By its Cover

February 3, 2014
In bestseller Leon’s elegant 23rd Commissario Guido Brunetti mystery (after 2013’s The Golden Egg), a Venetian library director reports that several valuable old books have been either stolen or damaged. The likely thief and vandal masqueraded as an American professor, but he has vanished, and his credentials prove false. With few leads, Brunetti turns to a potential witness—a library patron and former priest dubbed Tertullian (after the early Christian author) by the staff because he spends his days reading the church fathers’ works. Before the police can interview him, the seemingly innocuous Tertullian is brutally murdered—and Brunetti discovers some of the stolen volumes in his home. This character-driven novel looks at the ravages of rare book theft on libraries, and, more broadly, the destructive effects of contemporary greed—exemplified by cruise ships damaging Venice’s fragile waterways—on cultural heritage. Leon’s skillful evocation of the city’s charms, culture, and history more than compensates for an abrupt ending that might leave some readers unsatisfied.

April 1, 2014
A rare-book thief is the target in Commissario Guido Brunetti's 23rd case. Since Venice's Biblioteca Merula is open to anyone who can provide the proper credentials, it's been the obvious place for Joseph Nickerson, professor of European history at the University of Kansas, to do his research. But when Nickerson suddenly vanishes after three weeks of daily visits, his credentials turn out to be anything but proper. Nor is he the only thing that's vanished. Several of the rare books he consulted have gone missing, and pages and illustrative plates have been removed from many others. Dottoressa Patrizia Fabbiani, director of the Merula, can't imagine how such a thing could have happened under the watchful eyes of library guard Piero Sartor. Even more puzzling is the silence of Aldo Franchini, a regular visitor for three years whom the library staff has dubbed "Tertullian" for his preferred reading about the church fathers. Franchini sat close to Nickerson every day; he can't have failed to see him remove pages from the precious volumes. Why didn't he say anything, and what can Brunetti do about it? If you think book theft is no big deal, you're in good company; neither does Vice-Questore Giuseppe Patta, Brunetti's invincibly dim superior. Only the offense the thefts may give Contessa Elisabetta Morosini-Albani, the wealthy widow whose donations have financed many of the library's acquisitions, rouses Patta, not to action, but at least to acquiescence in Brunetti's investigation, which inevitably leads to revelations of blackmail and murder. Brunetti (The Golden Egg, 2013, etc.) spends less time with both his charming family and his highly variable colleagues than usual; and with the exception of Franchini, the characters remain distantly evoked rather than vividly present. This one really is for readers who love books.

COPYRIGHT(2014) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from February 1, 2014
Think of Leon's latest Guido Brunetti novel as a love letter to her fans, many of whom are librarians. The premise involves the theft and mutilation of rare books from a private research library, and much of the action takes place in the library itself, with Brunetti inhaling the aroma of aging parchment and fondly remembering his student days. Ah, but amid all this biblio-love, there is a real crimenot only the theft but also the murder of one of the library's regular patrons. As usual, the focus rests with the people involved in and on the periphery of the case. Brunetti's concern is always with individuals: how they come to do the things they do and what that says about them and about us. At one point, the police pathologist muses, You know, Guido, at times I find it difficult to believe you do the work you do. One might say the same of Leon: her books, despite employing the structure of traditional mysteries, are so very different from most crime novels, even those characterized as character-driven. For example, in one four-page scene in which Brunetti questions the brother of the victim, we see the unique sensibility Leon brings to the genre: sure she shows what a skilled interrogator her detective is, but between the lines, there is so much more: Brunetti's remarkable sensitivity to other human beings, his ability not just to see what they are feeling but to share those feelings and to internalize their melancholy. Above all, Brunetti is a careful reader, of people, of places, of situations, and he never stops at surface meanings. That's why we bookish types adore him the way we do, and why this will likely be one of his most-loved adventures. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: It's a new Leon novel, and it's set in a library. Must we go on?(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)

November 15, 2013

The 23rd book in CWA Macallan Silver Dagger winner Leon's internationally best-selling Commissario Guido Brunetti series takes us back to water-lit Venice, where Brunetti is looking into the theft of pages from rare books at a renowned Venetian library. The main suspect is a visiting American professor, but investigation shows there's no such person; then a gentle theologian who has frequented the library ends up dead.

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2014

In the 23rd outing for Commissario Guido Brunetti (The Golden Egg), the Venetian policeman is called to a library to investigate the thefts of several rare historical books and maps. Brunetti gets a crash course in the politics of wealthy donors, fragile institutional reputations, and the international black market in stolen literary works and prints. The investigation takes a turn for the worse when one of the library researchers is found beaten to death. Brunetti smoothly moves through the investigation, humoring his bosses and finessing witnesses, while maintaining his integrity. VERDICT Series fans will delight in the usual snippets of daily life in a historic city, brief asides about the universality of corruption and humanity's venality, and several mouthwatering meals. In addition to series fans, it will appeal to readers looking for a well-plotted story matched with just enough details of life in one of the world's most beautiful locations. [See Prepub Alert, 9/1/13; library marketing.]--Dan Forrest, Western Kentucky Univ. Libs., Bowling Green

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.