The Girl of His Dreams: A Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery: 17 (The Commissario Guido Brunetti Mysteries) - Softcover

Leon, Donna

Softcover

ISBN 10: 080212691X ISBN 13: 9780802126917

Publisher: Black Cat, 2017

Synopsis

When a friend of Commissario Guido Brunetti's brother, a priest recently returned from years of missionary work in Africa, calls on him with a request, Brunetti suspects the man has hidden motives. An American-style Christian group has begun meeting in private homes in the city, and it's possible the priest is merely wary of the competition. Nevertheless, Brunetti and his wife, Paola, decide to go undercover. But when a girl's body is found floating in a canal, Brunetti must put everything aside to investigate the secretive world her people, the gypsies, who exist on the fringes of Italian society. Originally published in 2008, Donna Leon's The Girl of His Dreams is classic Donna Leon.

About this title

Review:

Donna Leon’s engaging books have been the cheapest way to travel to Italy for quite some time -- and her legion of admirers know that the Venice of her protagonist Commissario Brunetti is a wonderful destination for the crime fiction lover. Leon, an American expat who now lives in la Serenissima (with such luminaries as opera singer Cecilia Bartoli as one of her friends) has gone native – in no uncertain terms. Her knowledge of Brunetti’s water-logged beat is transmuted into vivid and evocative narratives: the Grand Canal and the Rialto Bridge are often the dark passageways to another, darker Italy, where hidden (and not-so-hidden) corruption – in politics and daily life – is very much an everyday thing (as headlines in the papers – not just in Donna Leon’s books –remind us on a daily basis).

The Girl of his Dreams demonstrates how much life is left in the Leon/Brunetti criminal world. A child’s body is found floating near some steps on the Grand Canal – it is that of a dead girl. But there have been no reports of missing children -- and the search for the identity of the youthful victim and her family takes Brunetti to many varied destinations, including a Gypsy encampment on the mainland, and (eventually), he turns up some very nasty secrets. As ever, it’s not just the villains who thwart Brunetti at every turn – it’s the venality and clandestine nature of the establishment that hampers him, almost as a matter of course.

This is Leon on effortless form – Brunetti fans need not hesitate. --Barry Forshaw

Review:

Praise for The Girl of His Dreams

"Gorgeously written . . . [A] superlative series."--Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review

"Donna Leon is best known for her subtle and enduring Commissario Guido Brunetti detective series, set in Venice . . . The Girl of His Dreams is Leon's 17th Brunetti outing and one of her finest; a cunning novel of great depth."--Anna Mundow, Boston Globe

"The Girl of His Dreams helps me understand why Leon has such a fervent following . . . Brunetti is a marvel: smart, cultured and dedicated to his work, all the more so when the pompous inept superior tries to rein him in . . . Free of coincidence of obvious contrivance, The Girl of His Dreams is a showcase of nuanced characterization, acute observation and seamless plotting."--Washington Post

"Book by book, expatriate American writer Donna Leon has been telling a secret history of Venice. Her 17th Commissario Guido Brunetti book, not surprisingly, is bookended by funerals. In between she delves into crimes against the Romany, political correctness and the comforts of family in times of loss in a story so perfectly balanced that it feels as though it glides on a dark, still, silent waterway."--John Freeman, Minneapolis Star-Tribune

"It begins in a cemetery and ends in one, but in the midst of death, Donna Leon affirms life in The Girl of His Dreams . . . As much about family as about crime, Leon's literate and humane novels are as moving as any in the genre. And The Girl of His Dreams is a dream come true for those who love intelligent entertainment."--Richmond Times-Dispatch

"As fans of this series know, Brunetti loves his family and his familiar comforts. Long lunches, ideally in the family apartment, are chronicled in detail, allowing a vicarious tasting of such midday repasts as fusili with black olives, mozzarella, and fresh basil, followed by calamari stuffed with carrots, leeks, 'perhaps even some chopped shrimp.' Such breaks make it easier for Brunetti to deal with the harsh realities of his job . . . And just as she allows Brunetti those few breaks . . . so, too, does Leon offer palliatives to her readers. The quality of life in Venice may be sinking faster than the island itself, as local fruit stands now carry only tourist knickknacks and the wait for the vaporetto grows ever longer. But what remains is beautiful, especially in springtime, despite the presence of death and the absence of justice. It is this contrast, and Leon's subtly lyrical evocation of it, as much as the food or the central mystery that makes her books irresistible. And once again, in The Girl of His Dreams, all the decay only makes the beauty more poignant."--Clea Simon, Boston Globe

"As heartfelt and moving as Brunetti's best."--Kirkus Reviews

"[A] remarkably rich series . . . As it evolves, it becomes clear that Leon deserves her place not only with the finest international crime writers (Michael Dibdin and Henning Mankell, for example) but also with literary novelists who explore the agonies of the everyday (Margaret Drabble and Anne Tyler, among others)."--Booklist

About this edition

• Publisher: Black Cat
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 080212691X
• ISBN 13: 9780802126917
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 304