Beastly Things, Donna Leon
Beastly Things, Donna Leon
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Beastly Things

Author: Donna Leon

Narrator: David Colacci

Unabridged: 6 hr 50 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download (DRM Protected)

Published: 04/03/2012

Synopsis

When the body of man is found in a canal, damaged by the tides, carrying no wallet, and wearing only one shoe, Brunetti has little to work with. No local has filed a missing-person report, and no hotel guests have disappeared. Where was the crime scene? And how can Brunetti identify the man when he can't show pictures of his face? The autopsy shows a way forward: it turns out the man was suffering from a rare, disfiguring disease. With Inspector Vianello, Brunetti canvasses shoe stores and winds up on the mainland in Mestre, outside of his usual sphere. From a shopkeeper, they learn that the man had a kindly way with animals. At the same time, animal rights and meat consumption are quickly becoming preoccupying issues at the Venice Questura and in Brunetti's home, where conversation at family meals offers a window into the joys and conflicts of Italian life. Perhaps with the help of Signorina Elettra, Brunetti and Vianello can identify the man and understand why someone wanted him dead.As subtle and engrossing as ever, Leon's Beastly Things is immensely enjoyable, intriguing, and ultimately moving.

About Donna Leon

American author, Donna Leon, has settled nicely into a series of crime novels set in Venice, Italy entitled, Brunettixote. The novels feature the fictional character of Commissario Guido Brunetti.

Leon was born in 1942, and eventually lived in Venice, Italy for over 30 years. She was an English literature lecturer for the University of Maryland in Europe (Italy), and worked on a military base in Italy for several years, before she became a full time writer. She moved to Zurich, Switzerland, and also had a home in a smaller Swiss village.

The novels have been translated from English into several foreign languages, but for some reason the author did not approve them being translated into Italian. German television has shown 22 Commissario Brunetti episodes that they produced for broadcast.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Alex is The Romance Fox

This still remains one of my favourite crime/thriller series. From the 1st line..............I was hooked once again!!A man lay still, as still as a piece of meat on a slab, as still as death itself.Beastly Things, the 21st mystery in Donna Leon's Commisario Guido Brunetti Series starts with a b......more

Goodreads review by Ms.pegasus

Leon has written a sombre book exploring themes of aging, death, and ethical choices. The sombre note is sounded with a two-page opening which leisurely inspects a nameless corpse in the police morgue. Despite his damaged condition and physical impairments he is viewed with hushed dignity, a mood cr......more

Goodreads review by Lewis

As she often does, Donna Leon raises issues of social and personal responsibility in a way that supports her exciting story and gives the reader much to think about. The political corruption and governmental incompetence strikes close to home for American readers. All people are weak some times, and......more

Quotes

“As if Brunetti weren’t already steaming about the ‘mindless, atavistic greed’ motivating everything from the shabby practices of the banking industry to the irresponsible dredging of the Grand Canal, Leon hits him with a crime that really tries his soul…So he takes his pleasures where he can—at home with his family, in his favorite coffee bars and on long walks around Venice—but after this case, the city he loves will never be quite the same for him.” New York Times Book Review

“Leon hits [Brunetti] with a crime that really tries his soul…So he takes his pleasures where he can—at home with his family, in his favorite coffee bars and on long walks around Venice—but after this case, the city he loves will never be quite the same for him.” New York Times Book Review

“Beastly Things…doesn’t disappoint. All her trademark strengths shine in this swiftly paced, sophisticated tale of greed versus ethics.” Seattle Times

“Like Dorothy Sayers’s Lord Peter Wimsey in the 1930s, Guido Brunetti has accumulated depth and subtlety book by book. In Beastly Things he learns, the hard way, unpleasant facts about the meat industry that have long since made vegetarians of his daughter and Inspector Vianello. Leon has never written a more powerful sequence than the chapter in Beastly Things where Brunetti and Vianello visit a busy slaughterhouse. …Set, as always, against the living background of Venice itself, and the family background that keeps Brunetti’s moral compass straight while letting him enjoy good food, wine, and loving support, Beastly Things is a quietly satisfying celebration of the series’s twenty-first birthday. Long may it continue.” New Republic

“Brunetti’s challenges make for scintillating reading.” Christian Science Monitor

“One of the most attractive serial detectives of contemporary fiction…The unravelling of this intricate plot is very satisfying, yet the real pleasure of this novel lies in its evocation of a city whose shimmering beauty is set against the encroaching predations of the Mafia; a city where proper jobs are so rare that most young adults live at home with their parents, studying or wasting time; a place where your only real safety comes from having, say, four Doges in your ancestry, or a father with such powerful influence that nobody dares cross him.” Independent (UK)

Awards

  • Indie Next List
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