'Leon's books are a joy, and the 19th Venice-based Commissario Brunetti novel is well up to her consistently high standard.' Guardian

A Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Bestseller
One of Deadly Pleasures Best Novels of the Year
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As Venice experiences a debilitating heatwave, Commissario Brunetti escapes the city to spend time with his family. For Ispettore Vianello, however, the weather is the last thing on his mind. It appears his aunt has become obsessed with horoscopes and has been withdrawing large amounts of money from the family business. Not knowing what to do, he consults Brunetti and asks permission to trail her.

Meanwhile, Brunetti receives a visit from a friend who works at the Commune. It seems that discrepancies have been occurring at the Courthouse involving a judge and an usher with a flawless track record. Intrigued, Brunetti asks Signorina Elettra to find out what she can while he's away.

When news reaches Brunetti that the usher from the Courthouse has been viciously murdered, he returns to investigate. But why would someone want a good man dead, and what might his death have to do with the Courthouse discrepancies?

In the nineteenth Brunetti novel of the series our police hero solves another compelling and sinister Venetian mystery, from award-winning crime writer Donna Leon.

About the Author

Donna Leon was named by The Times as one of the 50 Greatest Crime Writers. She is an award-winning crime novelist, celebrated for the bestselling Brunetti series. Donna has lived in Venice for thirty years and previously lived in Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Iran and China, where she worked as a teacher. Donna's books have been translated into thirty-five languages and have been published around the world.

Her previous novels featuring Commissario Brunetti have all been highly acclaimed; including Friends in High Places, which won the CWA Macallan Silver Dagger for Fiction, Fatal Remedies, Doctored Evidence, A Sea of Troubles and Beastly Things.

Reviews
Leon's books are a joy, and the 19th Venice-based Commissario Brunetti novel is well up to her consistently high standard * Guardian *
Leon excels in the claustrophobia of families, the Italian class system and the sinister aspects of Venice that the tourists don't see -- Marcel Berlins * The Times *
To read a Donna Leon novel is to have an armchair holiday in her lovingly described Venice, in the company of an old friend - the amiable Commissario Brunetti . . . Leon never fails to impress with her carefully wrought plots and believable characters * Daily Mail *
Knowingness, or an illusion of knowingness, is essential to successful crime-writing . . . Donna Leon has mastered this technique perfectly -- Jonathan Keates * TLS *
Donna Leon has established a special hold on the reader's imagination, so it is almost easier to imagine the Commissario returning to lunch with his feisty wife, just round the corner, than almost any other fiction character in the immortal (we hope) city. . . A Question of Belief is particularly enjoyable...Donna Leon's great skill is to invest the characters in her crime novels with a kind of humanity, even the wrongdoers. . . [a] marvellous evocation of the magic city, and its inhabitants of all types -- Antonia Fraser * The Lady *



Book Information
ISBN 9780099547624
Author Donna Leon
Format Paperback
Page Count 320
Imprint Arrow Books Ltd
Publisher Cornerstone
Weight(grams) 223g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 19mm