Acqua Alta [Paperback]

Donna Leon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 31, 2004

Donna Leon's growing American fan base is hungry for more of the books from her internationally bestselling series featuring Commissario Guido Brunetti. Now in what many consider one of the finest in the series, Venice braces for the onslaught of acqua alta-the rising waters from torrential rain. But Brunetti has his own problems, beginning with the savage beating of an old friend. When a man's body is discovered, Brunetti must wade through the chaos to solve one of his deadliest cases. Full of marvelous plot twists, Acqua Alta is a chilling addition to Donna Leon's addictive series.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

An American living near Venice, Donna Leon has crafted an imaginative series of mysteries set in the waterborne city, all starring police detective Guido Brunetti. In this, the fifth installment, Brunetti sets out to investigate an assault on an American archeologist who herself is investigating a museum exhibition of Chinese antiquities. The moods of Venice and the reflections of the canny, emotional detective are the most affecting qualities of the book. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

In Leon's fifth Commissario Guido Brunetti mystery, the beating of renowned art historian Dotoressa Brett Lynch draws the contemporary Venetian police detective out of his warm and loving home and into the yearly onslaught of acqua alta, the torrential winter rains. Brett, an American who spearheaded a recent exhibition of Chinese pottery in Venice, lives with her lover, Flavia Petrelli, the reigning diva of La Scala. With his open mind and good sense, Brunetti finds himself more fazed by Flavia's breathtaking talent than by the nontraditional relationship between the two women. Brunetti's deliberate and humane investigation to uncover a motive for Brett's beating takes him to dark, wet corners of Venice and into a sinister web of art theft, fakery and base human desires. While there may be a whiff of stereotype in Brunetti's assumptions about a character of Sicilian heritage, the action builds to a dramatic and deeply satisfying climax. Intricate and intimate descriptions of Venetian life fill these pages and prove that Leon has once again created a high-stakes mystery in which the setting vibrates with as much life as the story itself.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (August 31, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0142004960
• ISBN-13: 978-0142004968
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #678,663 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

A New Yorker of Irish/Spanish descent, Donna Leon first went to Italy in 1965, returning regularly over the next decade or so while pursuing a career as an academic in the States and then later in Iran, China and finally Saudi Arabia. Leon has received both the CWA Macallon Silver Dagger for Fiction and the German Corrine Prize for her novels featuring Commisario Guido Brunetti. She lives in Venice.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Donna Leon fans should rush to Amazon.co.uk!, July 3, 1999

By 

Susan K. Hughes "wordwright" (San Antonio, TX USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Acqua Alta (Hardcover)

"Aqua Alta" is another splendid, can't-put-it-down engagement with Guido Brunetti. I despaired of reading any more of Donna Leon's fine prose and carefully crafted plots when notified last year that publication had been cancelled of a forthcoming book. Led by a note in another review, I checked out Amazon.co.uk, where I found "Death of Faith," "A Noble Radiance," and the book I just finished, "Fatal Remedies." Each is as good or better than its predecessor. I remain a dedicated fan. (Be aware, "The Anonymous Venetian" was published in the US with the title "Dressed for Death.") Also, some of Leon's works that are out-of-print in the US are available in the UK.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another winner by Donna Leon, November 11, 2004

By 

Kaye Barlow (Vancouver Island, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Acqua Alta (Paperback)

I recently discovered this mystery writer and am backtracking to read all her books. She never fails to deliver a wonderful read. Her picture of Venice and its society and politics is piercingly honest and although she shows all that society's warts and corruption, there is a sense of objectivity and compassion in her telling and in her police commissario, Guido Brunetti. Brunetti is a full, well-realized character and his family gives him even more depth. Contrary to many mysteries, where all the loose ends are tied up and justice is served. Her stories often end with ambiguity and not necessarily with the bad guys getting their just rewards.

As an aside, his relationship and dealings with his superior, Patta, is worth the price of admission and give an even stronger, quite humorous picture of his control and tolerance.

Acqua Alta, the title, refers to the seasonal torrential rains of Venice and provides a backdrop to a tale of art, thefts and violence.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Acquisition Fever, January 14, 2005

By 

Pamela - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Acqua Alta (Paperback)

I bought this after reading "Doctored Evidence," Donna Leon's latest book. I think beatings and violence in mysteries are overused and boring so I'm subtracting one star, but I enjoyed the atmospheric descriptions of Venice and am a fan of mysteries about the art world or Italy (so I also recommend Iain Pears' "art history-mystery" books). This novel portrays acquisition lust at its ugliest. I have added four more Donna Leon books to my amazon.com shopping cart.