Customer Reviews

The Girl of His Dreams (A Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

As reader comments on Mr. Nicholas's review have already made clear, this is probably not the Donna Leon novel to start with if you're new to the series. Start at the beginning with "Death at La Fenice" and get to know Commissario Brunetti, his family, his co-workers and his beautiful, corrupt city of Venice. If you fall in love with all of them, as so many of us have come to do, then you'll probably want to read the rest in something close to chronological order if you can.

Here's the list, in order, updated in March 2011: "Death at La Fenice," "Death in a Strange Country" "Dressed for Death," "Death and Judgment," "Acqua Alta," "Quietly in Their Sleep," "A Noble Radiance, " "Fatal Remedies," "Friends in High Places," "A Sea of Troubles," "Willful Behavior," "Uniform Justice," "Doctored Evidence," "Blood from a Stone," "Through a Glass, Darkly," "Suffer the Little Children," "The Girl of His Dreams," "About Face," "A Question of Belief," and "Drawing Conclusions."

This 17th in the series is a real treat, as expected. And Leon's in top form, again as expected. The murder at the heart of it delves into the gypsy life of Venice; the secondary story deals with a priest who's trying to unmask a clergyman he suspects is a crook--clearly one of them's a bad guy, but which? And before it's all over with, the whole Brunetti family, their in-laws, the Vianellos and Signorina Elettra, will all have gotten involved.

Sidenote: Once upon a time, presumably for privacy reasons, Leon, an American who lives in Italy, would not let her novels be published in either country. Happily--starting with "Uniform Justice" in 2003--that changed, and one by one, but not in any particular order, the earlier Brunetti novels all eventually became available here..the 3rd, 4th and 6th under different titles. So if you ever come across "The Anonymous Venetian," "A Venetian Reckoning" or "The Death of Faith" please know these are not new Leons; they're just the British titles of "Dressed for Death," "Death and Judgment" and "Quietly in Their Sleep."

Once again Donna Leon delivers another graceful and thoughtful Commissario Brunnetti installment. Leon's style of writing and the way she develops the plot my not be everyone's cup of tea, and "The Girl Of His Dreams" may not rank amongst Leon's best work, but truly, I really enjoyed the book.

When a childhood friend of Brunetti's eldest brother, a priest, Padre Antonin, approaches Brunetti about his fears that a scam may being perpetrated, Brunetti is suspect about Antonin's motives. Always suspicious about the clergy and having some not very good memories of Antonin, Brunetti is tempted to let the matter drop with only the most superficial of investigations. But Brunetti's queries reveal that Antonin may be onto something afterall. It looks as if a brand new Christian sect has opened up shop in Venice, and several of the sect members have been persuaded to donate money to the sect. Is Mutti a scam artist as Anotonin claims? Or is Antonin afraid that Mutti may prove too much competition for the Church? But before Brunetti can go further with his queries, he becomes involved in another criminal investigation, this time involving the suspicious drowning of a young gypsy child. The young girl's death haunts Brunetti and his colleagues so much that Brunetti resolves to figure out how this child died and bringing whoever was responsible to justice...

It is true that Donna Leon's Commissario Brunetti novels have changed a little over the years, becoming more introspective, quieter and less complex. But the books are still compelling and make for very enjoyable reading. It is true that there is very little suspense or tension, and I can understand the disappointment that some of the previous readers have had with "The Girls of His Dreams;" but really one also reads Donna Leon for the quiet lyricism she writes, the wonderfully evocative manner in which she describes Venice in all it's various seasons and for the regional political issues she informs us about -- it's my way of keeping in touch with what's going on in Italy on a social level other than through the media. "The Girl of His Dreams" was a very quiet, elegant and lyrical read, but it may not be to every reader's taste, esp given the ending, but I enjoyed it nevertheless. As other reviewers have already mentioned, "The Girl of His Dreams" may not rank as one Leon's most stellar of offerings, but for stalwart fans, it will prove to be an enjoyable and rewarding read.

Before writing my review, I waited two days after reading The Girl of His Dreams to see if I liked the book any better after sleeping on it. I didn't. Sorry, Ms. Leon. This one's a clunker. Why? Of two cases, only one is interesting. And the investigation of the interesting one isn't very stimulating. This book will only appeal to those who enjoy thinking about the injustices that victims experience.

As the book opens, crime seems to have taken a holiday in Venice and Commissario Guido Brunetti has plenty of time to investigate a mysterious preacher who is looking for big donations on the behalf of a priest he barely knows. Naturally, there's no crime to pin down, but Brunetti decides to look around anyway.

Before the preacher's background and motives can be understood, Brunetti has to deal with a most unpleasant duty . . . pulling a dead girl from the water. Here's where the local color comes in. The girl is a Gypsy (the P.C. term is Rom), part of a family that steals for a living. As you can imagine, Gypsies aren't interested in telling their troubles to the police.

How will Brunetti find out what happened to the girl? That's the real mystery of this book. A lot of the leads turn out to be misleading which provides a few mild surprises.

Once again, you'll learn that the police aren't able to do very much about crime, those in the establishment who complain often have things to hide, and the poor aren't as bad as everyone else thinks. The explication of those points is, however, not very interesting compared to other books in this series.

Did I need to read this book to remain a fan of this series? Not really. You have the option to pass on this one.

