SHORTLISTED FOR THE GOLD DAGGER AWARD The latest bestselling Venice crime novel from celebrated
author Donna Leon As a favour to his wealthy father-in-law the Count Falier Commissario Guido
Brunetti agrees to investigate the seemingly innocent wish of the Count's best friend the
elderly and childless Gonzalo to adopt a younger man as his son. Under Italian inheritance
laws this man would become the sole heir to Gonzalo's substantial fortune something which
Gonzalo's friends including the Count find appalling. For his part Brunetti wonders why
they're so intent on meddling in the old man's business. Not long after Brunetti meets with
Gonzalo the elderly man unexpectedly passes away from natural causes. Old and frail Gonzalo's
death goes unquestioned and a few of his oldest friends gather in Venice to plan the memorial
service. But when Berta a striking woman and one of Gonzalo's closest confidantes is
strangled in her hotel room Brunetti is drawn into long-buried secrets from Gonzalo's past.
What did Berta know? And who would go to such lengths to ensure it would remain hidden? Once
again Donna Leon brilliantly follows the twists and turns of the human condition set against
the ebb and flow of Venetian life.
