A Question of Belief (published 2010) is book nineteen in Donna Leon's acclaimed Commissario Brunetti mystery series. Death At LaFenice, the first book in the series, remains my favorite. However, A Question of Belief (starred review from Publisher's Weekly) is very good as well. In fact what's remarkable is the high quality Ms. Leon has maintained certainly in the three Brunetti mysteries that I have read so far.
She created in Guido Brunetti a decent, thoughtful, very smart detective who is happily married, enjoys good food and wines reads The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius in the evening for pleasure. He is cynical about government bureaucracy but he is committed to solving crimes and when A Question of Belief begins it is August in Venice and it is hot. Comissario Brunetti speculates on what the criminal population is doing:
"Could they be induced to leave people alone until the end of this heat spell? That presupposed some sort of central organization, but Brunetti knew that crime had become too diversified and too international for any reliable agreement to be possible ... His thoughts drifted to the promises he had made to Paola that tonight they would discuss their own vacation. He, a Venetian, was going to turn himself and his family into tourists, but tourists going in the other direction, away from Venice, leaving room for the millions who were expected this year. Last year twenty millon. God have mercy on us all".
Unfortunately, Commissario Brunetti does not get to join his family in the mountains for vacation. He is stuck in sweltering Venice working two separate cases. The first involves a psychic healer who is depriving vulnerable people of their money. The second case involves a murder of a civil servant at the courthouse and could his death be linked to the fact that he was helping a judge delay court cases in exchange for pay offs?
I enjoyed A Question of Belief. Many of Donna Leon's book are topical dealing with issues of the day and a running theme throughout her novels is the cynicism the people of Venice, including Brunetti and his wife Paola, feel towards their government, the media, the church. I am reminded of a passage in Death at LaFenice, for example, in which Paola is sitting in the kitchen reading the newspaper. She explains to Brunetti that she reads a different paper each day, going from left to right politically because "I want to see how many different ways the same lies can be told".
Donna Leon's novels tell us that the Venetians have made a certain peace with their "it's all corrupt" mindset. They go about their lives in spite of it and I felt a little envious. Here in the US where there used to be accountability, Trump has completely changed that. He is awash in corruption and he has a Congress who rubber stamps whatever he wants. I wish like the Venetians I could ignore him and go about my life but Trump makes it impossible. Anyway, I recommend A Question of Belief. Is a nice escape from what is going on now.
I have only read Death At LaFenice which I barely remember. Why is it I can remember the detective but not the plot of 99.9% of all murder mysteries I have read?
ReplyDeleteI am not sure that Congress is rubber stamping but rather using him to further their own agenda because he is clueless. Politics suck. And reading does offer a wonderful escape when needed!
Hi Ruthiella, I too forget the plot of many murder mysteries but if the Detective is fascinating and Brunetti is, that's what keeps me coming back.
DeleteI think you are right about Congress using Trump to further their agenda and I agree reading is a good escape.
It's the Venice setting that drew me to this series; I can't remember which one I read, though. Must not have been one of her best. I should probably try her again.
ReplyDeleteHi Lark, I think the best place to begin is the first book in the series, Death At LaFenice. That's the book that introduces you to Commissario Brunetti his wife Paola and the city of Venice. Its the book that hooked me on the series.
DeleteThis book sounds very enjoyable. The entire seems like it is good. My wife likes these kinds of smart mysteries, even more so if they are set in Europe, so I will send her a link to this series.
ReplyDeleteHi Brian, I think your wife will like the Brunetti series and it is set in Europe and as my friend Iris said when she recommended the series to me the city of Venice becomes almost a character in the novel. Death At LaFenice the first book in the series is the place to begin.
DeleteThis sounds like a great book. I don't think I've ever read a mystery before. But it's one of the genre's that I want to start reading this week.
ReplyDeleteHi Angela, Donna Leon is a great author and I would recommend to start with her first book in the Guido Brunetti mystery series Death At La Fenice. Mysteries can be very enjoyable reading but you have to find the right books and Donna Leon is an author I think you will like.
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