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GIVE UNTO OTHERS



SYNOPSIS

Brunetti is approached for a favor by Elisabetta Foscarini, a woman he knows casually, but her mother was good to Brunetti’s mother, so he feels obliged to at least look into the matter privately, and not as official police business. Foscarini’s son-in-law, Enrico Fenzo, has alarmed his wife (her daughter) by confessing their family might be in danger because of something he’s involved with. Since Fenzo is an accountant, Brunetti logically suspects the cause of danger is related to the finances of a client. Yet his clients seem benign: an optician, a restaurateur, a charity established by his father-in-law. However, when his friend’s daughter’s place of work is vandalized, Brunetti asks his own favors—that his colleagues Claudia Griffoni, Lorenzo Vianello, and Signorina Elettra Zorzi assist his private investigation, which soon enough turns official as they uncover the dark and Janus-faced nature of a venerable Italian institution.



Title: Give unto others
Author: Donna Leon
Series: Commissario Brunetti #31
Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press
Publication date: March 15, 2022



REVIEW

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐

Brunetti and the rest of Donna Leon’s characters have accompanied me for more than half my life, so reading her new novel has become a kind of yearly ritual to meet back some old friends and catch up with their lives. From a few installments back, for me the series stopped being about the crimes and more about the characters and seeing how they adapt to the new times, and this time Brunetti and company are in a post pandemic Venice that is slowly going back to its old self.

I think it would have been much more interesting to read about Venice during the pandemic, as it would have made great contrast to the usual descriptions of the city, plagued by tourists. Aside from some small details about masks, people keeping social distance or some hospital restrictions, it was all business as usual, and I feel like it was some missed opportunity to do something different.

It pains me to say that the mystery (if you can call it that) was not gripping at all this time. It’s usual in Leon’s latest books to have different kinds of crime, but I always find blood crime much more entertaining, and this time around there was a not a single dead body in sight. Also, it felt like it kept going round and round the same points for a very long time.

One of my favorite parts of the series is reading about Brunetti and his family life, and here that was moved to the very back with just a couple of appearances from Paola, so it was a bit disappointing. Also, where were those mouth watering food descriptions?!

Not even the city of Venice felt as vividly described as in previous books.

On the positive side, the ending was closed and it did not leave any loose threads, which have not always been the case in some of the latest books in the series.

Was Give Unto Others a bad book? Not at all, but when you’ve read the whole series, it’s just not on the same level as some of the early titles. Although not my favorite, I will definitely keep reading the series.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atlantic Monthly Press for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

 

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