by Donna Leon
Book 5 in the Commissario Brunetti series (1996)
Publisher: Penguin Books
Commissario Guido Brunetti of the Venice Questura is shocked to hear that his friend Brett Lynch, lover of La Scala diva Flavia Petrelli, has been savagely beaten. Then a man’s body is found and a terrible confrontation awaits Brett in the Capra family palazzo.
When American archaeologist Brett Lynch is beaten up by two men in the hallway of her flat, Venice, hardly anyone but Brunetti gets upset. After all, Lynch is not just a foreigner, but also, it is said, more women than men and dressed with an opera diva. However, two days later, when the renowned museum director Dottor Semenzato is found murdered, all of Venice is appalled. Brunetti wants to explain both cases with his own obstinacy – especially since the person concerned Brett Lynch and her friend Flavia Petrelli have been close to him since that evening in the opera, which was the conductor Wellauer to his VENEZIAN FINALE. Brunetti goes after it – and not only the tension increases but also the water level.
Donna Leon’s growing American fan base is hungry for more of the books from her internationally bestselling series featuring Commissario Guido Brunetti. Now in what many consider one of the finest in the series, Venice braces for the onslaught of “acqua alta”-the rising waters from torrential rain.
But Brunetti has his own problems, beginning with the savage beating of an old friend. When a man’s body is discovered, Brunetti must wade through the chaos to solve one of his deadliest cases. Full of marvelous plot twists, “Acqua Alta” is a chilling addition to Donna Leon’s addictive series.
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