Reviews

Death in a Strange Country by Donna Leon

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robinwalter's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

A very dark and rather depressing tale, this police mystery is grimly realistic. The descriptions of Venice and Brunetti's family life were the bright spots in the bleakly believable tale of corporate and governmental malfeasance

romonko's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

This is the second book in the Commissario Brunetti series. Brunetti seems to have bitten off more than he can chew with his latest case. A young man is found floating near the edge of one of Venice's canals. On inspection, Brunetti determines that the young man is a soldier from the American base. As he investigates it quickly becomes apparent that there is a lot more to this crime than what appears to be a simple robbery gone wrong. But after numerous trips to the base and after being told by his unctuous boss to leave it alone, he feels more compelled than ever to try to solve the murder, but before he can do that another death occurs on the base. Guido finds out that some very high profile people from Sicily (wink, wink) are trying to keep him from investigating as well. I enjoyed the story and I enjoyed Brunetti, although he does appear to plod along on his own trajectory quite a bit during the course of the two books that I have read. But he is such a likeable and unflappable man, and dogged and single-minded in his approach that I can't help but cheer him on. Right up until the end it seems like the bad guys have won in this one, but one of the Venetian citizens puts an abrupt stop to that. Although the resolution is not clean and final, Brunetti decides to let it go as it appears that most of the bad guys involved have paid for their sins--to a point. This is an enjoyable series with great characters and with enough red herrings and blind alleys to keep the reader guessing.

penguin555's review against another edition

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mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

sue_su's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

sophie_m22's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

mmingie's review against another edition

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I thought the author of these books was British- it has that kind of ending that's unsatisfying because you know life often gives unsatisfying endings, particularly where the rich or connected are concerned (very similar to Ian Rankin's early Inspector Rebus books). But she's from NJ! interesting.
I appreciate when a mystery gets to the murder early, the investigation seems to be over too quickly when they don't. She's building the characters more in this book, I'm excited to see how they turn out.