Saturday 21 June 2008

Italian Mystery

Finished June 21
The Girl of His Dreams by Donna Leon
This is the newest Commissario Guido Brunetti mystery, and it begins with the funeral of his mother. There is a story here that involves a priest that gave a blessing at the funeral and his request that Brunetti look into a possible scam by a religious personage.
The main story involves a young girl found drowned in a canal. She is only eleven and it is this girl who haunts Brunetti's dreams. He is bothered by the circumstances of both her life and her death and feels compelled to look into both further.
Brunetti always faces interesting moral situations, situations that cause him to look hard at Venetian society and the actions of its people and institutions. They also always cause him to look for assistance to his wonderful wife Paola and take her opinions very seriously. I very much like his character and several of the other characters in his department, both police and civilian.
The stories are always more than just mysteries and never have easy answers.
There is also always good food, and good food in Italy is some of the best.

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