Customer Reviews

Fatal Remedies.

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Donna Leon's eighth novel in her Commissario Guido Brunetti series is another crown of glory for this American writer. In "Fatal Remedies," Leon, ever the one to keep her readers' absolute attention riveted to all details, continues her intriguing mise en scene mysteries with sharp focus, clarity of detail, and powerful character observations. This book is well worth the wait.

Leon begins with a new twist: Brunetti's wife Paola has been arrested for smashing the window of a travel agency which she knows arranges sex-tours to third-world countries where Westerners exploit, especially, the child-for-sex trade. This is an issue which Paola finds she cannot permit to go unnoticed, having two children of her own. Like Antigone, her sense of moral outrage at an issue the state does nothing about extends to the point where she takes the law into her own hands. Through her personal crusade, she hopes to call attention to this social canker and, with public outrage she hopes to generate this evil will be halted. She believes that she is prepared to take the consequences for her own actions. It is not so simple, she finds out. Unfortunately, she discovers that her own crusade has negative ramifications for her family and that instead of halting one injustice, she appears to be compounding another by hurting the ones she loves....Brunetti is called back to work and the chase begins.

Brunetti, whose passion for truth, justice, equality, and respect for his beloved Venice, finds himself once again forced to confront moral and legal dilemmas. Leon is at her best and "Fatal Remedies" doesn't miss a beat as the pace picks up, page by page...Leon is not one to dodge social and contemporary issues, as her readers well know from previous books. Her views on environmental destruction (and how the Italian government and its citizens view the subject), social and political corruption, and such social issues as sex-tourism and the importation of former East Bloc citizens to work the local prostitution trade are readily identified. And the author is not timid in her criticism. It's not that she is indicting Italy and the Italians, but that these ills seem to be pervasive.

Leon, an American, lives in Venice and knows the Italians well, but she has lived in other countries (previously she had taught English at an American university at the Vicenza U.S. Army post) and is well versed on contemporary issues. And she loves Venice. Each of her novels tenders her feelings for the Most Serene Republic and readers cannot escape without feeling the life, the very essence of Venice, and her knowledge of that city's history and its ethnic origins make her books ring with a resonance that is real yet we know her story is "only a novel."

In "Fatal Remedies," Leon counts on her readers to assume much (in fact, a first-time reader may be confused by references that are clear only from having read earlier works), which is a shortcoming of individual works in such series; however, as "a part of the whole" this book works well and contains all the ingredients Leon has so successfully concocted in the past. The publisher tells us that she is currently working on a new installment. Shall we count the days?

Part of the appeal of mysteries is that we can enter a world of intrigue, evil-doers, and hidden secrets without any personal danger or discomfort . . . except for the occasional grisly detail. Donna Leon challenges that formula by raising a question of conscience in Fatal Remedies that will probably leave you squirming: I know it had that effect on me.

What would you do to stop a moral wrong that's being perpetuated in front of you? Unless taking a stand is unavoidable, most people simply ignore the whole thing. That's clearly not the case for Commissario Guido Brunetti's professor wife, Paola, who makes life difficult for everyone in the family by protesting in a violent way.

The moral dilemma is raised to another height when it appears that Paola's act may have had unintended consequence. After you finish this book, think about what you should do about the same moral dilemma with regard to something that's legal . . . but highly immoral.

By bringing Paola's personality into the story in greater ways, Fatal Remedies is enriched with a more interesting set of questions. If you are like me, you'll be especially amused to see how Guido reacts to moral issues about doing illegal things to bring wrong-doers to justice. You'll quickly see that there are two sides to the coin of does the end justify the means.

The ultimate mystery is solved in the second half of the book where the condensation does no harm to making a good story.

I listened to the unabridged Blackstone Audio version of Fatal Remedies that is read by Anna Fields. I recommend that you avoid this audio. Although Ms. Fields can speak quite good Italian as she demonstrates on the audio, she chooses to render the male characters in English as though they were from the country in the U.S. south. This style particularly perturbed me because I had thought of Guido Brunetti as a refined person based on his reading tastes and subtle handling of boors. He comes across in this reading sounding much like Dean Robillard, the NFL quarterback in Natural Born Charmers which Ms. Field also read.

Paola Brunetti, the Commissario's brilliant and caring wife, goads him into doing something about the terrible problem of marketing child prostitutes to tourists and businessmen. Much to Guido's chagrin, however, the methods she uses to focus attention upon this atrocity are not quite within the law. Following the demands of his own conscience, however, Guido juggles personal and professional complications to try to see that justice is done, never an easy task when the Mafia and big money are involved.

Part of the appeal of mysteries is that we can enter a world of intrigue, evil-doers, and hidden secrets without any personal danger or discomfort . . . except for the occasional grisly detail. Donna Leon challenges that formula by raising a question of conscience in Fatal Remedies that will probably leave you squirming: I know it had that effect on me.

What would you do to stop a moral wrong that's being perpetuated in front of you? Unless taking a stand is unavoidable, most people simply ignore the whole thing. That's clearly not the case for Commissario Guido Brunetti's professor wife, Paola, who makes life difficult for everyone in the family by protesting in a violent way.

The moral dilemma is raised to another height when it appears that Paola's act may have had unintended consequence. After you finish this book, think about what you should do about the same moral dilemma with regard to something that's legal . . . but highly immoral.

By bringing Paola's personality into the story in greater ways, Fatal Remedies is enriched with a more interesting set of questions. If you are like me, you'll be especially amused to see how Guido reacts to moral issues about doing illegal things to bring wrong-doers to justice. You'll quickly see that there are two sides to the coin of does the end justify the means.

