Drawing Conclusions by Donna Leon
This novel is a quieter story than many of hers, with less food. (And usually the lovely food is one of the draws for this series.) Here, a young woman, Signora Giusti has returned home early from a trip to meet her fiance's family and certain things don't seem right about her downstairs neighbour, Signora Altavilla, not responding to her calls or knocks. She goes to use her key to see what is wrong and finds the door unlocked and, after going into the living area, finds her neighbour dead on the floor, with blood near her head.
It is the blood that decides her to call the police, and thus Guido Brunetti enters the story.
The autopsy shows that the woman died of a heart attack, and yet Brunetti can't help but feel that isn't the whole story. There are the marks on her neck, and the nails on the wall.
As Brunetti progresses in the case he gets the helpful assistance of Signorina Elettra in gathering information and his search leads to an organization that helps victims of domestic abuse, and a luxury nursing home.
His case makes him miss more than one lunch at home, but he finds the consolation of his loving wife and some champagne before dinner make up for it.
I enjoy this series but, like you, I enjoy the foodie bits, so it seems rather a pity to make poor Brunetti miss lunch!
ReplyDeleteAt one missed lunch, he was at a cafe and ordered toast, which was white bread with cheese and ham. It was so bad, that after one bite he kept pushing it further away from him.
ReplyDeleteIn spite of the missing food, I think this is one of Leon's best in the series. I really enjoyed it.
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