Death at La Fenice: (Brunetti 1) (A Commissario Brunetti Mystery)

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Death at La Fenice: (Brunetti 1) (A Commissario Brunetti Mystery)

Death at La Fenice: (Brunetti 1) (A Commissario Brunetti Mystery)

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Turning, the artistic director fumbled at the curtain, unable for a moment to find the opening through which he had come. Disembodied hands parted the curtain from behind, and he slipped through, finding himself in the bare garret where Violetta was soon to die. From out in front, he heard the tentative. applause that greeted the substitute conductor as he took his place on the podium. Brunetti finds out that Wellauer was moralistic and prejudiced against gays. He reneged on a deal with the gay director to place a friend of his in a performance, citing that he need not honor a deal with someone who is gay. He also threatened to tell Flavia's ex-husband about her lesbian affair with American millionaire archaeologist Brett Lynch, so that Flavia's abusive ex-husband could gain custody of their children. Brett admits that Flavia saw the conductor during intermission and that they fought about the threats.

This has not stopped the books’ popularity in other countries; a German TV series featuring Brunetti began in 2000, called simply Donna Leon , and has continued to release two episodes per year. I was unable to find a copy of this show to watch it, but was interested to see that Julia Jäger, playing Paola, was nominated for an Adolf Grimme Award for her acting in the series. Based upon the trailer I found for the show, it looks like the series has tried to stay true to the novels, and if you enjoy watching foreign language murder mystery shows, you might like Donna Leon . Meanwhile, Brunetti learns that Wellauer may have been a Nazi and was definitely a womanizer. He hears about trouble with a now-elderly has-been opera singer, Clemenza Santina. He goes to see the singer, who is living in squalor, but she refuses to talk with him about the core of her hatred toward Wellauer. Brunetti finds out from a journalist the story that Wellauer impregnated Clemenza's sister, who died from an illegal abortion. Brunetti also uncovers that Wellauer was distracted before his death, seemed estranged from his wife, and learned from doctors that he was going deaf. Yes, you read that right. A friend of hers suggested she try a crime novel and Leon did just that. After she completed it, she stashed it away. She submitted it for the Suntory prize in Japan and ended up winning and was offered a two-book contract by Harper Collins. That is why this turned into a series and more books about the detective followed.This is the first time I've read the one that started them all. I can't remember when I read my first Commissario Brunetti mystery, but I loved them from the start. First and foremost, they are set in Venice and La Serenissima is most definitely a presence. From the vaporetti to the feral cats, Leon captures the essence of the city until you can almost smell the sea. What a ripping first mystery, as beguiling and secretly sinister as Venice herself. Sparkling and irresistible.' Rita Mae Brown

Another sweltering month in Charlotte, another boatload of mysteries past and present for overworked, overstressed forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan. Forget about solving all these crimes; the signal triumph here is (spoiler) the heroine’s survival. this low-key and humane Venice-set detective yarn surprised me. not so much at the solving of the murder mystery (although I was surprised), but at how it all came together in such an organic way. the emphasis on family, children, little girls... the importance of doing the right thing even if it is not necessarily the legal thing... no spoilers here, but the end really brought things together in a way that made perfect emotional sense. all of the small everyday moments, the details that aren't important to the case but are important to what is being said, what finally happens... the whole point of the book. I love a holistic novel. Brunetti’s own character is made clear to the reader throughout the course of the novel; he is a family man who is extremely good at his job, preferring to investigate motive through looking at human dynamics and understanding each suspect, rather than relying on intuition. He stresses this to his wife Paola, who enjoys choosing who she believes is the culprit at the beginning of each case, and who Brunetti says is always wrong,A gripping first mystery, as beguiling and secretly sinister as Venice herself. Sparkling and irresistible.” — Rita Mae Brown The worst crime novel I read.....and one of the worst books I've read. It's a caricature of a novel. It's so bad, I felt it is an insult to books- even the most trashy writing is way better and can at least be considered a guilty pleasure. Here you feel the guilt for reading this, but no pleasure. It's guilty torture. On some level, it fascinates me how someone can write this badly. It fascinates me more than the fact that this book got published and read. In a way, reading this book was educational. Being able to write this badly has to be an accomplishment of some sort. I've never seen anyone mess up...every possible aspect of the book. The setting is the Venice Opera House (La Fenice) and the victim is a famous conductor. I enjoyed this concept having worked in classical music and spent a great deal of time with opera singers. The descriptions rang true, although the disrespect shown to the music by the audience isn’t something I’ve ever experienced thankfully. It would annoy me just as much as a member of the audience as it would if I were performing. Okay, anyway. The story opens at the beginning of the third act of Traviata at the famous Fenice opera in Venice. The conductor, a man named Wellauer, has been found dead of cyanide poisoning in his dressing room. There are plenty of what we'll call The Usual Suspects (I watched Casablanca last night) - a much younger wife, a passionate soprano, a betrayed performer, and plenty of journalists and musicians who know way too many of the conductor's dirty secrets. Enter police commissioner Brunetti, who has to figure out which of these people had the best reason to want the conductor dead.



  • Fruugo ID: 258392218-563234582
  • EAN: 764486781913
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