Through a Glass Darkly by
Donna Leon
pbk out March 07
(Arrow)
at £6.99
A new Brunetti novel is always a pleasure to receive and this one is as
good as always, even though the story-line is a little out of the ordinary,
in that the only murder in it is only by final implication, though we do
have one corpse.
Commissario Brunetti, the equivalent of a Detective-Superintendent, is
approached by his assistant who asks him to help Marco, a friend who has
been arrested for demonstrating against the chemical pollution of the
Venetian lagoon. The story-line takes a sharp turn, as Marco's wife
claims that her father, who owns a glass-works on Murano Island, has
threatened her husband's life. While unofficially looking into this as a
favour, Brunetti uncovers a more sinister pollution issue, in which the
main whistle-blower ends up nastily-dead before a glass furnace.
I found the denouement a little weak, but that is easily forgiven for the
beautiful flow of words and the familiar and almost comforting accounts
of Brunetti's life-style and family. Inevitably one notices the similarity
between Venice's Brunetti and Paris's Maigret – both middle-aged
detectives with a loving wife and comfortable home – and endless
descriptions of their cuisine and the way in which they pop in an out of
bars and patisseries to have their coffee, pastries and drinks!
A little like Ed McBain's family, they do not age, as Brunetti's two teen-
agers seemed to have been static throughout a dozen books. Apart from
the raft of characters – including his wife Paola, Brunetti's lazy, vain boss
Patta, and Elletra, the lovely genius who is his secretary – the books are
famous for their evocative description of Venice itself, being almost a
guide-book to the city, complete with maps inside the covers.
Donna Leon is herself a fascinating person – an American of Irish-
Spanish ancestry, she never set foot in Italy until she was about twenty.
She taught English in many countries but has lived in Venice for many
years. Her award-winning books have been published in numerous
languages – but never into Italian!
(
Bernard Knight
ex Home Office Pathologist and author of the highly acclaimed Crowner John series)
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Through a Glass Darkly by
Donna Leon
