Through a Glass Darkly
A
Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery
Donna
Leon
Atlantic Monthly Press (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-87113-937-5 (0871139375)
ISBN-13: 978-0-87113-937-5 (9780871139375)
Publication Date: May 2006
List Price: $23.00
Synopsis (from
the publisher): On a luminous spring day in Venice, Commissario
Brunetti and his assistant Vianello play hooky from the Questura in
order to help Vianello’s friend Marco Ribetti, arrested
during an environmental protest. They secure his release, only to be
faced by the fury of the man’s father-in-law, Giovanni De
Cal, a cantankerous glass factory owner who has been heard in the bars
of Murano making violent threats about Ribetti.
Brunetti’s curiosity is piqued, and he finds himself drawn to
Murano to investigate. Is De Cal the type of man to carry out his
threats? By all accounts he is constantly angry, bullying suppliers and
fuming against environmentalists. Then one morning the body of De
Cal’s bookish night watchman is found in front of the blazing
furnace. Could the old man have killed him?
Over long lunches, on secret boat rides, in quiet bars, and down
crowded narrow streets, as the weather heats up and the flowers come
into bloom, Brunetti searches for the killer. The dead man’s
annotated copy of Dante’s Inferno, found at the scene of the
crime, may contain the clues Brunetti needs to solve the murder as well
as uncover who is ruining the waters of Venice’s lagoon. Will
he unravel the poetic clues before the night watchman’s death
is allowed to be forgotten?
Review:
Donna Leon's Commissario Brunetti mysteries are like finely cut
gemstones. The storylines are multi-faceted, each side amplifying
another, to produce a brilliance that is rare in detective fiction
today. Through a Glass
Darkly is the 15th mystery to feature Venice Commissioner
of Police Guido Brunetti, and is a fine example of her body of work.
In Through a Glass
Darkly, Brunetti must navigate more than just the canals
of Venice to solve a series of puzzling mysteries: Was the night
watchman's death accidental or murder? Was the dead man really
concerned about the environment or simply trying to assuage his guilt
over his daughter's illness? Are the Murano glass factory owners rivals
looking for a competitive edge, or allies for some greater cause?
Within this mystery, Leon also carefully and thoughtfully presents both
sides to an environmental situation facing most metropolitan areas:
What compromises are required to retain a local industry while
safeguarding the health of the community?
The ending of the book also deserves mention. Whereas most authors
would have felt compelled to continue writing, Leon wisely ends the
book, letting the reader's imagination complete the story.
A new Commissario Brunetti mystery is always something to look forward
to, and Through a Glass
Darkly doesn't disappoint.
Special thanks to Atlantic Monthly Press for providing an ARC of Through a Glass Darkly for this review.
Review Copyright © 2006 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Have you read Through a Glass Darkly? How would you rate it?
Mysteries in this series ...
Death at La
Fenice
HarperCollins (Hardcover), July 1992
ISBN-10: 0-06-016871-4 (0060168714)
ISBN-13: 978-0-06-016871-1 (9780060168711)
Death in a
Strange Country
HarperCollins (Hardcover), June 1993
ISBN-10: 0-06-017008-5 (0060170085)
ISBN-13: 978-0-06-017008-0 (9780060170080)
Dressed for Death
HarperCollins (Hardcover), June 1994
ISBN-10: 0-06-017795-0 (0060177950)
ISBN-13: 978-0-06-017795-9 (9780060177959)
Death and
Judgment
HarperCollins (Hardcover), June 1995
ISBN-10: 0-06-017796-9 (0060177969)
ISBN-13: 978-0-06-017796-6 (9780060177966)
Acqua Alta
HarperCollins (Hardcover), October 1996
ISBN-10: 0-06-018651-8 (0060186518)
ISBN-13: 978-0-06-018651-7 (9780060186517)
Quietly in their
Sleep
HarperCollins (Hardcover), July 1998
ISBN-10: 0-06-018695-X (006018695X)
ISBN-13: 978-0-06-018695-1 (9780060186951)
A Nobel Radiance
Fatal Remedies
Friends in High
Places
A Sea of Troubles
Wilful Behaviour
Uniform Justice
Atlantic Monthly Press (Hardcover), August 2003
ISBN-10: 0-87113-903-0 (0871139030)
ISBN-13: 978-0-87113-903-0 (9780871139030)
Doctored
Evidence
Atlantic Monthly Press (Hardcover), April 2004
ISBN-10: 0-87113-918-9 (0871139189)
ISBN-13: 978-0-87113-918-4 (9780871139184)
Blood from a
Stone
Atlantic Monthly Press (Hardcover), April 2005
ISBN-10: 0-87113-887-5 (0871138875)
ISBN-13: 978-0-87113-887-3 (9780871138873)
Through
a Glass Darkly
Atlantic Monthly Press (Hardcover), April 2006
ISBN-10: 0-87113-937-5 (0871139375)
ISBN-13: 978-0-87113-937-5 (9780871139375)
Suffer the
Little Children
Atlantic Monthly Press (Hardcover), May 2007
ISBN-10: 0-87113-960-X (087113960X)
ISBN-13: 978-0-87113-960-3 (9780871139603)
The Girl of His
Dreams
Atlantic Monthly Press (Hardcover), May 2008
ISBN-10: 0-87113-980-4 (0871139804)
ISBN-13: 978-0-87113-980-1 (9780871139801)
About Face
Atlantic Monthly Press (Hardcover), April 2009
ISBN-10: 0-8021-1896-8 (0802118968)
ISBN-13: 978-0-8021-1896-7 (9780802118967)
Omnimystery keywords for Through a Glass Darkly
...
Location(s) referenced: Venice, Italy.
