A Red-Rose Chain (2015) Seanan McGuire This is the 9th Toby Daye book, and Toby and Tybalt have not yet gotten married, but everyone seems to be awaiting their wedding. But in the meantime, war is preparing to break out, and it’s up to Toby to stop it. And… that gets to me no longer […]
Falling in Love (2015) Donna Leon And now, I have read and re-read all the published Donna Leon, Commisario Brunetti books. We return once again to the Opera and Flavia Petrelli. La Fenice is putting on Tosca, and Flavia has the lead role. Brunetti and Paola meet her after the opening night, and invite her […]
By its Cover (2014) Donna Leon At last, we reach the books I had not yet read. The 23rd book finds Brunetti called to investigate the theft of both books and pages cut from old and rare books. Old books had always filled Brunetti with nostalgia for centuries in which he had not lived. … […]
The Golden Egg (2013) Donna Leon This mystery is good, but the resolution is so awful, it makes me dislike the whole book. This, I think, sums up what I found so awful (don’t worry, not a spoiler): ‘I wonder if it’s possible that he got to the point where his life was so bad, […]
Beastly Things (2012) Donna Leon Although I had forgotten most of the mystery, the scenes of Brunetti and Vianello going into the slaughterhouse I remembered quite vividly–their horror and disgust at what they witnessed. Again, Rizzardi continues to be one of my favorite characters, even though we usually only see him once a book. ‘Miracle?’ […]
Drawing Conclusions (2010) Donna Leon And older woman is found dead in her apartment by her neighbor, and although her death is ruled a heart attack, something strikes Brunetti as wrong about the scene, and so he looks into the life of the woman, and why someone might want to do her harm. Anna Maria […]
A Question of Belief (2010) Donna Leon The 19th Commisarrio Brunetti book finds Guido and his family ready for their vacation in the mountains–and an escape to the oppressive heat and humidity of Venice. Though the heat often drove people to violence, that was not the case this year. Perhaps there was some point where […]
Black Widow Volume 1: The Finely Woven Thread (2015) Nathan Edmondson and Phil Noto Oh, I liked this one lots! I have not seen the Avenger movies, or read any of the Avenger comics–I just know tangential bits picked up from here and there (because: geek). Natasha is the Black Widow, who was formerly a […]
A-Force Presents Vol. 1 (2015) by G. Willow Wilson, Nathan Edmondson, Kelly Sue Deconnick, Jason Aaron, Phil Noto, David Lopez, Adrian Alphona, Russell Dauterman This is brilliant. These are six introductory stories to six female characters in the Marvel world: Black Widow, Captain marvel, Thor, She-Hulk, Ms. Marvel, and The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl. It’s a […]
Mercy Thompson: Hopcross Jilly (2015) Patricia Briggs and Tom Garcia I’m a huge fan of the Mercy Thompson series, and also love Patricia Briggs’ short stories, so although I didn’t love the first Mercy Thompson graphic novel I read, I got this because I do like her short stories. This story puts a great deal […]
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 […]
The Girl of His Dreams (2008) Donna Leon The 17th Commissario Brunetti mystery opens with a funeral–Brunetti’s mother has finally died. This isn’t a cruel statement, just a recognition that she wasn’t the woman who raised two sons, but was instead made into a shell of herself by dementia. The mystery starts when a priest–a […]
Suffer the Little Children (2007) Donna Leon Weirdly, I had no memory of reading this, and in fact thought I had not read it before. I know why this is so, but it is still a strange feeling, to re-read a book and have no memory of the previous reading. The book opens with a […]
Through a Glass, Darkly (2006) Donna Leon This book does not open with murder–or even with much in the way of crime. It instead finds Brunetti and Vianello heading out to Mestre to help one of Vianello’s friends/acquaintances who had been arrested during environmental protests. I haven’t said much in these reviews about food, which […]
Blood from a Stone (2005) Donna Leon A young African man–a vú cumprá, or street vendor–is shot down on the street in what seems to be a professional hit. Brunetti, Vianello and Signorina Elettra attempt to discover why the man was murdered in cold blood, but at every turn they run into road blocks–and not […]
Doctored Evidence (2004) Donna Leon An unpleasant old woman is found murdered–bludgeoned to death in her apartment. It seems like an open-and-shut case of the badly-treated hired help having done it–especially when the woman is found fleeing the country and is hit by a trail and killed trying to escape the police. But all is […]
Uniform Justice (2003) Donna Leon This is a somewhat distressing story, since it starts with the death of a teenager–just so you’ve been warned. Since he had learned of the boy’s death, Brunetti had been assailed by the desire to know if the man had other children, but couldn’t bring himself to ask. He had […]
Willful Behavior (2002) Donna Leon The eleventh Commissario Brunetti book finds both Guido and Paola involved in the favors and requests that pervade Venice (and Italy). ‘But you have to let me do something for you.’ ‘All right, you can,’ Brunetti said immediately. ‘Good. What? Anything.’ ‘The next time we eat at the restaurant, ask […]