Death at La Fenice

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Not that she minds much either way. She doesn't watch them – she has never owned a TV – and has no involvement in translating the novels to the screen. According to one of her friends, Toni Sepeda, Leon's attitude is cheerfully mercenary: "She goes, 'Here's the book, give me the money, thank you, goodbye.'" The feeling that tourists are lowering the tone of the place, and trampling it to death, is not new. "Though there are some disagreeable things in Venice," the American author Henry James wrote in 1882, "there is nothing so disagreeable as the visitors." While a bit too slow to rank among her best, Leon's 13th atmospheric Commissario Guido Brunetti mystery (after 2003's Uniform Justice

The lights dimmed, the hall grew dark, and the tension created by an ongoing performance mounted as the audience waited for the conductor to reappear on the podium. Slowly the hum of voices faded, the members of the orchestra stopped fidgeting in their seats, and the universal silence announced everyone’s readiness for the third and final act.

Broadcasts

Find out more by tuning in to hear Donna Leon talking to her readers in the studio and around the world about murder and mystery in Venice.

Over time, she has become deeply disillusioned by Italy's graft-ridden, dysfunctional political and economic systems. "Living here maddens me every day," she says. Unbekannter Einband. Condition: Gut. Ausgabe von 1995, außen mit Gebrauchsspuren, schief gelesen, Artikel stammt aus Nichtraucherhaushalt! AA5109 Sprache: Deutsch Gewicht in Gramm: 500. In Italy, there is still a strong impulse to help the person in difficulty," she says. "The farther south you go, the stronger is the impulse. So if this had happened in Naples, or Palermo, there would have been screams at the driver: 'What did you do?' There would have been a competition to help me to my feet. Somebody would have asked me if I needed a glass of water. Nineteen people would have offered me their seats to lie down on." Murderers aren't the problem in Venice. Tourists are. Millions of them arrive each year, surging in eager waves into Piazza San Marco, swarming through the Doge's Palace, squeezing onto the water-buses, known as vaporetti, that ply the Grand Canal. On a personal level, I can identify with the Venetian Commissario because he has these character traits that describe me as well: he is leery of motor vehicles, preferring to walk his adored Venice; he’s a foodie who appreciates Italian cuisine and all varieties of the Italian grape; he drinks all sorts of coffees incessantly; he has a loving wife whom he has complex philosophical discussions; and he tries and usually succeeds in thinking outside the box.Donna Leon is an American author by birth and an Italian critic by avocation, having lived in Venice for three decades and having witnessed the artistic beauty but also the social and political ills of that city and the mainland it literally clings to. Starting in 1992, with her first mystery called Death at La Fenice, she has written 24 crime capers with an indelible crime-solving protagonist, as unforgettable as the magnificent city in which he lives and works. His name is Guido Brunetti, and he is the Commissario of Venice, a term meaning police commissioner in Italian.

Death at La Fenice is Donna Leon’s first novel in her Guido Brunetti series, set in the beautiful city of Venice. Guido Brunetti is a commissario (detective) for the Venetian police and investigates the the death of world-famous conductor Helmut Wellauer, who was poisoned in his dressing room during an opera. The novel is written in 3rd person limited, describing Brunetti’s thoughts to the reader throughout. Brunetti must investigate Wellauer’s death as he discovers the genius had more enemies than he initially suspected. Venice is the perfect setting for this modern cozy, as Leon emphasizes the smallness and interconnectivity of the Venetian community, limiting the list of suspects to the music world of Venice.

Poggioli, Sylvia. “Donna Leon’s Venice: A Tale Of Two Cities.” NPR Books, National Public Radio, 20 Aug. 2007. What a ripping first mystery, as beguiling and secretly sinister as Venice herself. Sparkling and irresistible.' Rita Mae Brown Unbekannter Einband. Condition: Gut. schief gelesen, Artikel stammt aus Nichtraucherhaushalt! CN612 Sprache: Deutsch Gewicht in Gramm: 500.

Donna Leon has given fans of subtle, clever and literate mysteries something to cheer about. . . . A wonderful read.' Tony Hillerman Read more Look Inside DetailsGebundene Ausgabe. Condition: Akzeptabel. insgesamt deutliche Gebrauchsspuren, schief gelesen, Artikel stammt aus Nichtraucherhaushalt! EN1432 Sprache: Deutsch Gewicht in Gramm: 549. Donna Leon, born in New Jersey in 1942, has worked as a travel guide in Rome and as a copywriter in London. She taught literature in universities in Iran, China, and Saudi Arabia. Commissario Brunetti made her books world-famous. Donna Leon lived in Italy for many years, and although she now lives in Switzerland, she often visits Venice. Unbekannter Einband. Condition: Sehr gut. Artikel stammt aus Nichtraucherhaushalt! ET1409 Sprache: Deutsch.