Blood from a Stone: 14 (The Commissario Guido Brunetti Mysteries) - Softcover

Leon, Donna

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0802146031 ISBN 13: 9780802146038

Publisher: Black Cat, 2014

Synopsis

"Commissario Guido Brunetti's fourteenth case may be his best yet." -Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

On a cold Venetian night shortly before Christmas, a street vendor is killed in a scuffle in Campo San Stefano. The closest witnesses to the event are the tourists who had been browsing the fake designer handbags that the man was selling. The dead man is one of the many African immigrants purveying goods outside normal shop hours and trading without a work permit. Like everybody involved, Commissario Brunetti wonders why anyone would kill an illegal immigrant. But once Brunetti begins to investigate this unfamiliar Venetian underworld, he discovers that matters of great value are at stake within the secretive society. Warned by Patta, his superior, to resist further involvement in the case, Brunetti only becomes more determined to unearth the truth behind this mysterious killing. Reluctant as he is to let this event be smugly relegated to the category of "not worth dealing with," how far will Brunetti be able to penetrate the murky subculture in this illegal community? Blood from a Stone is an exquisite and irresistible mystery offering an unexpected take on life in contemporary Venice.

"A subtle and sophisticated mystery"-New York Times

"Stunning... Leon combines an engrossing, complex plot with an indictment fo the corruption endemic in Italian society." -Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Richly atmospheric, Leon introduces you to the Venice insiders know." -USA Today

"The evocative Venitian setting and the warmth and humanity of the Brunetti family add considerable pleasure to this nuanced, intelligent mystery; another winner from Venice-based Leon. Highly recommended" -Library Journal (starred review)

About this title

Review:

The latest of Donna Leon's novels about principled Venetian cop Brunetti, Blood from a Stone is one of her timeliest. Two mysterious white men carry out a professional hit on one of the Somali traders who illegally hawk counterfeit luggage in a local square, and for some reason, Brunetti's superiors are remarkably keen that the case be left unsolved. Is this mere casual institutional racism, or something even more sinister? Brunetti, like many other fictional policemen, has no particular gift for obedience to unreasonable orders, and has also a left-wing academic wife to prod his already active conscience. Donna Leon is not usually as political as she is here; this is one of her more biting thrillers in its indictment of international trade and the security state.

Brunetti has rarely been this melancholy--this is a thriller set in the dead of a Venice winter, and the cold, wet winds eat into our bones as we read. ---Roz Kaveney

Review:

"The fabulous Donna Leon" (Antonia Fraser Spectator)

"The thoughtful and charming [Brunetti] is on top form... His nicely balanced world...is cumulatively engrossing" (Sunday Times)

"Donna Leon has a wonderful feel for the hidden evils that lie below the façade of the magical city" (The Times)

"[Leon's] passion for all things Venetian - churches, palaces, statues and especially the food - comes over loud and clear... No one writes about the grey areas of life better" (Guardian)

"It would be simply perverse not to acknowledge the skill with which Leon has assembled these familiar elements... The reader comes to look forward to Paola's elegant Venetian lunches as much as Brunetti does...Comfort reading of the highest order" (TLS)

About this edition

• Publisher: Black Cat
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0802146031
• ISBN 13: 9780802146038
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 304