So Shall You Reap

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The sophisticated but still moral Brunetti, with his love of food and his loving family, proves a worthy custodian of timeless values and verities. (Wall Street Journal) One of the most popular crime series worldwide . . . While the Brunetti books, with their abundance of local color and gastronomic treats, appeal to the fans of the traditional mystery, Leon has something darker and deeper in mind.”— Life Sentence Brunetti studied the empty spaces on the shelf, wondering how he could fill them. Before an answer came, his phone rang. He started to give his name, but a voice he recognized as Vianello’s spoke over his, asking, ‘Guido, can you meet me at

But the foreign country that changed Ms. Leon’s life, and the one that most readers will be interested to hear her experience of and her opinions on, is Italy. She got her first taste of the place in the late ’60s, when a former university classmate asked her to accompany her on a trip. She fell in love with the people and la dolce vitaduring her stay and finally settled in Venice in the early ’80s. The crimes Guido Brunetti investigates in the Donna Leon novels are typical of big-city issues, such as mafia, corruption, and crimes around the world of art and the world of the Church. The books are not extremely gory with a lot of blood spilled by either party. Instead, the Commissario Guido Brunetti is attempting to understand the criminals with their motivations, to see what really drives them. He also wants to know what drives the victims as well. He is a generally optimistic person, just like the author is as well. Donna Leon created Guido Brunetti as a man she actually likes. He is a nice guy with a strong intellect and sense of ethics. His colleagues are in constant admiration of his intellect, professionalism, and fast-decision abilities. Leon’s] memoir invites readers into her world of adventures, and she’s certainly had plenty . . . She vividly and engaging describes her love of crime, Venice, and opera, her dream of finding the perfect cappuccino (more difficult than one might imagine), and the games she created with friends throughout the world. Leon’s wit and life well-lived will draw in varied audiences, who can live vicariously through her. Fans of her series will certainly enjoy this memoir and the brief letter she includes to dissuade them from trying to find Guido Brunetti at the Questura.” — Library Journal Donna Leon] has never become perfunctory, never failed to give us vivid portraits of people and of Venice, never lost her fine, disillusioned indignation. (Ursula K. LeGuin)

She shares amusing anecdotes about selling tomatoes to fund college, and her mother’s disastrous Christmas turkey. She confesses her love of Tosca, of Handel; and she has a moan about music pollution. And now, here she is, with her 32nd book (her latest) showcasing Commissario Guido Brunetti, as always. This endlessly enjoyable series, with its deep thoughts about justice and vengeance and charming classical allusions, can’t help making you smile.”— Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review Things soon take a more serious turn when a hand is seen in a canal and the body of an undocumented worker is soon found. Once again Leon shows her ability to paint the city of Venice, allowing the reader to see it through the eyes of those who live there, and her skill in creating complex characters brought to life vividly.

Brilliantly evokes Venetian atmosphere. The characters of Brunetti and his family continue to deepen throughout this series.” — The Times (London) So Shall You Reap is the thirty-second book in the Commissario Brunetti series by award-winning American-born author, Donna Leon. Another visit to Guido Brunetti’s Venice, and it’s a good one! While there are plenty of day-to-day tasks and issues keeping Commissario Guido Brunetti busy, it’s the vicious stabbing murder of an undocumented Sri Lankan servant that draws his attention from them. I have read the whole series, so perhaps the next one will appeal to me more, but I am most grateful to the author for all the work she has put into the series, it's largely very enjoyable. Wandering Through Life,” by Donna Leon, is marketed as a memoir. However, it is actually a collection of essays about such topics as Leon’s childhood, musical tastes, love of travel, and affinity for Venice, where she lived for three decades. Surprisingly, Leon says little about the series that made her famous—her thirty-two crime novels that feature the literate, compassionate, and insightful Commissario Guido Brunetti. Every profession leads to deformation,” writes Donna Leon in her memoir “Wandering Through Life.” She adds: “mine is crime.” The novelist then proceeds to come clean about the way her fertile imagination runs wild, turning innocent scenarios into fantasies of wrongdoing.

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The story begins when Alvise is detained at a gay rights demonstration in Treviso for resisting arrest. It gives Paola a good laugh that Guido has never realized after years of working with him that Alvise is gay. The sophisticated but still moral Brunetti, with his love of food and his loving family, proves a worthy custodian of timeless values and verities.”— Wall Street Journal At one stage I just thought that some of the writing was a little poor compared to the other books in the series.

A Question of Belief (William Heinemann, London, April 2010; Atlantic Monthly Press, New York, hardcover May 2010;

The modest building on the Fondamenta San Lorenzo which houses the Questura is likely to become as much a tourist attraction as the Quai des Orfèvres.” — Times Literary Supplement (London) This is the most disappointing of the 32 books, for me, but many others sincerely enjoyed it, so it may just have been the mood I was in while reading, and perhaps I'm too critical. Donna Leon guides us through Venice like James Ellroy through Los Angeles or Manuel Vázquez Montalbán through Barcelona: with an eye used to detect what lies behind the façade.” — Le Figaro (Paris) El misterio sirve de excusa para echar un vistazo a la historia política reciente de Italia, desde una perspectiva más personal, mostrando el idealismo de la juventud y la naturaleza problemática inherente al mismo. Filosofía, política, historia o justicia, son temas recurrentes en sus obras, mostrando una gran perspicacia a la hora entrar en la psique humana, en las motivaciones, pensamientos o sentimientos de sus personajes. El misterio se presenta como un elemento con múltiples capas en el que la satisfacción final viene dada no solo porque se resuelve el caso, si no por la forma en que se ha resuelto.