Transient Desires

January 11, 2021
Bestseller Leon’s atmospheric, rather melancholy 30th mystery featuring Venetian Commissario Guido Brunetti (after 2020’s Trace Elements) opens slowly as an aging Brunetti, who blames his tightening trousers on the dry cleaners rather than his eating habits, goes about his day: meeting with informants, lunching with colleagues, and dining with his erudite wife and opinionated children. Brunetti feels disillusioned with his retired friends, who can talk of nothing but grandchildren, and mournfully accepts that tourism will eventually destroy his beloved Venice. The pace picks up once he’s assigned to investigate the case of two young American women who were left unconscious and battered at a hospital’s ambulance dock. The two men who abandoned them there are soon identified as a well-to-do young lawyer and his childhood friend, a boatman. The action builds to a thrilling denouement involving coast guard boats and navy commandos, though some readers may be dissatisfied by the mystery’s less than morally clear resolution and the two men’s uncertain fate. Those already emotionally invested in Brunetti will best appreciate this entry. Agent: Susanne Bauknecht, Diogenes Verlag (Switzerland).

April 2, 2021

In the 30th installment in Leon's much-beloved "Commissario Guido Brunetti" series (after Trace Elements), Brunetti and fellow Commissario Claudia Griffoni investigate an incident that left two young American girls injured and unconscious, abandoned in the middle of the night on the hospital dock. Soon, two young Italian men are identified as the ones who had suffered a boating accident with the girls and brought them to the hospital for medical care. One of these men has ties to a larger and more sinister crime and Brunetti must work with other Italian public safety agencies to serve justice. This highly atmospheric, leisurely paced mystery will allow longtime fans to fall in love with Venice all over again, though they may be slightly disappointed that not all of the usual cast of characters appear as frequently as has become customary. New readers will be able to discover the series here, and look forward to a long backlist. VERDICT Brunetti continues to delight, and this will do well in libraries where the series has proved popular.--Sarah Sullivan, Nevins Lib., MA

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Starred review from February 15, 2021
Leon's devoted audience may be shocked to realize that this latest Guido Brunetti novel is the thirtieth in the series, which only goes to show that sometimes abiding relationships never lose the shock of the new. While we are supremely comfortable in Brunetti's world, Leon regularly gives us something unexpected to ponder--in the cases Brunetti tackles as a police commissario in Venice, in the lovingly yet nuanced portrait of his family life, or in his own, often melancholy musings on human frailty. This time we encounter familiar themes--the insidiousness of prejudice, the insularity of Venetians--as Brunetti and fellow commissario Claudia Griffoni (whose enlarged role has added spice to recent installments) investigate the circumstances surrounding two American tourists, young women, who were driven to a hospital, then abandoned, both seriously injured. It takes little time for Brunetti to track down the two young men responsible, but, as so often happens in this series, that simple fact leads not only to a more horrendous crime, but also to a complex interpersonal situation. The big surprise this time, however, is the finale: a rousing action scene involving a night boat chase in the laguna. All the introspective human drama we expect from Leon, with an adrenaline booster as well!HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: This landmark thirtieth Guido Brunetti novel demonstrates that Leon's beloved series shows no signs of aging.

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