Suffer the Little Children: A Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery | Donna Leon

Suffer the Little Children: A Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery | Donna Leon | I say it again - personification of sublimity

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Suffer the Little ...

	Suffer the Little Children: A Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery Donna Leon Atlantic Monthly Press, 2007 - 272 pages average customer review:based on 31 reviews view larger image
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Donna Leon's Venice

Always an excellant writer, Donna Leon's latest book will satisfy anyone who loves Venice and Commissario Guido Brunetti. Highly recommended.

I say it again - personification of sublimity

I read all her books with a sense of anticipation and reluctance. The anticipation is for her storytelling abilities and the delight I have in knowing I will be provoked and delighted, the reluctance is that it will end sooner than I always like.
Once again an engaging read. Brunetti has a broad knowledge of human proclivities, yet he his always open to the nuances of personalities. About Leon herself, I went an author reading of hers she sparkles with intelligence,a wry sense of humor, an unapologetic passion for opera in Venice, and while she denigrates Americans in these books, there is no contempt for all things American.

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I love Leon

First Sentence: ...and then my daughter-in-law told me that I should come in and tell you about it.

Commissario Guido Brunetti is awakened and ask to come to the hospital. A doctor of Pedriatics has been severely beaten. Three armed men broke into the apartment of the doctor and his wife and took away their 18 month old son. It seems the men were not local police, but Carabinieri, or military police and there as part of a raid on family who had adopted children illegally. During Brunetti's team's investigation, they discover a money-making scheme between the doctors and pharmacists wherein one of the pharmacists is motivated by his perception of improving morality.

Leon is a wonderful writer. Her ability to create sense of place and society is one of the best and she balances that with a humanity and humor in her characters. Brunetti is not one of the angst-ridden protagonists, but has a wife, family and city that he adores. The story is, at times, heart wrenching but the author doesn't overplay those aspects. The ending seemed a bit abrupt and was tragic but I did figure out the villain fairly soon into the book. However, Leon is always worth reading, just for her wonderful style.

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The First Disappointment

After so many excellent books I was really surprised at how ineffectively the plot and the ambiance were presented. It seemed as if Ms Leon was on a mental holiday and just couldn't give us all of those wonderful family insets of food, marital life and children that embellish and enrichen her books. The plot too was much too cruel at the offset and then just dwindled off. I sincerely hope she will be back in her priceless form for the next book.

reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, page 5, 6, 7

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