Quietly in Their Sleep

Quietly in Their Sleep/Death of Faith (1997) Donna Leon

This was published as Death of Faith in Great Britain. So if you come across that, it’s the same as Quietly in their Sleep.

Brunetti is surprised by a young woman who comes into his office, asking him to look into the deaths of five of her patients in the casa di cura where she worked–another place than the home where she had cared for Brunetti’s mother as Suor’Immacolata.

Peace is also disturbed at home, when Chiara’s report card arrives, and they being to delve into just why she received a poor grade. Here we see clearly where Guido and Paola have irreconcilable differences on some subjects.

And, we finally start to learn more about how Signorina Elettra gets her information.

…'(T)here are ways of discovering the codes which give access to almost all information. The more public the information is–a city hall, public records–the easier it is to discover the code. And once a person has that, it’s as if… well, it’s as if they’d gone home ad left the door to the office open and the lights on.’

‘Is this true of all government agencies?’ he asked uneasily.

‘I think you’d prefer not to know the answer,’ she said, her smile gone.

Thank goodness Signorina Elettra works for the forces of good. Or at least the police.

And of course I am reminded why I like Brunetti and Paola so well.

‘(W)ill knowing what she reads make you know who she is?’

‘Can you think of a better way to tell?’

I certainly can’t.

Between the mystery Suor’Immacolata brought him, and his home like, this story deals a great deal with religion–or more specifically, the Catholic church. So, you’ve been warned.
Rating 7/10

Published by Penguin

 
 

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