Storymusing Review: Death at La Fenice by Donna Leon

Death at La Fenice: a Novel of Suspense

Comissario Guido Brunetti #1

by Donna Leon

I find it funny that the author only wrote this book as a joke then put it aside before submitting it to a contest and winning. Now it’s the first book in a long running series (33 as of 2024) that has been made into a television series.

Comissario Guido Brunetti of the Venice police is called in to investigate when the world-renowned conductor Helmut Wellauer is found dead partway through an opera.

I really liked the organic way that Brunetti followed leads and pursued avenues of investigation with very few leads. He has questions, he gets answers, and those lead to new questions. He knows how to handle people and uses, not exactly psychology, but knowledge of human nature. He observes, and he remembers.

Brunetti’s forthright pursuit of truth is a wonderful foil to some of the other characters. Wellauer’s widow is significantly younger than he, but she seems to have truly loved him. And yet, there is something off about her reactions. Likewise with the star of the opera, Flavia Petrelli, and her companion, Brett Lynch.

Brunetti delves into Wellauer’s actions during the war in order to better understand his character, and learns some dark truths.

These questions lead him to Clemenza Santina, a former singer who worked with Wellauer long ago. I really felt the bitterness of the old lady having lost her family and being all alone. Perhaps part of that is the setting – the cold damp of her little apartment with the narrow hallway leading to a chair where she sits covered in old shawls.

There is subtle humor as well, as in the description of the doctor who confirms the conductor is dead at the opera “She pulled in a deep breath of smoke and glanced down at her watch. Mickey’s left hand stood between the ten and the eleven, and his right was just on seven.” A doctor at the opera smoking and wearing a Mickey Mouse watch? Okay.

One of the most interesting images to me was that of Brunetti walking through the streets of Venice in a thick fog and having to reach out to know where the wall is. I imagine that a lot of people could end up in a canal over time due to intoxication.

What led to the death is barely hinted at fairly early on, but we don’t really know until very close to the end. Also, who exactly killed him is a surprise and yet not. I had begun to suspect about halfway through.

I would highly recommend this as an atmospheric and well written police procedural. I’ll definitely read more in the series.

 

Orchid Beach by Stuart Woods

Orchid Beach (Holly Barker Series Book 1)
by Stuart Woods

Holly Barker has decided to leave the Army after twenty years and take a civilian police position. Her father, Ham, has an old Army buddy who is looking for someone with her experience to be his Deputy Chief but when she arrives a month later to take up the position, the Chief has been shot and is in a coma.

Holly already has a contract and her first goals are clear - take down the Chief’s assailant and clear out the corruption the Chief had been investigating in his own force. When she arrives, Holly finds there has been no announcement about her coming to take up the Deputy Chief position and now she is the acting Chief.

This is a very straightforward police procedural that moves quickly on dialogue and clean action with minimal description. It’s not deep but it is intriguing. I would call it a fun summer read and I’ll probably read another.

It’s got a simple cast. There’s Holly, twenty years in the Army as an MP, working her way up to a command, but now moving into civilian life as a cop. There’s her father Ham, about ready to retire from the Army himself. (Holly’s mom died some time ago.) There’s the police chief, Chet, who appears only briefly. Wallace Hurd expected is the acting Chief for a few hours, until Holly arrives, but he seems to take it all in stride. He does not let his emotions show at all, which makes Holly wonder. Bob Hurst is the detective sergeant and main homicide investigator. Jane was the Chief’s secretary and he apparently confided in her regularly.

Hank Doherty, a friend of Holly’s dad and the Chief is also found dead. Holly adopts Hank’s Doberman Pinscher, Daisy. Daisy is very well trained and becomes instrumental in a lot of action.

They make an arrest quickly, a young couple who whose van was seen in the vicinity and are found to have the Chief’s gun. He claims to have had a punctured tire and found the gun. They prosecute but the public defender, Jackson Oxenhandler, is able to show more than reasonable doubt. He and Holly take a shine to each other and quickly become an item. Then her father arrives, and Holly becomes interested in the goings on at a local high end housing development, gated community. Things develop in an unexpected direction from there.

I can genuinely say I did not see who the mole on the police force was until the end, and there were actually two. This book kept me guessing.