About Face
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Amazon.co.uk Review
Does the idea of a trip to Italy appeal to you? Do you want something a little less anodyne than strolling in the Mediterranean sun and consuming too much pasta and vino? Do you hanker, perhaps, to experience a touch of the corruption that most Italians wryly admit is endemic to much to their country’s superstructure? The American crime writer Donna Leon, then, is the perfect travel agent for you. She has given readers metaphorical passports to her adopted country for quite some time now, and her Commissario Brunetti novels are one of the glories of the current crime fiction scene. In her new book, About Face, a police associate of Brunetti, Guarino, leads the Commissario into a dangerous imbroglio: Mafia influence over businesses in the Marghera district is growing ever stronger, and when the MD of a trucking firm is killed in his offices, Brunetti's colleague concludes that the murder is tied into to the clandestine transportation of refuse. But things are complicated when Brunetti observes that Guarino is behaving in a very strange, atypical fashion – and the resourceful copper has multiple mysteries on his hands.
In the Brunetti universe, insidious double-dealing spreads its tendrils into every aspect of Italian society, but there is always a glimmer of hope, usually represented by Donna Leon’s intelligent and tenacious copper. Commissario Guido Brunetti is the man to root out the evils of his often benighted society. About Face is not, perhaps, Leon at her considerable best – the customary voltage is more muted -- but there’s more then enough Brunetti magic here to keep admirers happy and sated. --Barry Forshaw
Review
`The very first sentences of ABOUT FACE showcase Donna Leon's elegant, effortless style ... another great Brunetti outing. [Leon] combines the minutiae of daily life in Venice with pitch-perfect descriptions of police procedure, the now-familiar rhythms of Brunetti's home life with a ferocious knowledge of literature, delivered - how else? - with a sure, yet light, touch ... The details of home-cooked meals and family arguments, alongside a never-ending flow of crime, add depth to Leon's stories and are what makes her characters so believable and, in turn, her books so readable.' --Independent
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Very little that I can add to the two previous reviews. Yet again, Donna Leon has written a thought-provoking addition to the Brunetti series. To produce eighteen books of such quality and to be getting better and better each time, that takes more than talent! As with each of the other books, I shall wait a while and then reread (perhaps more than once).
If you enjoy Donna Leon's Brunetti, try Andrea Camilleri's Montalbano series. A very different and rather eccentric police officer but also one with a very strong personal moral code. Like Brunetti's Venice, Montalbano's Sicily infuses the pages of each story.
If you enjoy Donna Leon's Brunetti, try Andrea Camilleri's Montalbano series. A very different and rather eccentric police officer but also one with a very strong personal moral code. Like Brunetti's Venice, Montalbano's Sicily infuses the pages of each story.
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Donna Leon's Brunetti books are so well written I always approach a new one with a mixture of excitement and trepidation. Will it live up to her own high standards? This latest instalment does not disappoint. Brunetti as ever has to balance his own private ethics against the reality of the corrupt society which is Venice.
In this story Donna Leon attacks the disposal of toxic waste. This is always going to be a problem in a city built on water but here we get glimpses of how this problem affects the rest of the country. As ever Brunetti's wife - Paola - plays a substantial part behind the scenes making her husband question his principles. The usual characters are here - Signorina Elettra with her knowledge of the back way in to all computer systems; Vice Questore Patta - who is almost more concerned with his own position than the detection of crime and there are all Brunetti's usual police colleagues as well as a member of the Carabineiri who needs Brunetti's help.
Donna Leon's writing is subtle and understated and often it is only after you have read a paragraph that you realise there are many nuances. The books are carefully crafted so that every tiny incident fits into the whole and serves to illuminate every facet of the story. Above all there is Venice - as much a character in the story as any human being. I loved it and would recommend it to anyone who prefers their crime stories without excessive violence and with more depth than the average.
In this story Donna Leon attacks the disposal of toxic waste. This is always going to be a problem in a city built on water but here we get glimpses of how this problem affects the rest of the country. As ever Brunetti's wife - Paola - plays a substantial part behind the scenes making her husband question his principles. The usual characters are here - Signorina Elettra with her knowledge of the back way in to all computer systems; Vice Questore Patta - who is almost more concerned with his own position than the detection of crime and there are all Brunetti's usual police colleagues as well as a member of the Carabineiri who needs Brunetti's help.
