Death at La Fenice: A Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery

Beautiful and serene Venice is a city almost devoid of crime. But that is little comfort to Maestro Helmut Wellauer, a world-renowned conductor whose intermission refreshment comes one night with a little something extra in it-cyanide. For Guido Brunetti, vice-commissario of police and detective genius, finding a suspect isn't a problem; narrowing the large and unconventional group of enemies down to one is. As the suave and pithy Brunetti pieces together clues, a shocking picture of depravity and revenge emerges, leaving him torn between what is and what should be right — and questioning what the law can do, and what needs to be done.

Library Journal

If your taste is for contemporary fiction set in Italy, here are some irresistible novels: Italian Fever by Valerie Martin (Vintage. 2000. ISBN 0-375-70522-8. pap. $12) and Francesca Marciano's Casa Rossa (Vintage. 2003. ISBN 0-375-72637-3. pap. $14). And you certainly won't want to go to Italy, especially Venice, without bringing a few Donna Leon mysteries featuring Commissario Brunetti, whose love of good food and despair about corruption in Italian politics play prominent roles in every book. Two favorites are A Noble Radiance (Penguin. 2003. ISBN 0-14-200319-0. pap. $6.99) and Death at La Fenice (HarperTorch. 1995. ISBN 0-06-104337-0. pap. $6.99). Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.