Trace Elements: A Comissario Guido Brunetti Mystery

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  • Trace Elements: A Comissario Guido Brunetti Mystery by Donna Leon

From the New York Times bestselling author of Unto Us a Son is Given, comes one of her most dark and thrilling mysteries yet.

A woman's cryptic dying words in a Venetian hospice lead Guido Brunetti to uncover a threat to the entire region in Donna Leon's haunting twenty-ninth Brunetti novel.

When Dottoressa Donato calls the Questura to report that a dying patient at the hospice Fatebenefratelli wants to speak to the police, Commissario Guido Brunetti and his colleague, Claudia Griffoni, waste no time in responding.

"They killed him. It was bad money. I told him no," Benedetta Toso gasps the words about her recently-deceased husband, Vittorio Fadalto. Even though he is not sure she can hear him Brunetti softly promises he and Griffoni will look into what initially appears to be a private family tragedy. They discover that Fadalto worked in the field collecting samples of contamination for a company that measures the cleanliness of Venice's water supply and that he had died in a mysterious motorcycle accident. Distracted briefly by Vice Questore Patta's obsession with youth crime in Venice, Brunetti is bolstered once more by the remarkable research skills of Patta's secretary, Signora Elettra Zorzi. Piecing together the tangled threads, in time Brunetti comes to realize the perilous meaning in the woman's accusation and the threat it reveals to the health of the entire region. But justice in this case proves to be ambiguous, as Brunetti is reminded it can be when, seeking solace, he reads Aeschylus's classic play The Eumenides.

As she has done so often through her memorable characters and storytelling skill, Donna Leon once again engages our sensibilities as to the differences between guilt and responsibility.

Trace Elements: A Comissario Guido Brunetti Mystery
$17.00
Available for Backorder
Description

The New York Times-bestselling author of Unto Us a Son Is Given continues "one of the most exquisite and subtle detective series ever" (The Washington Post).

When a dying hospice patient gasps that her husband was murdered over "bad money," Commissario Brunetti softly promises he and his colleague, Claudia Griffoni, will look into what initially appears to be a private family tragedy. They discover that the man had worked in the field, collecting samples of contamination for a company that measures the cleanliness of Venice's water supply, and that he had recently died in a mysterious motorcycle accident. Piecing together the tangled threads, Brunetti comes to realize the perilous meaning in the woman's accusation and the threat it reveals to the health of the entire region. But justice in this case proves to be ambiguous, as Brunetti is reminded it can be when he reads Aeschylus's classic play The Eumenides.

Praise for Donna Leon's Commissario Brunetti Mysteries

"[Leon] has never become perfunctory, never failed to give us vivid portraits of people and of Venice, never lost her fine, disillusioned indignation." --Ursula K. LeGuin, author of Dancing at the Edge of the World

"You become so wrapped up in these compelling characters. . . . Each one is better than the last." --Louise Erdrich, winner of the National Book Award for Fiction

"Leon's Venetian mysteries never disappoint, calling up the romantic sights and sounds of La Serenissima even as they acquaint us with the practical matters that concern the city's residents." --The New York Times Book Review

"The sophisticated but still moral Brunetti, with his love of food and his loving family, proves a worthy custodian of timeless values and verities." --The Wall Street Journal

Description

The New York Times-bestselling author of Unto Us a Son Is Given continues "one of the most exquisite and subtle detective series ever" (The Washington Post).

When a dying hospice patient gasps that her husband was murdered over "bad money," Commissario Brunetti softly promises he and his colleague, Claudia Griffoni, will look into what initially appears to be a private family tragedy. They discover that the man had worked in the field, collecting samples of contamination for a company that measures the cleanliness of Venice's water supply, and that he had recently died in a mysterious motorcycle accident. Piecing together the tangled threads, Brunetti comes to realize the perilous meaning in the woman's accusation and the threat it reveals to the health of the entire region. But justice in this case proves to be ambiguous, as Brunetti is reminded it can be when he reads Aeschylus's classic play The Eumenides.

Praise for Donna Leon's Commissario Brunetti Mysteries

"[Leon] has never become perfunctory, never failed to give us vivid portraits of people and of Venice, never lost her fine, disillusioned indignation." --Ursula K. LeGuin, author of Dancing at the Edge of the World

"You become so wrapped up in these compelling characters. . . . Each one is better than the last." --Louise Erdrich, winner of the National Book Award for Fiction

"Leon's Venetian mysteries never disappoint, calling up the romantic sights and sounds of La Serenissima even as they acquaint us with the practical matters that concern the city's residents." --The New York Times Book Review

"The sophisticated but still moral Brunetti, with his love of food and his loving family, proves a worthy custodian of timeless values and verities." --The Wall Street Journal

ISBN
9780802148681
Publisher
Publication Date
March 16, 2021
Binding
Paperback
Item Condition
New
Language
English
Pages
288
Series
The Commissario Guido Brunetti Mysteries
Series Number
29
Keywords
Fiction | Mystery & Detective | International Crime & Mystery; Fiction | Mystery & Detective | Hard-Boiled; Fiction | LGBTQ+ | Gay; Fiction | Mystery & Detective | Police Procedural

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