In his eighteenth case, Leon?s Venetian commissario Guido Brunetti once again puts human feeling before the need to close cases. And, as always, there are multiple cases to close (or not), each rippling out in many directions, pushing at the lives of both innocent and guilty. It begins with a dinner party at which Brunetti meets a charming and beautiful woman (though, apparently, with a weakness for plastic surgery) who wants to talk about classical Italian literature. Brunetti is taken by the contradiction, a plastic face shielding a scholar?s mind, and finds himself intrigued by the woman?s past?conveniently so, it turns out, when his wife?s father asks him to make inquiries about the woman?s husband, a potential business partner.
Meanwhile, a carabiniere investigator needs Brunetti?s help in a case involving the illegal hauling of garbage. Soon the investigator is dead, and Brunetti...
Visa mer
In his eighteenth case, Leon?s Venetian commissario Guido Brunetti once again puts human feeling before the need to close cases. And, as always, there are multiple cases to close (or not), each rippling out in many directions, pushing at the lives of both innocent and guilty. It begins with a dinner party at which Brunetti meets a charming and beautiful woman (though, apparently, with a weakness for plastic surgery) who wants to talk about classical Italian literature. Brunetti is taken by the contradiction, a plastic face shielding a scholar?s mind, and finds himself intrigued by the woman?s past?conveniently so, it turns out, when his wife?s father asks him to make inquiries about the woman?s husband, a potential business partner.
Meanwhile, a carabiniere investigator needs Brunetti?s help in a case involving the illegal hauling of garbage. Soon the investigator is dead, and Brunetti is following the garbage trail to the doorstep of his Ovid-reading dinner partner.
The signature elements of any Leon novel are present here?the island-like tranquility of Brunetti?s domestic life; his ongoing sparring with his bureaucrat boss?but this time the focus is more on the central stories: the mysterious woman and the garbage scandal. Brunetti tackles environmental malfeasance as he does all the other kinds of rampant governmental corruption he encounters, recognizing that full-frontal assaults are never won by individuals against institutions. Instead, he chips away at the edges of the monolith, carving shreds of hope from seeming hopelessness. No wonder we find him such a comforting presence.
Donna Leon?s eighteen novels have won her countless fans, heaps of critical acclaim, and a place among the top ranks of international crime writers. Through the warm-hearted, perceptive, and principled Commissario Guido Brunetti, Leon?s best-selling books have explored Venice in all its aspects: history, tourism, high culture, food, family, but also violent crime and political corruption.
In About Face, Leon returns to one of her signature subjects: the environment, which has reached a crisis in Italy. Incinerators across the south of Italy are at full capacity, burning who-knows-what and releasing unacceptable levels of dangerous air pollutants, while in Naples, enormous garbage piles grow in the streets. In Venice, with the polluted waters of the canals and a major chemical complex across the lagoon, the issue is never far from the fore.
Environmental concerns become significant in Brunetti?s work when an investigator from the Carabiniere, looking into the illegal hauling of garbage, asks for a favor. But the investigator is not the only one with a special request. His father-in-law needs help and a mysterious woman comes into the picture. Brunetti soon finds himself in the middle of an investigation into murder and corruption more dangerous than anything he?s seen before.
