Death At La Fenice by Donna
Leon (1992).
The
crime scene is in Opera house.
The
city is Venice.
The
victim is a world famous Conductor.
The
method is a Poison.
The
cause is LOVE at any rate, LUST.
The
perfect setting for possibly one of the most ROMANTIC mysteries.
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layers. – Guido Brunetti. One of three commissaries in
the city and the smartest.
Like all other great detectives,
he is never in a hurry. Always takes time to assort the priorities and executes them
with easy and patience.
Not a light-bulb kind of
detectives who come up with a great inspiration all the time, but one who
follow the procedure and uncover the clues, step by step, with precision and
stubbornness of hound.
A very gentle and thoughtful investigator
whose priority, it seems, is doing the right thing and protecting the weakest
than delivering the law and solving the crime which more often than not hurt
the injured party even worse.
Since this is my first Brunetti’s book, it is hard to say for
sure, but I think he has a very strong moral code which sometimes goes above or
beyond the law.
A dedicated family man. Here’s
his family.
1. Paola.
– A very smart woman who reads every newspaper in Venice. Her parents, the Count and Countess
Falier, is outrageously rich (old money) and one of the dying breed that belong
to the previous generation.
2. Raffaelle.
– 15 years old boy who is in the middle of puberty. A huge headache.
3.
Chiara. – A very mature 9 yrs old girl.
Their
favorite family activity is a Monopoly, by the way.
Cavaliere Giuseppe Patta. Vice-Questore. Brunetti’s immediate superior.
One of those incompetent bosses
that every good detective novels need to give a hero extra-challenge and little
twist.
A strikingly handsome man who is also
extremely over-dressed for his job with silver cane and long cigarette holder
is considered as a joke.
Because he got his job through
his powerful father’s connection, he is a typical bureaucrap who demands the
impossible, never takes the responsibility and always makes his subordinates’
job even more difficult than what it is.
In other word, just an incredibly
stupid guy that we love to hate.
Oh, and he COLOR-COORDINATES
everything he wears/carries, like black cigarette holder with black Russian
cigarette. Fascinating.
Demetriano Padorari. A
formal classmate of Paola and a very brilliant art critic who is something of a
terror for both museum directors and painters alike. The voice of real gossip
behind the curtain.
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lace. – The beautiful city of Venice, Northeast Italy. The
author obviously loves the city so much, she makes sure we, Readers, understand
the beauty of it by vividly describing the city almost with every chapter.
Wherever Brunetti goes, he looks around his surroundings he loves and
through his observing eyes and acute self-explanation, we discover the city not
from the tourist’s point of view but one with locals’.
According to my friend who
recently visited Venice, the tour guide in the
city actually told his guests if you want to know more about the real life of Venice, don’t bother
checking the internet or guide book, just go and pick up Donna Leon’s books.
She has an approval of both
citizens of Venice
and local tour guides, too. They love her in Venice, no doubt.
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lot. – Very straight forward.
A world famous conductor, Maestro
Helmut Wellauer was killed during his concert in opera house called Teatra La
Fenice. (Therefore, “Death at La Fenice”)
Someone put a deadly poison in
his coffee cup during the second intermission.
Maestro who possessed extraordinary
talent for music has huge number of admirers all around the world. But his
popularity granted him God-like status in the music world. This with his
outrageous personality created quite a few enemies, too.
Out hero, commissario Brunetti has to comb through all the
witnesses, friends and past acquaintances(old lovers, gay stage manager,
lesbian singer, retired journalist, etc…) to find out the evil behind the
murder.
Brunetti does
everything he has to do with very logical, step by step approach and with a bit
of imagination, reaches the conclusion at the end of the book.
The plot is well constructed and
the ending, with an interesting surprise, is perfect for this book.
Just
PERFECT!!
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erdict. –This is a very sophisticated
story in a very beautiful city.
“Because this was Venice, the police came
by boat”
Now,
THIS line sums up the entire novel.
It is a beautiful written and
gently narrated book. Romantic, even. How romantic? Let me give you an example.
When Brunetti and his friend went to the famous(expensive!!) restaurant
called Galleggiante, the supreme
waitress Signora Antonia not just
recites all the selections and specials for the day( menu does exist but
regulars never bother to look at it ever), but also decide what they should eat
and drink.
If you are brave enough to add
something to the order, you should ask Antonia, like, if you might possibly, if
Signora advised it, have perhaps a salad as well?
You see, as a customer, you need
her permission to add something to the dishes!!
It
is just wonderful, WONDERFUL!!
This is one of those books that I
just can’t help myself but smiling as soon as I start reading the first page
and still grinning long after finishing the last page.
Big
salute to Donna Leon.
What a wonderful writer.
