Wilful Behaviour [Audiobook] [Audio Cassette]

Donna Leon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 28, 2002

When one of his wife Paola's students comes to visit him, with a strange and vague interest in investigating the possibility of a pardon for a crime committed by her grandfather many years ago, Commissario Brunetti thinks little of it, beyond being intrigued and attracted by the girl's intelligence and moral seriousness. But when the girl is found dead, clearly stabbed to death, Claudia Leonardo suddenly becomes Brunetti's case, no longer Paola's student. Claudia seems to have no discernible living family - her only familial relationship is with an elderly Austrian woman, who was the lover of her grandfather, but was not herself Claudia's grandmother. Brunetti is both intrigued and stunned by the extraordinary art collection the old woman keeps in her small, unprepossessing flat, and when she in turn is found dead, the case seems to have be about to open up long buried secrets of collaboration and the exploitation of Italian Jews during the war, secrets few in Italy are happy to explore...

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Donna Leon has lived and taught English literature in Switzerland, Iran, China, Italy and Saudi Arabia. She now lives in Venice. She is the Sunday Times' crime reviewer. Andrew Sachs is perhaps best known for his role as Manuel in Fawlty Towers. He has written for and acted in theatre, television and radio drama and also tours with his own stage show. His voice work includes television narration for many documentaries and audiobook recordings.

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Random House (March 28, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1856865045
• ISBN-13: 978-1856865043
• Product Dimensions: 4.3 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,784,283 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

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Top-Notch Novel in This Excellent Series, February 6, 2008

By 

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 110,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Wilful Behaviour (Audio Cassette)

To me, the best mysteries can be viewed more as novels than as puzzles to be solved. Donna Leon successfully crosses into this high ground of mystery writing with Wilful Behaviour.

In fact, such a successful novel can be read independently of the other books in a series. Wilful Behaviour also meets that test.

Do you like a book with memorable characters? Wilful Behaviour delivers both with characters that you meet in the novel and those who are described by other characters.

Do you like an intricate plot where all the pieces fit together in multiple dimensions? Wilful Behaviour once again is a good book in terms of this quality.

Do you like novels that reflect other novels, rewarding the well-read? Donna Leon delivers here as well.

Although I have always liked this series, Wilful Behaviour breaks out above the clouds in terms of being much better than the earlier offerings in the series.

In the story, Professoressa Paola Brunetti is approached by one of her better students, Claudia Leonardo, about a legal question that the student hopes Professor Brunetti's husband, Commissario Guido Brunetti, can answer. Guido resists providing any information without receiving more details. He meets Claudia and finds that her question relates back to the difficult days of World War II while Italy was part of the Axis powers. Not knowing much about those days, Guido begins to exercise his curiosity and learns about many hidden crimes from those days.

All of this becomes not so academic after Claudia is murdered, and many new questions are presented. In the process of investigating Claudia's murder, Brunetti learns about new levels of deception and depravity that some employ to achieve their selfish ends.

I have read a number of novels that relate to those days in World War II in Italy, and I found this one to be one of the very best.

Enjoy!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars DONNA, February 10, 2010

By 

Donald N. Petito (PITTSBURGH, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Wilful Behaviour (Audio Cassette)

GOOD READ--LIKE BEING IN VENICE---HER BOOKS ARE ALWAYS ENTERTAINING--

I TRY TO READ EACH AND EVERY ONE SHE WRITES--MAKES ME WANT TO VISIT VENICE AGAIN