Customer Reviews

Uniform justice

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

 

 

Uniform Justice doesn't match up very well to the excellent Wilful Behaviour that precedes it in this fine series. In the best books in the series, you find a great deal of layering where one character's life and reading provide dimensions to the meaning of the other characters' lives. That layering is mostly missing in this story, and Brunetti's investigation seems more ham-handed than necessary. The resolution will please few readers, as well.

A hung-over student in a military academy fears he's seeing an oversized bat in the bathroom where he goes for relief from his thirst. Upon closer examination, the "bat" turns out to be a dead cadet who is dead by strangulation. Is it suicide? All indications point that way except the words of his aunt. Naturally, Commissario Guido Brunetti begins to investigate as though it's a murder. Undoubtedly, having the dead youth be similar in age to his son has something to do with that decision.

But it's not such a serious investigation. The father refuses to talk to him, and he doesn't dig into the background of the family or of the military academy very seriously. Vice-Questore Patta is friendly with the head of the school which makes matters somewhat more difficult.

But due to the connections of Signorina Elettra, the outlines of an alternative theory begin to develop. With that theory in hand, however, Brunetti blunders more than once.

The story's other problem is that the scheme that Brunetti ends up investigating doesn't seem all that probable in some of its more extreme dimensions. The family's reaction to the plot also seems more than a little unlikely. As a result, I found it hard to take the story seriously. It just didn't ring true.

Be careful of the enemies you make.

I have enjoyed other Inspector Brunetti books much more than is one. I would recommend most of the other books.