Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Guest Blog--The Anonymous Venetian by Donna Leon

An acquaintance recommended Donna Leon several years ago. After reading one of her novels about Commissario Brunetti, I began looking for them in all of the local libraries. The Anonymous Venetian is actually Donna Leon's third novel; copyrighted in 1994. How I missed reading it earlier, I have no idea. Once again I was so impressed with her writing style. And I am secretly much in love with the Commissario. Fortunately he is very devoted to his beautiful wife Paolo, a professor of English literature in Venice. Of course, this only makes him a more attractive, fictitious character.

In this novel a body dressed in a red dress and red high-heeled shoes is found dead near an industrial area. The body turns out to be that of a man and it doesn't take long for Brunetti to realize that the legs must have been shaved after his death since none of the nicks on his legs bled. Of course, the victim is not at all what he seems to be.

Too often Leon's novels end on an unsatisfactory note because of corruption in Italian society and government. I won't give away the ending on this one. Most of her novels follow the investigator's thought processes and his gathering of information and move rather slowly. This one has enough violence and action that I can actually understand why apparently the novels have been adapted for German television. Leon has never disappointed me and this one certainly did not. Her mysteries are always worth reading.

1 comment:

Blogger said...

I'm glad I'm not the only one who has crushes on fictional characters.