DOCTORED EVIDENCE
Donna Leon
Synopsis
Donna Leon’s riveting new novel, Doctored Evidence, follows Commissario Guido Brunetti down the winding streets of contemporary Venice as he throws open the doors of a case his superiors would rather leave closed. When a miserly spinster is found brutally murdered in her Venice apartment, police immediately suspect her Romanian housekeeper. They are certain their job is done after the immigrant dies while fleeing arrest, but weeks later; a neighbor comes forward to defend the innocence of the accused. The only investigator who believes the alibi is Brunetti, who will have to go behind the backs of his superiors to vindicate the Romanian and find her employer’s actual killer. As always, the indispensable hacking skills of the ever-loyal Signorina Elettra are the perfect complement to Brunetti’s meticulous detective work. She discovers mysterious deposits in the old woman’s bank account, but who made them? As Brunetti investigates, his wife, at home, reads him teachings on the Seven Deadly Sins. In a modern world of intrigue and nebulous morality, how do they relate to the murder at hand? Doctored Evidence is charged with suspense and evokes a contemporary Venice with Donna Leon’s masterful flair.
Richard says
Tour Venice, Italy via Donna Leon’s “Brunetti series” for free.
Donna Leon delivers a ‘2 for the price of 1″ with any of her “Brunetti series” detective stories, a tour of Venice and a detective story. Doctored Evidence reinforces the expectations, a nice tour of Venice, along with a polished detective story.
Leon weaves a complex puzzle around the death of an 83 year old Venetian donna. The story is a complex jigsaw of evidence, leads, suspects and puzzling clues that will have readers mesmerized as they push themselves to solving the crime. It is complex, challenging and engaging and you likely be confounded to the last pages.
The added benefit to any of Leon’s Brunetti tales is that she takes readers on tours of Venice and its environs as she weaves her tale and updates the reader on the latest corruptions and crimes spicing up Italian society, culture and politics. From her exposes, it is easy to understand why the powers that be in Italy viewed Leon as persona non grata in her adopted country.
Doctored Evidence is a complex story that will keep you thinking and guessing right to the final pages.
