Death at La Fenice by Donna LeonMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Death at La Fenice is the 1st book in the exciting Guido Brunetti Series by Donna Leon, set in the beautiful, romantic, mysterious and unique city of Venice.
The series features Commissario Guido Brunetti, family man, modest, moral, loyal and philosophical detective extraordinaire.
When famed conductor Helmut Wellauer is found dead in his dressing room between Acts 2 and 3 of the of LA TRAVIATA at the La Fenicia theatre, Brunetti is assigned to investigate the murder by cyanide poisoning.
He immediately realizes that there’s a lot more about the victim than what he’s being told by the suspects …….his much younger wife and soprano, Flavia Petrelli and her lesbian lover, Brett Lynch and the people in his life who have been offended by his homophobic views. Brunetti also discovers Wellauer’s past as a Nazi sympathizer.
Narrated from Commissario Brunetti’s POV, we accompany him on his investigation and we experience his thoughts and musings as he works through the clues.
He’s forced to make choices between what the law is and what he believes is right. And that’s where we see the side of Brunetti that makes him such a moral person.
I enjoyed the segments with Brunetti’s family. There’s such love and warmth in their home. And I loved Paola, his wife.
If you enjoy a well-crafted and well-written story with beautiful settings and unforgettable characters, then this is the series for you.
I loved this segment in the book…………..
“Where does American money come from? Steel. Railways. You know how it is over there. It doesn’t matter if you murder or rob to get it. The trick is in keeping it for a hundred years, and then you’re aristocrats.’ ‘Is that so different from here?’ Brunetti asked. ‘Of course,’ Padovani explained, smiling. ‘Here we have to keep it five hundred years before we’re aristocrats. And there’s another difference. In Italy, you have to be well-dressed. In America, it’s difficult to tell which are the millionaires and which are the servants.”
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