'Leon is a skilful plotter . . . Brunetti is a nicely shaded creation a moral man who is also
all too human' The Observer A sudden act of vandalism has been committed in the chill
Venetian dawn and Commissario Guido Brunetti soon finds out that the perpetrator is no petty
criminal. For the culprit waiting to be apprehended at the scene of the crime is none other
than Paola Brunetti his wife. As Paola's actions provoke a crisis in the Brunetti household
Brunetti himself is under increasing pressure at work: a daring robbery with Mafia connections
is linked to a suspicious death and his superiors want quick results. As his professional and
personal lives clash Brunetti's own career is threatened and the conspiracy which Paola has
risked everything to expose draws him inexorably to the brink . . . 'Donna Leon has
established Commissario Guido Brunetti as one of the most engaging of fictional detectives'
Sunday Times
