A Question of Belief: (Brunetti 19) (Commissario Brunetti)

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They are handed information which seems to implicate a judge in her choices of making delays in cases. There is also the personal problem of Vianello's aunt's behaving in financially dangerous ways for herself. Neither problem is technically police work, but they dig into both feeling some moral responsibility. Brunelli combines insight Commissario Guido Brunetti is a police official in Venice, Italy, working with his right-hand man, Ispettore Lorenzo Vianello.

Brunelli combines insight and experience, patience and calm, with good old gumshoe effort to determine what is going on. It probably goes without saying that something is going on. I love the character Elettra, that woman in every organization who is technically of insignificant power, but who, in actuality does a whole lot to make the organization function. I came to Brunelli through an observation that fans of Armand Gamache would like him. I adore Gamache and have read all but the last one, and this left me feeling like, with only a single book in the series under my belt, there is enough to make me look for more.

Aug 22, Laura rated it really liked it. Leon has written, as of , nineteen books in this series. It is my intention to read every one of those nineteen titles. At this point I have now read six of them. So, what is it about these stories that I find so appealing, you might ask? I have given this some thought and what follows is my conclusions about why I find these stories so appealing. First and foremost, the central character in all of these stories is Commissario Guido Brunetti.

I find him so believable a Ms. I find him so believable and so admirable as a seasoned detective navigating the byways of Venice and the many dark sides of humanity that he encounters there. Another reason I like these books as much as I do is the fact that Leon includes in each of these stories a view of Guido as a family man, which is not a common state of being in most novels in this genre. The Brunetti family and their extended family members makes for a lighter and more charming element in these tales.

The sites, sounds and smells of the city of Venice bring life and character to these novels. Leon, probably because she resides there, brings to the reader a sense of the Venetian culture and in the process makes one feel, at the conclusion of one of these books, as though you have just come back from a visit to the canal city. In this installment, Brunetti is looking forward to spending two weeks in the mountains with his family and away from the torturous heat of the summers in Venice.

He makes it to his destination only to be called back to the city to investigate a murder. I very much enjoy visiting with Brunetti and his cohorts every chance that I get. Aug 30, Alan rated it really liked it. As opposed to most of my "reviews," based on reading and teaching over four decades, the Leon books I have not read but heard aloud and in person, not from a tape or CD.

They are filled with the complexities of Italy where a relative has lived for two decades: No wonder Leon does not allow her novels translated into Italian, a telling and appalling state of affairs. A Question of Belief is simply the most recent of our aloudread Leons. It does not dissapoint, though there are somewhat fewer Brunetti domestic scenes--always revelatory--because his family has gone "alle montagne" to avoid the heat.

I cannot imagine heat in Venice, where I have lived mostly in March, several times, to research my Worlds of Giordano Bruno. The cross-section of residents and neighbors of the victim living in proximity despite differing financial access is interesting, as is Brunetti's research of the tidal waters for the source of the body--or maybe I'm thinking of another one. I was a bit disappointed with this book. There was a lot of telling and not a lot of showing. There are two cases, one involving a murder and the other a fortuneteller, but I never really felt like part of the investigation.

There was a distance in the storytelling that kept me from getting in I was a bit disappointed with this book. There was a distance in the storytelling that kept me from getting involved with the storyline, almost to the point where I had to go back and re-read sections to try to remember who was who. This has been a fantastic series so I'm hoping the next book will be better.

This wasn't the Brunetti I've enjoyed so much over the years.

A Question of Belief - Donna Leon - Häftad () | Bokus

Don't read this book in the summer. The descriptions of the unbeatable heat of Venice made me perspire, even in March. What can I say about Commissario Guido Brunetti that hasn't been said? If you love him, you will read any book in the series. If you don't like him - abandon the series altogether. He's a wonderful character who grows more interesting as the series progresses. Nein, Brunettis Venedig kommt in einer ruhigen und fast provinziellen Art daher - was aber keineswegs bedeutet, dass es nicht spannend ware.

Auch die Charaktere find Mein erster Brunetti. Auch die Charaktere finde ich plastisch und "normal". Mar 03, Vera Vala rated it it was ok.

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As much as I enjoy the nice, familiar elements in Donna Leon's books such as describing Venice, the Italian way of life, Italian food and other wonderful little everyday details that Leon uses to create the unique atmosphere of her books, this time the edgy comments about Southern Italy were far too much for me. Leon's comments have been irritating foreign people living in Southern Italy already for years, but her attitude is lately coming close from edgy to a clearly racists one. But she is generalizing in an offensive way certain parts of Italy and that really disturbed my reading experience.

