I am surprised that no one has mentioned the latest Donna Leon book in the Commissario Brunetti series.

We received About Face from Amazon about 10 days ago here in northeast USA.

My wife and I have both finished it.

I found it to be one of the most satisfying of her novels having read them all.

It's somewhat different in style from previous but very focused and concentrated.

All the usual characters make an appearance but most only briefly and to perform a role specific to the plot. And both of Paola's parents play pivotal roles in the plot development.

Much less description of Venetian landmarks and meals.

Wonderful descriptions of snow in Venice.

In the same shipment we also got Brunetti's Venice which is a series of annotated walks based on specific routes that Brunetti took in various books. Each chapter has a detailed map, excerpts from the novels, and commentary by the author.

While I haven't finished it yet I have already learned a number of interesting facts. For example, one of Brunetti's favorite restaurants is a thinly disguised Carampane.


In the forward by Donna Leon, she seems to suggest that the Questura has been relocated from the San Lorenzo area to Piazzelle Roma. Can anyone confirm this?

We've been talking about it in the March-April books thread in the "Everything Else" forum. Some of us have read it, others (like me) have put it on reserve at local libraries.

Glad you enjoyed it!

I've been a big fan since "Death at La Fenice" and finally my wife started reading the series. I received the new one last week, along with Brunetti's Venice - in time for our trip there in late May.

Thanks Marian.

That's in the premium section which I always forget about.

I probably should consider joining.

Stephen,

I don't know if you know about this but Toni Sepeda just published a book called Brunetti's Walks. Toni is a good friend of Donna Leon's and has the "inside track". If you like Donna's books and are thinking of going to Venice, I highly recommend it.

Ashley

Mamma, welcome to Slow Trav!

If you read Stephen's post carefully, you will see that he already has the book you recommend.

quote:

In the same shipment we also got Brunetti's Venice which is a series of annotated walks based on specific routes that Brunetti took in various books. Each chapter has a detailed map, excerpts from the novels, and commentary by the author.

Yep, that's what I get for speed reading when I should be going to bed! Sorry for the rookie move!

I have commented on the new book in the March-April book section but thought I would put my two cents in here too. I stayed up to after 1 AM last night finishing it. I feel like Guido and Paola are personal friends and I should get in touch with them while visiting Venice! Now I have to wait until Donna Leon writes yet another one but am meanwhile walking the Brunetti's Venice walks in my head a little each day! BJinNM

I went looking for this thread; just finished Open Face, on loan from the library, only had to wait 3 weeks for it, but it took them two months to get and process it.

I really loved my latest visit with the Brunettis; I really felt like it was going home. For character development, I think it was one of the better ones, especially, as said above, the portrayal of the Falier in-laws and Brunetti's relationship with them.

I'm only sad because it will be awhile before we get to visit again.

Thanks for the heads up; I just put a reserve on it. Love her books!

I just returned from Prague/Poland. I wanted to read About Face but not in hardcover. The solution was Kindle. I have an iPhone, downloaded Kindle for iPhone and the book, and ended up reading it - I need to research a bit because it 'felt' to me as if it took less time to do so on the iPhone than when I'm sitting and reading the book, but that just may be my trying to ignore the long plane flight etc. I think Kindle also works for iPod Touch.

Donna Leon's April conversation in San Francisco with the City Arts & Lectures organization will be aired tonight (8pm Pacific time) on the local NPR station: http://www.kqed.org/radio/prog...index.jsp?pgmid=RD13

There's a "listen live" link on that page.