Customer Reviews

Death and Judgment

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The fourth in a five book series (oh, that Donna Leon would keep writing these....), Death and Judgment brings us back to our dear detective, Guido Brunetti and his family, and his work in Venice. I will steal from a reviewer who suggested that Leon writes three novels in one: about murder, about Venice, and about relationships, because it is true and it is just this that brings us back again and again to see what Brunetti is up against this time. An important lawyer is found dead on the train from Padua to Venice (and of course, Brunetti's supervisor, Patti urges him to consider this a simple robbery "gone bad"). At about the same time a large truck slides off an ice-y mountain road in Northern Italy and the dead bodies of a number of young women are discovered in the back (crushed by the load of lumber in the truck). Then when the dead lawyer's accountant is also found murdered, Brunetti slowly begins to find the connections and uncovers a horrible web of international prostitution and a pornographic film industry built by some truly evil but highly influential and powerful Venetian citizens. As Leon always involves us with Guido's family, especially his dear wife (and local English professor) and children, this novel is no different and Guido's precocious daughter actually helps him solve this case, which has a typically complex yet logical conclusion.

Commissario Guido Brunetti's newest case is the murder of a prominent international lawyer. As he investigates, a link is found between this murder and the murder of an accountant being investigated by a colleague in Padua. These two threads tie back to an winter accident with a truck going off an icy road resulting in the death of several woman without identification.

This is a very well written story of corruption, power and greed. Brunetti is a wonderfully refreshing character; a loyal husband, caring father and respected policeman who loves his city. The humor, relationships and emotions, however, are realistic and not saccharine. The secondary characters are dimensional and interesting. Leon is a wonderful writer who brings Venice to life but doesn't spare on its problems. Although I thought I knew where the story was going, I found myself surprised and the ending depressingly realistic. For those of us who read for character but like good plots as well, I highly recommend this book and series.

Donna Leon is a quietly perceptive and at times a forgivingly cynical narrator of human foibles and relationships under the stress of daily life, politics, bureaucracy and crime.This novel once again brings Commissario Guido Brunetti's empathetic pragmatism and integrity into conflict with the entrenched egocentricity and greed of Venice's and Italy's ruling classes. This is a piece of literature, not just a wonderful novel of crime and detection. Leon manages to make us question our assumptions about everything from political apathy and corruption, to what is honour, and how we live out our values. What a gift this woman must be to her students. Highly recommended for a desert island collection, as well as being a great primer for visitors to Venice. Not to mention being a damn good read.

Please be aware that this book also appeared under the title of A Venetian Reckoning. If you are trying to read the whole series, read one or the other. This is the fourth novel in the Guido Brunetti series of mysteries.

As the book opens, it's late September and a Rumanian truck carrying lumber plunges off the road and into a rock face to open up a grisly scene of crushed and broken young women amid scattered pine boards. Paolo, Guido's wife, notes the story where it remains tucked in her memory until it can provide a critical clue.

The scene shifts to late November when prominent international lawyer Carlo Trevisan is found murdered on a late night train to Venice, where Trevisan lived. Vice-Questore Patta is annoyed that he had been called to the scene when Brunetti could not be reached. The mayor of Venice quickly calls the next morning to ask for a quick and quiet solution. Since there's no evidence of robbery, Brunetti must probe into motives. Who didn't like Trevisan?

Brunetti gets a quick leg up when Signorina Elletra's sister agrees to share information about the wife and daughter of the murdered man, who had been patients. When the crime comes up for discussion at home, Brunetti's daughter, Chiara, says she knows the daughter and agrees to ask around a bit.

When Chiara turns out to be good at snooping through gossiping with friends, there's a major confrontation in the Brunetti household concerning the ethics of such undercover methods employing a minor.

The case becomes more clouded when a successful accountant is found dead of an apparent suicide, but leaving behind the telephone number of the dead attorney in his address book. When the numbers are matched up with the records of the attorney's calling, they show a disturbing pattern . . . including many international calls and to a bar where the ladies rent by the hour in a rough part of town.