The ultimate mystery is solved in the second half of the book where the condensation does no harm to making a good story.

I listened to the unabridged Blackstone Audio version of Fatal Remedies that is read by Anna Fields. I recommend that you avoid this audio. Although Ms. Fields can speak quite good Italian as she demonstrates on the audio, she chooses to render the male characters in English as though they were from the country in the U.S. south. This style particularly perturbed me because I had thought of Guido Brunetti as a refined person based on his reading tastes and subtle handling of boors. He comes across in this reading sounding much like Dean Robillard, the NFL quarterback in Natural Born Charmers which Ms. Field also read.

One of the joys of reading Dona Leon's Venetian mysteries is the social relevance of her stories. It doesn't give away anything to say that in this novel she tackels the heinous practice of some travel agents - illegal in this country, I think - of packaging tours to Asian countries for the purpose of providing wealthy men with greatly underage prostitutes; part of the world wide abuse of children. The practice continues in much of the so called "first world."

Additionally, Leon provides another lovely tour of Venice and its surrounds and a glimpse into Italian culture in a way that tourists seldom see.

A great read!

Donna Leon now makes Venice her home. In her mysteries, if you know Venice well, you'll have the thrill of rediscovery as she walks you through familiar campos, stroll by the Grand Canal, take a vaporetto to a destination, eat local pastries and foods. Her detective inspector hero is Commissario Brunetti who has a loving wife, two great kids, and a great home life, but is always at odds with his superiors. He likes those Venetian pastries and all the great food and seems lethargic, but he is far from being slow-witted.

In this outing his wife on two occasions as a protest throws a rock through the window of a travel agency that caters to sex tourists. This causes her husband great sorrow and embarrassment, but he is even more aggravated when a murder connected to her action takes place. The book's title is very appropriate to the plot.

In the beginning is the description of a clever game. When the staff attends boring meetings, they play buzz word bingo. When the meeting's chairman says a certain buzz word, they can relieve boredom by matching the buzz word up with specially prepared cards that have the buzz words instead of bingo numbers.

The narrative rolls along smoothly as the gentle, kindly, philosophical Brunetti copes with police work as well as the corruption and inefficiency of the Italian state. Brunetti says, "There are days when I think everything's getting worse, then there are days when I know they are. But then the sun comes out, and I change my mind."

This mystery has a very sharp depiction of the women characters and female psychology. It even has a gun fight. But in general Leon's mysteries have more reflection than action. This is one of her better efforts with a clear cut narrative. Venice is the key setting, but not as much of a character in this book as in some of her others. Little asides about the water damage and dampness in the hallways of buildings makes us realize how fragile the city's infrastructure is. Brunetti is an anti-hero that you come to like because he's an old-fashioned, amiable soul adrift in a society that has, in many ways, passed him by.

This is the third of Donna Leon's Brunetti mysteries I've read. I'm still ambivalent--although I've given it 4 Stars and think I will probably read another. My husband and I watch a great number of videos (Netflix) as I'm a bit housebound and can't get out much. We view art films, documentaries, many of them "challenging," but have also watched a number of (often British) TV series we really enjoy. We refer to these as "comfort vids," which we watch when we just want easy, though high quality, entertainment. The same seems to go for books (as well as food! Music, not so much maybe). I'd place Leon in the high quality comfort category. Her writing is good: good mood, language skills, character development (for major characters) and the Venice locale makes them special. But I always feel that the actual storyline just "fills the pages." Even though the books are short, pages go by that seem like padding. They're rarely taut, gripping, compelling or even psychologically involving (as, say, Elizabeth George can be). The police work, CSI, forensic facts aren't very interesting (and are also dated) and the mystery plots aren't intriguing at all--I don't think much thought goes into them. The good/bad characters are too simplistically "black and white."

Nonetheless, I'll probably read some more, when I want a tasty reading "snack," which I often do after finishing a long, brain challenging book (which I guess would be like a subtle, gourmet meal, in contrast). So, 4 Stars "within category."

For the first time Donna Leon brings both Brunetti and his wife Paola into the body of the story at the same time. Dottoria Paola (the future Contessa) has always been determined and headstrong (a barely covered stand in for Leon). She has her own mind and is not afraid to express it. In this case it has to do with the sending of Italian men on 'sex vacations' to Asia, where they have sex with young girls and boys.

Leon does a fine job in tying it into a murder that Guido is working on without doing any silly gyrations. The flow of the story intertwines the two plots but with a deft and subtle hand and it never feels like Leon has added something to 'jigger' the story. All in all a fine addition to a well written series.

It's a pleasant feeling to be in Venice while reading a Donna Leon book, as I was recently. It's like being in the book itself. This is an interesting Brunetti procedural, which starts off with his wife breaking the law -- willfully. But that's really not what this story is about, although it's a theme that keeps replaying throughout the book. Brunetti and his wife have always had poignant conversations between themselves, but this one is a little more interesting, as you might imagine. The major plot in this book is worthy and compelling and Brunetti solves it in typical Brunetti fashion. Leon's Brunetti books are (for the most part) compelling and addictive. This is no exception. And as for Venice, few writers have captured the essence of this wonderful city like Leon has.

These books do not fail to engage - but the joy in reading them comes from the pleasure of watching the main character go through his daily life in Venice. Sharing his family life and his city is reason enough to buy the books - the other characters and, finally, the specific mystery, just add to the satisfaction. This is a good one.