, tapping the erasered end of her pencil against the paper. ‘If it’s a small project, then it’s unlikely they’ll have adequate protection.’

In the thirty-second installment of Donna Leon’s bestselling series, a connection to Guido Brunetti’s own youthful past helps solve a mysterious murder On a cold November evening, Guido Brunetti and Paola are up late when a call from his colleague Ispettore Vianello arrives, alerting the Commissario that a hand has been seen in one of Venice’s canals. The body is soon found, and Brunetti is assigned to investigate the murder of an undocumented Sri Lankan immigrant. Because no official record of the man’s presence in Venice exists, Brunetti is forced to use the city’s far richer sources of information: gossip and the memories of people who knew the victim. Curiously, he had been living in a small house on the grounds of a palazzo owned by a university professor, in which Brunetti discovers books revealing the victim’s interest in Buddhism, the revolutionary Tamil Tigers, and the last crop of Italian political terrorists, active in the 1980s. While I can understand why Leon preferred to write about a mostly post pandemic time, I think she missed out on a golden opportunity. As I mentioned in my review of last year's book, I really wanted to know how these characters were managing during the pandemic, and a Brunetti book about 2020 in Venice could have been really fantastic. Leon has written a good deal in recent years about how Venice has been drowning literally and figuratively due to tourists and climate change, and seeing Venice during this period would have been a wonderful contrast. A panoramic view of the Campo Santi Giovanni e Paolo in Venice with the equestrian statue of mercenary Bartolomeo Colleoni on the extreme right. The history of the mercenary, the statue and the location are featured during "Give Unto Others." Image sourced from Wikipedia. I’ve been a big fan of the Guido Brunetti series and have made my way through the first 24 of them. Thanks to Netgalley, I’m jumping ahead to So Shall You Reap, # 32 in the series. It’s also the first of the series I’ve read, rather than listened to. It works just as well in either format. Drawing Conclusions (Forthcoming in 2011 from William Heinemann, London, and Atlantic Monthly Press, New York)

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Brunetti is approached for a favor by Elisabetta Foscarini, a woman he knows casually, but her mother was good to Brunetti's mother, so he feels obliged to at least look into the matter privately, and not as official police business. Foscarini's son-in-law, Enrico Fenzo, has alarmed his wife (her daughter) by confessing their family might be in danger because of something he's involved with. Since Fenzo is an accountant, Brunetti logically suspects the cause of danger is related to the finances of a client. Yet his clients seem benign: an optician, a restaurateur, a charity established by his father-in-law. However, when his friend's daughter's place of work is vandalized, Brunetti asks his own favors--that his colleagues Claudia Griffoni, Lorenzo Vianello, and Signorina Elettra Zorzi assist his private investigation, which soon enough turns official as they uncover the dark and Janus-faced nature of a venerable Italian institution. Regarding the symptoms of dementia, which may go on for a long time before a diagnosis is reached: "In his mother's case the symptoms had been snaking around in their lives for years before either he or his brother Sergio took notice of them."

It's potentially an interesting story based on not a legal crime, but a moral and ethical one. And one of the victims offers up a hard-hitting portrait of a family dealing with the consequences of dementia that is as emotionally powerful as Leon has ever been. Brunetti is forced to confront the price of loyalty, to his past and in his work, as a seemingly innocent request leads him into troubling waters. And now, here she is, with her 32nd book (her latest) showcasing Commissario Guido Brunetti, as always. Sensitive, incredibly colourful social portraits, close-ups of a splintered, encrusted society. But finally it is probably Guido Brunetti who makes the novels so successful. The reader follows him with pleasure through the narrow, winding streets of Venice.” — Der Spiegel (Hamburg)When reading a Brunetti novel, you expect to get more than just the story with which to immerse yourself. There are the sights, sounds and foods of Venice and the surrounding area. There is also Brunetti’s family: his wife Paola, an academic, and their two college-age children. One night at dinner, Chiara asks for her father’s help with an assignment --- they are to choose their favorite Greek play and scene. For Brunetti, it’s “Oresteia” and Clytemnestra’s first speech. When she asks why, he says, “Because she is so much stronger than I am.” Brunetti’s Cookbook, recipes by Roberta Pianaro, culinary stories by Donna Leon (Published previously in the United Kingdom as A Taste of Venice: At Table with Brunetti, William Heinemann, London, April 2010; Atlantic Monthly Press, New York, hardcover, May 2010) What a joy to read such a literate writer; and I think this may be her best. Yes, this is her 31st, and I have looked forward to and read all of them. Brunetti's pace had slowed as he thought about the similarity between this disease and Elisabetta's story. Get told what seems a simple event, and soon it's expanding out of control; understand the basic facts, until a new variant appears. Believe you've found the source, only to stumble upon new information that changes everything. Conclusions vanish, explanations fail. Stop being attentive, and the next day there are new victims. On a cold November evening, Guido Brunetti and Paola are up late when a call from his colleague Ispettore Vianello arrives, alerting the Commissario that a hand has been seen in one of Venice's canals. The body is soon found, and Brunetti is assigned to investigate the murder of an undocumented Sri Lankan immigrant. Because no official record of the man's presence in Venice exists, Brunetti is forced to use the city's far richer sources of information: gossip and the memories of people who knew the victim. Curiously, he had been living in a garden house on the grounds of a palazzo owned by a university professor, in which Brunetti discovers books revealing the victim's interest in Buddhism, the revolutionary Tamil Tigers, and the last crop of Italian political terrorists, active in the 1980s.

