Beastly Things

Beastly Things (2012) Donna Leon

I love this series.

I love spending time in Venice with Commissario Brunetti and has family, I love all the characters he deals with, and I love the complexity of his family and co-workers.

It’s funny, but for the most part, the mysteries take a back seat to everything else that occurs in these books–the inevitable murder is simply the vehicle for spending time with Brunetti.

The body of a man is discovered in the canals, and though all identification has been stripped from the body, Rizzardi, the coroner notes his unusual disease, and this leads to the eventual discovery of his identity.

I had only one small complaint about the story–Signorina Elettra is known for her green and earth friendly ways, but I thought the coincidence of her complaint against beef unusually heavy-handed when the murder was going to take us into a slaughterhouse later. It felt like that part could have been left out entirely, as it really served only to foreshadow the later visit to the slaughterhouse.

And a word about the visit to the slaughterhouse: I’ve read a great deal about slaughterhouses but if you have not, the descriptions will be disturbing. Just so you’re forewarned.

One thing I am finding interesting is Brunetti’s changing relationships with Signorina Elettra’s computer hacking ways. He continues to admire her, for many reasons, but he is slowly coming to realize that much of what she doesn’t isn’t necessarily legal. But then so much of Venice seems to exist in a grey legal area, so it hardly seems like much to have her bending or breaking laws in the interest of justice.

As a geek, I have to say that I actually appreciate that Brunetti is technologically inept. First, this contrast with Signorina Elettra is something I enjoy, but also, his ineptness requires others to constantly explain the technology to him, and they do so in a way that also explains to the non-geek reader, but in a way that is real–it’s what I do all the time, although with more patience that some of Brunetti’s co-workers.

All in all, I continue to enjoy this series immensely.
Rating: 8/10

Published by Atlantic Monthly Press

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