BOOK: Death and Judgment by Donna Leon

Death and Judgment by Donna Leon, 326 pages

February in Venice (book 4 of 20 in the Guido Brunetti series)

This mystery started a little slow, and didn't seem to have anything special about it but I kept going and when Commisario Guido Brunetti, the lead detective, appeared and the story picked up. With this as only the second book I've read in the series, (I read Death in la Fenice last year), I'm not yet familiar with the characters and all the relationships. By the end of the book, having met some of the difficult police officers that Brunetti works with, knowing his wife and daughter better, and ending on a bit of an ongoing personnel development, I'm looking forward to the next book.

my sister on right, me on left in Padua

 I read this for Venice in February, and the setting did not disappoint. Brunetti live in Venice proper, so walks around, grabs gondolas or vaporettas to get to work. He had to travel to Padua to meet with another detective regarding the murder, and I went to Padua at the end of my Mediterranean cruise! To get to our hotel that last night, we took the train from the Venice train station. 

The plot involved powerful men, prostitutes being imported from poor countries, and the red tape and political cover ups that seem to be endemic in Italy. Luckily, Brunetti is a stand up guy, with clear morals, who is trying to do his part to solve crimes in Venice.