As I've been living in Italy for 17 years now myself, I certainly undesrtand the frustration one can feel when living in this country, but as I have been living in different parts of Italy not only in the North and seiing many different regions here , I at least understand that the truth is far more complicated than Leon tries to describe in her books.

All the people living in Southern Italy are not villains as she seems to want to make us believe even through characters like Patta and Scarpa, not to mention other, minor characters and lines coming from the mouth of Brunetti and her wife and all the other characters. There are also a lot of positive, lovely things in the south even if she never mentions one. It's a pity that Leon doesn't have a more complete and understanding point of view to whole Italy but she paints it in such a black and white colours.

Because believe me, Italy is anything but black and white. I understand that for Leon it's easy to stick to her experiences and opinions in Veneto region, but that way she's not using all the potential that the wonderful Italy can offer both to an auther and to a reader. I would love to concentrate on the wonderful elements that Leon uses in her books, but if her attitude continues like this in the next books, I won't be reading them.

Jun 30, Linda rated it liked it Shelves: It's always a pleasure to read a novel featuring Commissario Guido Brunetti, a goodhearted man for whom all police work is a question of ethics and justice.


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Like most of us, however, some of the jobs he's called upon to undertake are more interesting than others. As always, the case of the moment involves politics, bureaucratic corruption, and a so It's always a pleasure to read a novel featuring Commissario Guido Brunetti, a goodhearted man for whom all police work is a question of ethics and justice.

As always, the case of the moment involves politics, bureaucratic corruption, and a social issue, in this case, homosexuality. As the book opens, crime on the island also appears to be on holiday, so Brunetti and Ispettore Vianello, his equally compassionate assistant, occupy themselves with nonviolent concerns, such as bribery in court cases and fraud on the part of psychic healers.


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    • Coincidentally, a brutal murder occurs, its victim a clerk at the very court they're scrutinizing. Donna Leon is equally adept at immersing her readers in the ambience of Venice and plotting an intricate, compelling police procedural. In Belief, for some reason, her focus seems to have been diverted from Brunetti's case work to the dreadful heat of summer smothering the canals and piazzas. It's easy enough to enjoy this novel for what it is, though it's far from Leon's best.

    A good summer diversion for us! Sep 23, Gerald Sinstadt rated it it was amazing Shelves: There is a fashion in police procedural novels to start with a violent prologue whose relevance only becomes apparent much later in the book. In contrast, Donna Leon's approach is almost old-fashioned, and none the worse for that. A Question of Belief begins mundanely with a puzzled Ispettore Vianello trying to come to terms with on-line card-reading and fortune telling. More serious, but more familiar themes take over - court cases unreasonably delayed, contracts of dubious legality.

    Commissari There is a fashion in police procedural novels to start with a violent prologue whose relevance only becomes apparent much later in the book. Commissario Brunetti is looking forward to escaping midsummer heat in Venice and perennial venality in government by taking his family to the hills on holiday. He is halfway there when - but that would be halfway to revealing the plot, so let's leave it at that.

    Brunetti remains the most human and humane of policemen. When his conscience comes in conflict with the strict letter of the law, there is no guaranteed winner. And sometimes, as in this most successful of the author's plots, the loose ends feel very much like life. With Donna Leon as guide, Venice will never lose its allure. Jan 17, Laura rated it liked it Shelves: We open in the heat of a Venetian August - and on almost every page there's a reference to the heat, sweat, the sun, or clothing going limp or sticking to one's back.

    Vianello Commissario Brunetti's trusty second approaches Brunetti with a problem: Brunetti agrees to help, and finagles some trainees into trailing the good Zia, on We open in the heat of a Venetian August - and on almost every page there's a reference to the heat, sweat, the sun, or clothing going limp or sticking to one's back.

    Brunetti agrees to help, and finagles some trainees into trailing the good Zia, only to learn that she's seeing a fortune teller with A History of Presumed Corruption. Then there's the file that he's given, showing a perhaps illegal slowing down of trials to benefit With the help of Signorina Elettra, he starts "accessing" information at the Tribunale.

    Of course, their lead source winds up dead. I wondered if the two cases were related, or simply running parallel. I won't spoil the mysteries, but the resolution was interestingly muddy. This isn't a procedural series I've read before, but it's one I'd be happy to encounter again. Apr 13, Deborah Biancotti added it Shelves: I didn't really connect with this, my first of Donna Leon's Venice-based book.

