Review by New York Times Review
WHENEVER SOME FRESH instance of blatant corruption or rank depravity comes to light in Italy (toxic waste in agricultural Campania, political scandal in Lombardia, a proposal to build an ugly skyscraper in Mestre), Commissario Guido Brunetti, the principled protagonist of Donna Leon's uplifting Venetian mysteries, looks to his family and to the wise philosophers of ancient Rome to restore his faith in humanity. Leon tends to console herself by writing a new book. BY ITS COVER (Atlantic Monthly, $26), which finds the author in a fury over vandalism and theft in national libraries, museums and churches, appears to have been inspired by the looting of Naples's Girolamini Library by its director, a systematic sacking of thousands of rare books that came to light in 2012. ("It would make a stone weep," according to one of Brunetti's colleagues.) Although the criminal damage done at the venerable Biblioteca Merula is on a far more modest scale, it's no less heartbreaking to the library director, as well as to the commissario. It's also a great mystery. How was the damage done when the only patrons of this obscure library are innocuous scholars like Joseph Nickerson, an American academic researching maritime and Mediterranean trade history, and an ex-priest affectionately known as Tertullian for his obsessive study of the writings of the Church Fathers? The melancholy tone of the storytelling suits the narrative, especially when the ex-priest is found savagely murdered. Crimes against the elderly always distress the compassionate Brunetti, but in this extraordinary case even a murderer touches his heart. What angers him beyond endurance are the corrupt public officials, his own superiors in the police department among them, who aid and abet the crooks who make their fortunes by sacrificing their country's cultural heritage. But the scent of spring in the air draws Brunetti out of his gloomy thoughts and into the life of the city. Walking is a joy, and an official interview is just as easily conducted away from the office, in the "elegant dilapidation" of the Caffe Florian. But even a sip of spring can be poisoned by the sight of a gigantic cruise ship lumbering up the Grand Canal. TIME IS KIND to a rebel who dies young - everybody else is doomed to grow up and lose his ideals. That's the bummer memo Peter Robinson posts in CHILDREN OF THE REVOLUTION (Morrow, $25.99), a sobering mystery featuring his Yorkshire detective, Chief Inspector Alan Banks. A murder investigation always begins with the victim, but all we know about Gavin Miller, an impoverished recluse who came to a violent end on a derelict railway line, is that this 59-year-old man had a comprehensive collection of arty foreign films and enough Grateful Dead albums to qualify as a Dead Head. Always a graceful stylist, Robinson is also known for his meticulous procedural methods. So it takes diligent police work to turn up the information that Miller had been dismissed from a teaching position, charged with "sexual indiscretion," and more digging to establish that he was probably set up. But the origins of this sad, twisted tale ultimately reach back to the late '60s and '70s, when everyone wanted to be a rebel and no one considered the cost. THRILLER WRITERS DO love their gimmicks, and Owen Laukkanen has come up with a sickeningly original one. For reasons that don't bear close scrutiny, in his novels ordinary people with no criminal footprint take on new lives as bank robbers and kidnappers. That high concept darkens considerably in KILL FEE (Putnam, $26.95) when a heartless predator recruits shellshocked young vets and programs them to become killing machines. According to this creep's twisted logic, he's "simply a service provider filling a vacuum in the market" by catering to clients on his website, Killswitch. Laukkanen's fast-paced, no-frills style is brisk, blunt and fueled entirely by adrenaline, the better to keep us from thinking too hard. But no authorial shenanigans can disguise the schematic nature of his two crime-stoppers, a hot-wired female F.B.I. agent based in Minneapolis and a laidback male cop from St. Paul. Stunt writing makes her the hard-nosed tough guy and gives him the squeamish morality issues. But, truth to tell, those human zombies have far more personality than either of them. SOME PEOPLE READ poetry at bedtime. Others prefer seed catalogs. May I suggest instead Joyce Carol Oates's new story collection, HIGH CRIME AREA (Mysterious, $23)? These "tales of darkness and dread" won't put you to sleep, but they'll give you more interesting nightmares. Here's one, set in Detroit in 1967, about a young white teacher who's so terrified of the black male students in her evening composition class that she carries a gun. ("I am very ashamed of my fear," she admits.) Here's another, about an acclaimed literary figure who learns too late that he has cause to fear the women he habitually humiliates. And one more: about a 13-year-old girl trying to keep her mother from killing her baby brother. In a way, every story is a character study, not necessarily well rounded, but sure to focus a basilisk eye on the weak spot that reveals our own ugly impulses and makes us defenseless against the terrors of the night. . . . Sweet dreams.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [April 6, 2014]
Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Think of Leon's latest Guido Brunetti novel as a love letter to her fans, many of whom are librarians. The premise involves the theft and mutilation of rare books from a private research library, and much of the action takes place in the library itself, with Brunetti inhaling the aroma of aging parchment and fondly remembering his student days. Ah, but amid all this biblio-love, there is a real crime not only the theft but also the murder of one of the library's regular patrons. As usual, the focus rests with the people involved in and on the periphery of the case. Brunetti's concern is always with individuals: how they come to do the things they do and what that says about them and about us. At one point, the police pathologist muses, You know, Guido, at times I find it difficult to believe you do the work you do. One might say the same of Leon: her books, despite employing the structure of traditional mysteries, are so very different from most crime novels, even those characterized as character-driven. For example, in one four-page scene in which Brunetti questions the brother of the victim, we see the unique sensibility Leon brings to the genre: sure she shows what a skilled interrogator her detective is, but between the lines, there is so much more: Brunetti's remarkable sensitivity to other human beings, his ability not just to see what they are feeling but to share those feelings and to internalize their melancholy. Above all, Brunetti is a careful reader, of people, of places, of situations, and he never stops at surface meanings. That's why we bookish types adore him the way we do, and why this will likely be one of his most-loved adventures. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: It's a new Leon novel, and it's set in a library. Must we go on?--Ott, Bill Copyright 2014 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In bestseller Leon's elegant 23rd Commissario Guido Brunetti mystery (after 2013's The Golden Egg), a Venetian library director reports that several valuable old books have been either stolen or damaged. The likely thief and vandal masqueraded as an American professor, but he has vanished, and his credentials prove false. With few leads, Brunetti turns to a potential witness-a library patron and former priest dubbed Tertullian (after the early Christian author) by the staff because he spends his days reading the church fathers' works. Before the police can interview him, the seemingly innocuous Tertullian is brutally murdered-and Brunetti discovers some of the stolen volumes in his home. This character-driven novel looks at the ravages of rare book theft on libraries, and, more broadly, the destructive effects of contemporary greed-exemplified by cruise ships damaging Venice's fragile waterways-on cultural heritage. Leon's skillful evocation of the city's charms, culture, and history more than compensates for an abrupt ending that might leave some readers unsatisfied. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
In the 23rd outing for Commissario Guido Brunetti (The Golden Egg), the Venetian policeman is called to a library to investigate the thefts of several rare historical books and maps. Brunetti gets a crash course in the politics of wealthy donors, fragile institutional reputations, and the international black market in stolen literary works and prints. The investigation takes a turn for the worse when one of the library researchers is found beaten to death. Brunetti smoothly moves through the investigation, humoring his bosses and finessing witnesses, while maintaining his integrity. VERDICT Series fans will delight in the usual snippets of daily life in a historic city, brief asides about the universality of corruption and humanity's venality, and several mouthwatering meals. In addition to series fans, it will appeal to readers looking for a well-plotted story matched with just enough details of life in one of the world's most beautiful locations. [See Prepub Alert, 9/1/13; library marketing.]-Dan Forrest, Western Kentucky Univ. Libs., Bowling Green (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