I have read the whole series, so perhaps the next one will appeal to me more, but I am most grateful to the author for all the work she has put into the series, it's largely very enjoyable.Guido is given very little to go on, only that Fenzo told Flora that they could be in danger. Feeling that he owes loyalty to Elisabetta's mother, who had been kind to him, he agrees to help and that there will be no police records kept. The smart close knit police team hone in Fenzo's accountancy business, thinking that it's good place to start, looking at his clients, but they hear little but praise for him. They move onto a South American charity that Fenzo had helped Elisabetta's husband set up, the Belize nel Cuore, providing a hospital and medical services to the poor, a charity that was founded with a retired, ex-naval Vice-Admiral suffering from dementia. When Flora's veterinary clinic is vandalised and her dog hurt, the police are called to the scene, putting their team inquiries for the first time on a formal police footing. Donna Leon is the ideal author for people who vaguely long for a good mystery. That Leon is also a brilliant writer should only add to the consistently comforting appeal of her Venetian procedurals featuring Commissario Guido Brunneti. Leon allows her warmhearted detective to take what solace he can from the beauty of his city and the homely domestic rituals that give him the strength to go on.” —Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review In this story, he starts out where he would rather be culling his crowded bookshelves than heading off to the mainland to retrieve one of their policemen, who’s somehow been caught up in a protest march that has turned violent.

Weather and tides and looting by “baby gangs” require a bit of real police work, but then the vandalism of Flora’s veterinary clinic on Murano, which might be linked to their enquiries, gives their work official standing. What they ultimately uncover presents them with a dilemma, which is then taken out of their hands by others. But the deeper truth, when Brunetti uncovers it, admonishes him for forgetting to be a policeman when he most needed to. Si buscáis acción trepidante o una investigación policial al uso, no lo vais a encontrar aquí. Esta no es una historia para devorar, si no para saborear lentamente (como si de uno de los deliciosos platos preparados por Paola se tratase): sus palabras, sus cafés, sus calles. Venecia y Brunetti, una vez más, no decepcionan.Gracias a su prosa descriptiva, Leon captura con pasmosa facilidad el pulso y el ritmo de Venecia, pero no de la Venecia atestada por hordas de turistas, si no de la Venecia real, la de aquellos que viven allí, siendo los momentos más memorables esos pequeños detalles del día a día, esas interacciones en apariencia irrelevantes, pero que permiten crear una atmósfera de un lugar que, aunque no cambia en su superficie, bajo esta se encuentra en continuo cambio. The story begins when Alvise is detained at a gay rights demonstration in Treviso for resisting arrest. It gives Paola a good laugh that Guido has never realized after years of working with him that Alvise is gay. In Donna Leon’s sure hands, the crime novel becomes an instrument for exploring social justice and universal truths about human behavior while beautifully telling a compelling story.” —Barbara Peters, The Poisoned Pen Bookstore, Scottsdale, Arizona Mindful of the past, Brunetti has much to ponder. Meanwhile one of his officers runs into trouble at a Gay pride parade. The past and present are on a collision course. At that time the owners were away. It turns out the wife is an old friend of Guido’s from his childhood, Gloria Forcolin.