The dead kidnapped man (A Noble Radiance - Donna Leon)

Member Name: CPTDANIELS

Product:	A Noble Radiance - Donna Leon
Date:	24/08/09 (114 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Superb Detective novel

Disadvantages: poor original investigation into the kidnapping

Background:

Recently I have been trying new authors to me, in a bid to increase my knowledge and see different styles. This time however I decided to plat it safe with an author I both know and like. Plus importantly this was a gift from my sister to celebrate my changing jobs.


About the author:

Donna Leon was born in New Jersey in America on 29th September 1942. She comes from an Irish/ Spanish descent and first visited Venice in 1965, where she now lives. Her books are based in this city and feature Commissario Brunetti. This is the 7th of the series which has 19 so far. Leon won the 'crime writers' association Macallan Silver dagger award for fiction in 2001.


Synopsis of the book:

A body is discovered on a farm in a remote village in Northern Italy. It has been badly decomposed but with it is sound a signet ring with the crest of the Lorenzoni family. Two years previously Roberto Lorenzoni went missing and despite two ransom demands being received, his father refused to pay and nothing more was heard about it and his son never found.

After running tests on the dentistry it was confirmed to be the kidnapped man. Commissario Brunnetti is very keen to find the people responsible for taking and killing this seemingly harmless but wealthy man, part of the Venetian aristocracy. After breaking the news to the family he must share this information with his boss the Vice-Questore Patta, who he has a very troubled relationship with.

This crime of Kidnapping and killing the victim is one Brunetti finds distinctly distressing maybe because he has two children and he realises what effect something like this would have on him and his wife Paola. He must dig deeper than the original investigation and find the truth behind this long overdue murder.


My thoughts on the book:

I must have enjoyed this book as it took just a day to read it. I hadn't planned on spending my whole Saturday reading this, but I found it so easy and enjoyable to read. I found the time just passed pleasantly and before I knew it I was putting off everything else I had planned for the day for another.

To start with I would have to admit that these days Donna Leon is one of my favourite authors. Initially when I first read her work I struggled with the laid back style of the Italian Police. But also the way everything seemed to revolve around food and family, which I found very alien to similar English or American authors.

Over time through intelligent writing, great storylines and marvellous descriptions of Venice I was completely won over. This book lives up to all these things and I particularly liked the way during the investigation Brunetti was looking at his own family and their importance and his love for them.

I have in the past criticised this author's work for taking to long to get to the story. But in this one she gets into the story from the first chapter when the body is discovered. So for me my interest was immediate and because of the subject matter I was transfixed the whole way through.

What I particularly enjoyed about the book apart from the quality of the writing, is the way the author very slowly build up suspense and mystery and then thumped the reader with a revelation. By doing so she brought in some skilful ideas and concepts and then used some excellent twists and turns to finally reveal the truth.

But by doing this and everything coming out into the open you would think the wheels of justice would take over. This however is not always the case in Leon's novel as she is realistic enough to know that particularly in Italy bribery and corruption still exists. So despite Brunetti's efforts there was still doubt what would actually happen to the guilty party.

Did I say I thought the book was superbly written? Thought so. I also enjoyed the development of the story of Brunetti's family. In all her books there is always something new happening within his family and it is fascinating to see what the developments are.

What the author does very well in the book is to use sarcasm and humour very well. She uses these sometimes in the family situation, but more commonly in the Police force. I particularly find his relationship with his boss funny as his humour seems completely lost on the senior man.

In the past I have criticised other authors for simply telling a story without any reflection or plans for the future of the characters. And although future plans for any of the characters in this book is not necessary, there was time for Brunetti and his wife to reflect both on the case and their lives which I thought was well thought out and with poignant sentiment.

I love the way the author has developed her lead character Brunetti. He is the type of detective most can associate with, using old fashioned concepts of logical thinking and hard work to crack his cases. He is a simple man with classical family values which for me make a pleasant change.

The support characters are also first class .I always enjoy the interplay between these. As well as the ones such as his family and work colleagues who appear in every book, she introduces a variety of interesting ones in each book. These are always good and never seem to be exactly what they seem and keep back some information that the investigating officer must find.

It was a comparatively short book, but skilfully broken up into regular chapter, that distinguish between one scene and the next. With excellent descriptions of the magical city throughout the book.

The only really minor complaint I had was that the original investigation into the kidnap seemed very inept. As Brunetti seem to ask questions and consider quite obvious concepts which had not been considered first time around. I'm sure if these had been looked at originally the case would have been solved much sooner.

Something I thought was a little different and a good idea was on the back cover of the book there was a little critical assessment of a few of the author's other books. Of course all the critics were kind and said nice things otherwise they wouldn't be there. But I just thought it was a good idea to see what critics thought of them before I decide which one to buy next.


Conclusion:

An excellent, well written and completely enjoyable read. I don't think I have ever read a book in a day but I found it impossible to put this one down. It certainly wasn't the most dynamic book with action the whole way through, just a well thought out fascinating detective novel. I would recommend this to all those who enjoy a good detective story with a twist.


Pages: 304
Publisher: Penguin Books
Price: £5.49 New at Amazon
Year of Publication: 1998
ISBN: 0-434-00417-0
About the author: www.donnaleon.co.uk

Thanks for reading as always.

This review was published under my user name on Ciao.

@CPTDANIELS August 2009

Summary: Highly recommended crime fiction