Death At La Fenice

Donna Leon

Editions

Review

Donna Leon introduces us to Commisario Brunetti, a native Venetian returned to his home town after a stint in Naples.  The poor man has the usual problems: lazy subordinates, a vain and stupid boss, too much bureaucracy to deal with, difficult in-laws, and two teenage children.  And he has to live in Venice, and his wife is beautiful and sympathetic, from a rich family.  OK, so perhaps life isn’t all that bad.  Anyway, on with the story -

A distinguished German conductor (complete with murky, possibly Nazi, past) drops dead backstage at La Fenice, in the second interval of ‘La Traviata’.  Whodunnit?  His young Hungarian-born wife?  The celebrated soprano he was blackmailing over her lesbian affair?  Her feisty girlfriend?  A humiliated musician?  Brunetti works his way through the evidence - and about three hundred espressos - to arrive at the ingenious and satisfying solution.  The author just about manages not to drop too many snippets of guidebook information into the story, and the result is very diverting. - review by Dan Fenton