Trevisan's widow and her brother seem determined to shut off the police investigation. Frustrated that he's getting nowhere, Brunetti calls in a favor for a judge who tells him more about the background of the attorney and his family. Tracking through a tangled series of clues, the case takes one more twisted turn when the widow's brother is also killed.

The case breaks open quite suddenly when an unexpected clue is dropped into Brunetti's lap. From there, it's a question of how to accomplish justice. But is there any justice other than God's? You may be reminded of the myth of Sisyphus as you contemplate the ending of this existential look at the human condition.

For those who like action and mysteries evolving in ways that they can solve just ahead of the author's revelations, Death and Judgment will be a disappointment. But for those who enjoy tough ethical questions, this is a very fine book. In either case, the book's primary limitation is Ms. Leon's customary dark view of human nature. In this book, she goes about as far as you can go and still slightly separate humans from vicious, uncaring predators.

Death and Judgment is a great read.. holds one 's interest from the get go. There is only one great ere in this book, it had already been written, and by Donna Leon.. yes a title change.. from: A Venetian Reckoning first published in 1995. Now a re relaese under this 'new' title in 2006. All things are in order, there is a statement about the new release, but nothing about the title change. To me this was mis leading.. stating a NEW book by Donna Leon is available.. But if one has not read A Venetian Reckoning.. this book should hold any mystery reader's interest.

A Romanian truck driver and eight women are killed in an accident in the north of Italy during a surprise snowstorm at the end of September. Around the same time, a lawyer, Carlo Trevisan, is killed on a train. The lawyer's death is brought to Commissario Guido Brunetti's attention. Brunetti depends upon the wife of one of the officers and secretary in the office to ferret out information on victims--social information, documentary information.

The reader is interested--ah, a mystery, a lawyer killed, and what have death and judgment to do with it? Death is a kind of judgment, (although capital offenses have been abolished in most European countries). Is death retaliation for a lack of judgment on the lawyer's part?

Guido Brunetti, husband and father, is more than ever featured in these roles in this book. Interestingly, the commissario is depressed about his country's pervasive corruption. He wonders, at times, why bother? He feels Lampedusa was right.

Subsequently an accountant from Padua turns up as another murder victim and he has, as it turns out, Carlo Trevisan's telephone number in his address book. The police officers are left to puzzle out the link. This is a gripping story. The truth is ugly. This mystery is a page turner.

This book is titled Venetian Reckoning in Europe and can be bought in paperback through Amazon's UK website.

This is my first Donna Leon mystery and my first introduction to Brunetti. It won't be my last. Brunetti provides us with a disarming if somewhat ambling policeman working against the backdrop of beautiful Venice, brought to rich atmospheric life skillfully through Leon's writing.

I'm not certain why it's published under 2 different names and I didn't feel that Death and Judgment exactly captured the essence of this caper. Nevertheless, it was a good solid read with a charming protagonist, complex plot and multi-dimensional characters. Nicely cadenced, graceful and accomplished, with a plot that juxtaposes the ugliness of crime against the corruption of some of Italy's elite. I'll be back for more of Leon's Brunetti novels.

The great thing about Donna Leon's Brunetti detective series is that you can jump in anywhere without missing anything from a previous book. I have read a dozen of her marvelous stories before this one, and found this to be completely up to par with the rest of the series. Brunetti and his family and Venice and the Veneto are beautifully presented by the author in "Death and Judment," and as always, the reader feels a real empathy for the major and minor characters. Leon doesn't pull punches in her examinations of Italy's political and social problems and Brunetti and his wife, Paolo, give humane and insightful voices to the author's pained concerns for her adopted city and country. This is a good read by any standard.
One word of caution--this book and one or two others have been released in the UK and U.S. under different titles. Check to make sure you haven't already bought it under the other name.

Donna Leon writes great mysteries. The Commissario is a wonderful character, patient in the face of official stupidity, but always on the alert for the best way to deal with roadblocks. The web of corruption in Death and Judgment is frightening, the arrogance of the killers appalling, but Guido Brunetti always makes me feel that there is still hope for justice. I also enjoy reading about Brunetti's family. His wife, Paola, is his true partner, independent, feisty and loving, and their children are a pleasure.