Destination: Venice
Gondola Traffic Jam in Venice, Italy Photo by VMB
Books: Any mystery byDonna Leon
Donna Leon has made a career out of killing off many people in just one city. But with all the romance and mystery of Venice, Italy, why not?
Unlike the many writers who have plumbed the rich history of Venice, Donna Leon goes after the gritty underbelly of today’s Italy. Grubbing around in police works and political corruption she exposes plenty of things that the tourist board will not be telling you about. I gobbled the books down like potato chips before, during and after my Italian trip.
In 2008 the yearly high tides in Venice reached exceptionally high marks, making Leon’s 1996 (reprinted in 2005) Acqua Alta , timely all over again. Leon’s police procedural mysteries (16 so far) about the personable family man, Comissario Brunetti, come across as a love letter to Venice. But not a love letter from a smitten teen. Her books strike me as a mature kind of love letter that says I know all your warts and I love you still.
When I went to Venice, the romantic decay all seemed just a little too seedy. And the city that once built an empire on commerce, now trades in made-in-China copies of Venetian masks. Talk about tacky souvenirs–I thought that if I saw one more pair of men’s underwear sporting a bit of David’s anatomy (that’s David by Michelangelo)—I would jump in a canal.
Leon (and Brunetti) also led me to hidden treasures of Venice, and explained the little cultural secrets that sometimes elude a tourist.I went on a Comissario Brunetti alert, recognizing street and plaza names and remembering the crime that took place in a particular canal. The British fan site for the author emphasizes the way that place dominates her novels with a wonderful graphic map
You may want to start with her latest book, The Girl of His Dreams , but once you add Leon to your travel library, I’ll bet you can’t read just one.
Thrillers from Baldacci in Washington D.C. , mysteries from Donna Leon in Venice. Why does this kind of book make such a satisfactory travel read? And what other mystery writers have you read that add spice to your travel? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.
* NOTE: In 2011 the number of mysteries has climbed to 20 and you can also buy [amazon_link id="0802119476" target="_blank" ]Brunetti’s Cookbook[/amazon_link]. Thank goodness. I’ve been drooling over those pages in the novels where his wife whips up a wonderful dinner for the family.
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About the Author:
A freelance writer who loves to travel. When she is not traveling she is reading about travel. When she is not reading or traveling, she is sharing with the readers of A Traveler's Library, recreating her family's past at Ancestors In Aprons. She writes frequently for Reel Life With Jane and other websites. Also co-author of a biography, Quincy Tahoma, The Life and Legacy of a Navajo Artist. Contact Vera Marie by e-mail.
Vera Marie Badertscher – who has written 684 posts on A Traveler's Library.
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Tags: Books, Donna Leon, Italy, Mystery novel, travel library, Venice, Vera Marie Badertscher
[...] Fairly recently, a friend got me hooked on Donna Leon as I was preparing for a trip to Venice. I read every book she had published up until then. Her kindly, interesting police detective and [...]
Thanks. Definitely putting that on my list. And I love Donald Sutherland. Does the fillm do the book justice?
I would recommend the short story Don’t Look Now by Daphne DuMaurier and the film that was based on that story starring Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland. Creepy!