As I cracked the spine of Donna Leon’s 33rd Commissario Guido Brunetti novel, I thought to myself how I wish this series would go on forever. The setting of Venice, Italy, always makes for a fantastic literary trip that sends the mind and senses to another place. A REFINER’S FIRE continues Leon’s established modus operandi of telling stories infused with social and moral messages in much the same way as the late, great Anne Perry did.

"A REFINER’S FIRE does such a fine job continuing this pulse-pounding saga. The fact that it presents danger to our fearless protagonist and his own people just ups the ante in what turns out to be one of the most personal cases yet in this stellar series."

The book opens with a fight between two teenage gangs that is thwarted by the officers on duty, including Brunetti’s closest colleague, Commissario Claudia Griffoni. All of the young men involved are rounded up and brought to the police station. Griffoni takes a liking to one of them, 15-year-old Orlando, and brings him to a nearby coffee shop to talk before accompanying him home. She even lends him her scarf to wear as it is an especially cold night. Little does Griffoni realize who Orlando’s father is and the trouble that will be coming from her innocent gesture.

Brunetti steps into the case as talk of more spats between what the media is calling the “baby gangs” are rumored to be popping up in other areas of the city. Vice-Questore Patta asks him to meet with Signora Wilson, a widow who recently has brought on someone to help care for herself and her home. When Brunetti stops by her place, he meets the hired hand, Dario Montforte. He is a great judge of character and immediately has suspicions about Montforte.

Once Brunetti does research into Montforte’s background, with the aid of the wonderful Signorina Elettra from his precinct, he learns that the man is considered a military hero from his time spent in the Iraq war years earlier --- and just happens to be Orlando’s father. Now, Montforte is accusing Griffoni of engaging in inappropriate behavior with his son the night of the gang fight.

In an effort to clear Griffoni of these phony charges, Brunetti must dig much deeper into Montforte’s background and discovers that his time in the military may not have been as heroic as everyone thought. Nothing is what it appears to be in this twisty case, and Brunetti may be helpless to prevent the fiery ending planned by a criminal mastermind.

A REFINER’S FIRE does such a fine job continuing this pulse-pounding saga. The fact that it presents danger to our fearless protagonist and his own people just ups the ante in what turns out to be one of the most personal cases yet in this stellar series.