Donna Leon's 17th Commissario Brunetti book continues, well, Donna Leon. There's nothing new about this 17th episode, other than the crimes they're investigating, but Leon's fans don't necessarily want anything new. They're happy with this series just being Donna Leon: well written stories, great characterizations, excellent plot, and, of course, her penchant for socially significant issues, the least of which is not the corruptive practices of some elements of the Italian establishment (to put it kindly). As she told me last November, "My books aren't published in Italian!" Which is probably why she continues to enjoy living in Venice. In her books she looks scathingly at various facets of official Italian life and not kindly. That said, the other elements are like dazzling gems. And she does love her Venice.

Brunetti is a sensitive, honest policeman who never continues to be amazed at the "human condition." Crime after crime doesn't deter him, although he often calls into question some of society's "thinking." He does so with the support of his learned wife Paolo (who teaches English literature at a local university). This personal relationship is also one of the strong points in Leon's works.

In "Girl of his Dreams," a young girl is found drowned in one of the canals; on her person are two items of value, jewelry that lead not only to the owners but to the pursuit of what looks like murder. Here Brunetti faces the political and social concerns involving "non-Italian" residents (in this case Gypsies) and the discrimination and social injustices they not only suffer, but sometimes lead into. It also addresses the double standards of justice for the poor and the rich and well-placed. Where will the leads take Brunett , his Inspector Vianello, and his inimitable secretary Signorina Elettra?

At the same time, following the burial of his mother, Brunetti is visited by the administering priest, who reports that an "outside" minister seems to be involved in a money-scam and seeks Brunetti's help. This is in typical Leon fashion in having more than one story line progressing at the same time. With this series, the author does not merely pursue crime or confront a viable socially significant issue, but she provides us with continued insight into her well developed characters (Brunetti's family, his co-workers, and at various times other local citizens).

"Girl of his Dreams" moves along at a fast pace (a strong point in Leon's prose), but she never permits the pace to interfere with her objectives. Some readers have objected to her because Leon rarely provides a "Polly Anna" ending; instead, she chooses probably what is more of a realistic culmination. Occasionally, the real culprit may appear to go unpunished (although the crimes are always solved), due to bureaucratic snafus, legal fine-points, or just the fact that some problems perhaps aren't to be solved in this world. Leon, no doubt, prefers the realistic to the idealistic. Regardless, she's worth a read. This latest is no exception.

Bravo, Donna Leon, for writing a mystery novel that delves into the underpinnings of crime and society. Italy, like all western European nations, is struggling with a huge influx of immigrants from other cultures. Now Europe must struggle with the problems that have been ongoing in the US for a couple of centuries. As I've said in other Leon reviews, Guido Brunetti is perhaps the most humanistic of all series detectives published today. In this outing, he must cope with the drowning of a "Rom" (Gypsy) child who was involved in an apartment robbery. Her face haunts him as he goes about his business, trying to discover what happened and why. Leon is brilliant at portraying the clash between cultures and consciences. Girl of His Dreams does the best job yet of bringing to the forefront the difficulties of reconciling legal and humanitarian needs. This is not an easy book to read; there are, in fact, moments of discomfort awaiting the reader. But it's an eloquent and important book, one that deserves attention and thought.

I'm a big fan of Donna Leon and her Commissario Guido Brunetti series. However, in a series with almost a score of entries, there are going to be some standouts and a few misses. This entry falls more towards the latter category.

The basic problem is that the two parallel cases which concern the novel (a frequent technique of Leon) are not of equal interest. One concerns shady fund raising from devout Christians. The other involves a young girl floating dead in a canal. Of these two, the former is not interesting. The latter is, especially after we learn that she comes from a gypsy family. Leon gives us many trips to the gypsy camp and her rendition of the gypsy culture rings as true as it is interesting. That story is quite good and well done, but every time it seems to gain momentum, we are pushed back to the clerical scandal. In her books, Leon has cast a jaundiced eye on the Church many times before. There's not much new here and it isn't a very satisfying story line.

As usual, Leon serves up very warm sketches of the family life of the Brunettis. The juxtaposition of the corrupt state of Italy with the health of the Brunetti family is a constant theme in the series, and yet Leon always manages to make our glimpses into the family life interesting. The local color about Venice as always, is also quite good. However, with 50% of the caseload being about an uninteresting case that seems to meander more than it develops, The Girl of His Dreams is not the best book in the series.

I'm surprised at the people who are so vituperative about the Leon style. They should stick to American smart-aleck, spunky, violent mysteries, and leave the Italians to us. I read Leon for the pleasure of her company, and that of her policeman. I concur that Camilleri is also a terrific read (more "sprightly" and offhand than Leon), and the best of all is Magdalene Nabb.
If you don't know these writers, maybe you should peek at a few pages and see how it grabs you.

This mystery novel in Donna Leon's Guido Brunetti series, set in an increasingly touristy Venice, is shorter and more clear than her earlier works. I simply couldn't stop reading it once I'd started, and enjoyed it as much for the way it illuminates the inner workings of Italian society as for the murder mystery aspects. The view of how handicapped the law is in Italy is startling, as is the picture of the Roma people. An extremely enjoyable mystery.

I had read this was a new turn in DL's narrative, which is true - sadly. She tries to master two storylines at the same time, but both waver in no direction at all. The good thing is that I've read enough ot this author to know better than dump her all together for future reading.

Lyrical comes to mind in describing the beginning of the book - the funeral of Guido's mother. The rest of the book, while good, was almost jarring in contrast. And the ending lacked a certain 'rightness'.