Death in a Strange Country
71. DEATH IN A STRANGE COUNTRY, BY DONNA LEON (Book 2 of Commissario Brunetti)The second installment in the Commissario Brunetti series.
Synopsis: A young American man is found dead, floating in one of the canals of Venice. Brunetti is called to investigate, and in the process he ends up unearthing a much larger conspiracy.
Overall enjoyment: Sweet and fun, in spite of the dark theme. To be honest, what I really love about this series is the characters’ lives and their relationships; the mystery itself is secondary to me.
Plot: A nice mystery, even if the ending is a bit unsatisfactory.
Characters: I love that Guido has a happy and fulfilling relationship with his family, that is so hard to find in mystery novels! And I’m in love with their day-to-day lives.
World/setting: She writes Venice amazingly well. Not only the descriptions of the city and the food, but the culture and politics as well.
Writing style: Straightforward and pleasant to read.
Representation: Not much in this book, but she did better in her first one, so she still has some credit.
Political correctness: She raises some interesting issues on ecology and politics, even if they’re not resolved.
Up next: The King’s Curse, by Philippa Gregory