Death in a Strange Country by Donna Leon: A review

I read a lot of mysteries on our recent vacation. This was one of them.

This was the second in Leon's Commissario Guido Brunetti series. Although two is not a large sample, I am very much enjoying these stories so far. Brunetti is a very likable chap and I especially enjoy his relationship with his family and the fact that the family is shown as an integral part of his life. It's not something one always finds in one's favorite fictional detectives and it gives an added resonance to the tales.

The death referred to in the title is the death of an American soldier stationed at a nearby base at Vicenza. His body is found floating in a Venetian canal. He had been stabbed and it appears that his death may have been the result of a mugging gone wrong. But Brunetti finds reasons to be skeptical of that explanation.

Sgt. Michael Foster was a public health inspector at the army base and Guido suspects that his death may somehow be related to his job. Perhaps he had uncovered problems related to public health that those in authority did not want brought to the attention of the media and the public.

Brunetti travels to Vicenza, talks to Foster's commander, who it turns out was also his lover, and his sense of uneasiness that something is very wrong with the whole situation grows. Returning to Venice, he learns from his blustering boss, Vice-Quetore Patta, that the case is to be closed and it will go into the books as a mugging gone wrong because that's what those in power want.

Brunetti is incensed by the miscarriage of justice, even more so when he continues to follow clues and learns what it may be that Foster had uncovered: a conspiracy among the U.S. and Italian governments and the Mafia to cover up illegal dumping of toxic waste.

Then Foster's commanding officer/lover also turns up dead from an overdose. Was it suicide? Did she take her own life because she was despondent over Foster's death? Or was she killed to keep her quiet and her death made to look like suicide? Brunetti, of course, suspects the latter.

In order to get to the bottom of these events and resolve his investigation, Brunetti needs help. He calls upon his father-in-law, a wealthy and powerful man who has connections both in government and apparently in the Mafia. The father-in-law readily assists the husband of his only child. Once again the family connections in these books loom large in what seems like an accurate depiction of Italian society.

Donna Leon is especially skilled at describing the Venetian landscape - or should that be seascape? - and the Machiavellian nature of its society. She truly makes the reader see and understand how the culture has evolved and how it operates. It may not be transparent and straightforward, but it does seem to work and even though the end result may not be justice as we (or Guido Brunetti) would recognize it, a kind of equity is achieved.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Poetry Sunday: Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver

How about we share another Mary Oliver poem? After all, you can never have too many of those. In this one, the poet seems to acknowledge that it is often hard to simply live in and enjoy the moment, perhaps because we are afraid it can't last. She urges us to give in to that moment and fully experience the joy. Although "much can never be redeemed, still, life has some possibility left." Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happens better than all the riches or power in the world. It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty. Joy is no...

Poetry Sunday: Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney

My mother was a farm wife and a prodigious canner. She canned fruit and vegetables from the garden, even occasionally meat. But the best thing that she canned, in my opinion, was blackberry jam. Even as I type those words my mouth waters! Of course, before she could make that jam, somebody had to pick the blackberries. And that somebody was quite often named Dorothy. I think Seamus Heaney might have spent some time among the briars plucking those delicious black fruits as well, so he would have known that "Once off the bush the fruit fermented, the sweet flesh would turn sour." They don't keep; you have to get that jam made in a hurry! Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney Late August, given heavy rain and sun For a full week, the blackberries would ripen. At first, just one, a glossy purple clot Among others, red, green, hard as a knot. You ate that first one and its flesh was sweet Like thickened wine: summer's blood was in it Leaving stains upon the tongue and lust ...

Poetry Sunday: Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman

You probably remember poet Amanda Gorman from her appearance at the inauguration of President Biden. She read her poem "The Hill We Climb" on that occasion. After the senseless slaughter in Uvalde this week, she was inspired to write another poem which was published in The New York Times. It seemed perfect for the occasion and so I stole it in order to feature it here, just in case you didn't get a chance to read it in the Times . Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman Everything hurts, Our hearts shadowed and strange, Minds made muddied and mute. We carry tragedy, terrifying and true. And yet none of it is new; We knew it as home, As horror, As heritage. Even our children Cannot be children, Cannot be. Everything hurts. It’s a hard time to be alive, And even harder to stay that way. We’re burdened to live out these days, While at the same time, blessed to outlive them. This alarm is how we know We must be altered — That we must differ or die, That we must triumph or try. ...

The Nature of Things

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