Troubled Waters in Venice

Venice's Commissario Guido Brunetti has been a favorite of mine for years. His thoughtful approach to solving crimes and his patience makes him well respected by his staff. Having visited Venice recently, I revel in following Brunetti's footsteps through the lovely city. In The Waters of Eternal Youth by Donna Leon, Commissario Brunetti is asked by his wealthy, aristocratic mother-in-law to look into a near drowning 15 years prior. Brunetti is not sure what he can do.

The teenage granddaughter of  a Venetian patroness falls into a canal late one night. Unable to swim, she nearly drowns but a very drunk young man leaps in and saves her. The man who saves her claims he saw someone throw her in, but the next day he doesn't remember a thing. Unfortunately she suffers severe brain damage and doesn't mature.

Fast forward to the present, Brunetti listens sympathetically to the

grandmother's account of the accident and meets the lovely, childlike granddaughter. He knows that if a crime had been committed, the statute of limitations would protect the criminal, but something about the case intrigues him.

Convincing the Vice-Questore Patta, a notorious social climber, to reopen the case, Brunetti calls on Patta's assistant Signorina Elettra to use her computer skills to look into the case. What they find is disturbing, but probably unpunishable.

The Commissario Brunetti books are some of my favorite to read, but I love listening to the audio books for the elegant Italian accent of the narrator.

For more books by Donna Leon, click here.