About Face

About Face (2009) Donna Leon

I clearly remembered parts of this book, which meant I wanted to re-read it.

Guido and Paola are invited to a dinner at her parents’, and Guido meets a woman who captivates his attention.

‘I beg your pardon.’ Brunetti answered, stalling.
‘You beg my pardon because you don’t understand my question, or you beg my pardon because you spent the evening talking to Franca Marinello and ignoring everyone else?’
The vehemence of her question surprised Brunetti into bleating out, ‘But she reads Cicero.’
‘Cicero?’ asked an equally astonished Paola.
…
‘You realize, I hope, that you are married to the only woman in this city who would find that an entirely satisfactory explanation?’

Which is one more reason to love Paola.

And then a Carabinieri appears asking for Brunetti’s help in identifying a man who may or may not have been involved in a murder.

Things get complicated from there. But as always, it is the interactions between Brunetti and Paola or Brunetti and Vianello and his other co-workers that makes this story for me.

That and the discovery of what happened to Franca Marinello.
Rating: 8/10

Published by Penguin

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