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    Also I wanted more women characters. In fact, a book series about a female Venetian cop coping with the traditional Venetian society would be brilliant. Also I wanted to connect more with Venice, but perhaps the fact that main character I didn't really connect with this, my first of Donna Leon's Venice-based book.

    Also I wanted to connect more with Venice, but perhaps the fact that main character Brunetti is a Venetian meant that he just wasn't as excited by Venice as I was. To him, eating tramezzini is just what you do of a day. Jack Noble is part Reach, part Bourne, and all action. Cold-blooded murder and smoldering hot sex explode in this heart-stopping gay erotic thriller. It's going to be a bloodbath.

    A Question of Belief

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    Product details File Size: May 4, Language: Related Video Shorts 0 Upload your video. Everything you want in a crime series. Memorable characters, great stories, a few good laughs, and plenty of action! When the Man Comes Around: Harry Bosch meets Jack Reacher in this addictive new thriller that everyone is talking about. Share your thoughts with other customers. Write a customer review. Read reviews that mention donna leon question of belief guido brunetti signorina elettra heat wave commissario guido ispettore vianello commissario brunetti leon books another great along the way araldo fontana faith healer read a donna wife paola judicial system looking forward police procedural storyline inspector brunetti.

    There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later. Venice this summer has been hotter than blazes, hotter than Hades, hotter than Dante's inner circles and what must a police commasario to do to get out of the city for a vacation sure to be a cool respite from all the law and order stuff he deals with year-round?

    For Donna Leon's inimitable Guido Brunetti it seems the summer's heat is interminable but there's a light a cool breeze? At least that's what he's hoping. While Brunetti and all of Venice may be suffering from the summer's heat, Leon's readers find this latest installment in a very successful series to be just what the doctor or policeman ordered: Leon at her best. A taut, tersely written tale that reaffirms our faith in this very popular author, whose talents and abilities in this genre keep producing winners! Before Brunetti can take this family on vacation, needless to say, a murder is announced, to quote Miss Marple.

    And, as usual with the Leon series, subplots support the storyline quite smartly.

    Inspector Vianello's aunt in mixed up with a charlatan horoscope guru; a corrupt judicial system is wrecking continued havoc and injustice as some judges become suspect; and the ramifications of the central murder are ever-widening. As usual Leon touches upon important social issues the environment, illegal immigration, the country's governmental and financial corruptions and blends these into her narrative cleverly and smoothly, never detracting from the bigger picture: Crime, Brunetti says, is usually reduced to money, money, money or sex, sex, sex, with Greed playing the major role.

    As Brunetti's friend Brusca tells him, as he's revealing details about the judicial system's "irregularities": We think that love of music can run in families, or maybe the ability to paint. So why not greed? Then when the murder occurs, an official within the court system, there are more complications. An enigmatic, totally dedicated civil servant Araldo Fontana is found bludgeoned to death in the courtyard of his apartment building. It is left up to the incorruptible Brunetti and his team to work through the maze of misinformation, disinformation, lies, deceit, cover-up, and even a couple of red herrings.

    Along the way, Leon's set of the "usual suspects" are there to impede the progress and these include his boss Vice-Questore Patta and the ever-pugnacious Lt. And, it seems, an indictment of the entire Italian bureaucracy. As Leon says, "It was seldom, after all these years, that Brunetti could be moved to indignation by some new revelation of the skill with which his fellow citizens managed to slip around the edges of the law.

    Brunetti, as always, is finely supported by his wife Paola and his two children, and none of the Leon books would be complete without Signorina Elettra, the most able office manager in the Questura, whose knowledge of the computer and the Internet--and what she can do with them--make her invaluable. But she's more than this. A character who holds her own, she notes that "A man without a sense of fashion is a man without a soul. Leon's theories about motive greed, love, money, sex come to fruition all in good time.

    One of the many pluses of her writings is the fact that she's not afraid to confront such issues in Italy She told me in London a couple of years ago that her books weren't translated into Italian, perhaps for good reason!

    A resident of Venice where she's live for 25 years , she clearly has a literary love relationship with the city, even the country, and does not appear to falter in being willing to show these shortcomings. And while she doesn't hesitate to get "involved," her novels never falter in their effectiveness, their readability, their pursuit of what's inherently right. It's such a pleasure to read Donna Leon. This is a stellar addition to Leon's celebrated series: A Question of Belief: Atlantic Monthly Press Availability: Brunetti 19 Author s: A Question of Belief, A Author s: William Heinemann Ltd Availability: