Editorial Content for Give Unto Others: A Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
Donna Leon’s Commissario Guido Brunetti novels are an absolute treasure and perhaps my favorite mystery series. Her characters are extremely relatable, and each entry seems to deal with a different ethical or moral issue. In GIVE UNTO OTHERS, we have a number of them, varying from charity to loyalty to trust. In the end, all of these feelings will be tested, some in a very personal way for Brunetti.
One day, Elisabetta Foscarini, an old friend of Brunetti’s mother, shows up at the Questura seeking his assistance. Her son-in-law, Enrico Fenzo, is an accountant, and she is alarmed over his concern that their family might be involved in some very shady financial dealings --- specifically a charity established by Elisabetta’s husband that might not be completely legitimate.
"Of course, Brunetti and his team will wrap up everything but not without some big surprises and revelations that were never meant to see the light of day."
Brunetti promises Elisabetta that he will use his own time to look into the matter. Of course, we all know this will involve his colleagues Claudia Griffoni, Lorenzo Vianello and Signorina Elettra Zorzi. The team will split up to tackle different parts of the story, from people to financial and building records, and then reconvene before producing answers to Elisabetta’s concerns.
When reading a Brunetti novel, you expect to get more than just the story with which to immerse yourself. There are the sights, sounds and foods of Venice and the surrounding area. There is also Brunetti’s family: his wife Paola, an academic, and their two college-age children. One night at dinner, Chiara asks for her father’s help with an assignment --- they are to choose their favorite Greek play and scene. For Brunetti, it’s “Oresteia” and Clytemnestra’s first speech. When she asks why, he says, “Because she is so much stronger than I am.”
For Brunetti’s part of the investigation, he utilizes his mother-in-law, the Contessa, as she knows some of the people involved with the charity in question. Their conversation is quite eye-opening as to the legality of that venture. Meanwhile, he is alerted to an attack on the veterinary hospital where Elisabetta’s daughter, Dottoressa, works. Much damage has been done, and some animals are harmed. It is clear that this is a warning against Brunetti looking into the situation that was brought to his attention.
Of course, Brunetti and his team will wrap up everything but not without some big surprises and revelations that were never meant to see the light of day. It also will make him question the very definition of loyalty. He sums it up best to Paola when he says, “I’m not sure I’m clever, my dear, but I am always faithful to the side I fight for.”
Teaser
Commissario Guido Brunetti is approached for a favor by Elisabetta Foscarini. Her son-in-law, Enrico Fenzo, has alarmed his wife (her daughter) by confessing that their family might be in danger because of something he’s involved with. Since Fenzo is an accountant, Brunetti logically suspects the cause of danger is related to the finances of a client. Yet his clients seem benign. However, when his friend’s daughter’s place of work is vandalized, Brunetti asks his own favors --- that his colleagues Claudia Griffoni, Lorenzo Vianello and Signorina Elettra Zorzi assist his private investigation, which soon enough turns official as they uncover the dark and Janus-faced nature of a venerable Italian institution.
Promo
Commissario Guido Brunetti is approached for a favor by Elisabetta Foscarini. Her son-in-law, Enrico Fenzo, has alarmed his wife (her daughter) by confessing that their family might be in danger because of something he’s involved with. Since Fenzo is an accountant, Brunetti logically suspects the cause of danger is related to the finances of a client. Yet his clients seem benign. However, when his friend’s daughter’s place of work is vandalized, Brunetti asks his own favors --- that his colleagues Claudia Griffoni, Lorenzo Vianello and Signorina Elettra Zorzi assist his private investigation, which soon enough turns official as they uncover the dark and Janus-faced nature of a venerable Italian institution.
About the Book
Brunetti is forced to confront the price of loyalty, to his past and in his work, as a seemingly innocent request leads him into troubling waters.
What role can or should loyalty play in the life of a police inspector? It’s a question Commissario Guido Brunetti must face and ultimately answer in GIVE UNTO OTHERS, Donna Leon’s splendid 31st installment of her acclaimed Venetian crime series.
Brunetti is approached for a favor by Elisabetta Foscarini, a woman he knows casually, but her mother was good to Brunetti’s mother, so he feels obliged to at least look into the matter privately, and not as official police business. Foscarini’s son-in-law, Enrico Fenzo, has alarmed his wife (her daughter) by confessing that their family might be in danger because of something he’s involved with. Since Fenzo is an accountant, Brunetti logically suspects the cause of danger is related to the finances of a client. Yet his clients seem benign: an optician, a restaurateur, a charity established by his father-in-law. However, when his friend’s daughter’s place of work is vandalized, Brunetti asks his own favors --- that his colleagues Claudia Griffoni, Lorenzo Vianello and Signorina Elettra Zorzi assist his private investigation, which soon enough turns official as they uncover the dark and Janus-faced nature of a venerable Italian institution.
Exploring the wobbly line between the criminal and non-criminal, revealing previously untold elements of Brunetti’s past, GIVE UNTO OTHERS shows that the price of reciprocity can be steep.
Audiobook available, read by David Colacci