Donna Leon's writing is subtle and understated and often it is only after you have read a paragraph that you realise there are many nuances. The books are carefully crafted so that every tiny incident fits into the whole and serves to illuminate every facet of the story. Above all there is Venice - as much a character in the story as any human being. I loved it and would recommend it to anyone who prefers their crime stories without excessive violence and with more depth than the average.
26 of 28 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I hadn't enjoyed the last two novels in Donna Leon's Brunetti series as much as others however am delighted that About Face conjures up all the elements of the best of her other writings. After meeeting a charming aristocratic Venetian lady who shares his loves of classical writing, Brunetti becomes involved in an investigation into the illegal dumping of chemicals. Leon draws the two strands of her plot together brilliantly leading to a climax that is exciting and well-developed.
Of course, it wouldn't be a Brunetti novel without the superb cast. His long-suffering wife, obsessed by Henry James, and cooking up delicious sounding meals; his aristocratic in-laws; his vain boss, Patta, who Brunetti delights in manipulating; the colourful efficient Signorina Elettra and of course Vianello, his trusty sidekick. Once you have read a number of the novels, you look forward to the reappearance of each of these figures.
Yet this novel, like many of the others, makes a serious social point, exploring Leon's concern about the damage to the environment caused by illegal dumping of hazardous waste and corruption. Her knowledge and understadning of the machinations of the society she is exploring give the novel an authenticity that underpins the beautifully constructed characterisation.
Of course, it wouldn't be a Brunetti novel without the superb cast. His long-suffering wife, obsessed by Henry James, and cooking up delicious sounding meals; his aristocratic in-laws; his vain boss, Patta, who Brunetti delights in manipulating; the colourful efficient Signorina Elettra and of course Vianello, his trusty sidekick. Once you have read a number of the novels, you look forward to the reappearance of each of these figures.
Yet this novel, like many of the others, makes a serious social point, exploring Leon's concern about the damage to the environment caused by illegal dumping of hazardous waste and corruption. Her knowledge and understadning of the machinations of the society she is exploring give the novel an authenticity that underpins the beautifully constructed characterisation.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Background good : plot bad
This book contains the usual enjoyable Donna Leon ingredients : authentic Venetian background, a morally upright policeman, Brunetti, with an interesting and stable home-life and a... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Clive A. H. Still
A good piece of entertainment
Quite good. I like the character of Brunetti. His family and colleagues all seem to be fully rounded figures and I like the use to which the setting of Venice is put. Read more
Published 15 months ago by moby-dick
I don't want to proof-read, I want to read!
I bought the kindle download, and was extremely disappointed to find that each page would have on average at least 1 spelling error (typo) and multiple punctuation errors. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Ms. C.M. O'Donnell
Shallow and uninspiring
I am a fan of Leon and her protagonist Commissario Brunetti, but this book falls short of earlier efforts. Read more
Published 19 months ago by johnverp
Excellence
This is an outstandingly good Brunetti book. We were just a tiny bit disappointed in the two preceding it but this one is right back on form. Read more
Published 22 months ago by S. J. Hubbard
the formula as before
Donna Leon's novels always slip down easily, thanks to the lucid and economical writing style. Those who enjoy her setting, a very flawed Venice, and her cast of characters -... Read more
Published 23 months ago by maryleopard
An easily put downable book
I have read and enjoyed several of Donna Leon's books, primarily because I love Venice.
I struggled with this one - too much information about insignificant things - we... Read more
I struggled with this one - too much information about insignificant things - we... Read more
Published on 17 May 2010 by Heather Feather
disappointing
I have read all of Donna Leon's books and was eagerly looking forward to this one. Unfortunately, I found it disappointing. I had a sense that someone else had written the book. Read more
Published on 8 May 2010 by Cazza
About Face by Donna Leon
This writer is noted as being of the same calibre of some of the best crime fiction writers, unfortuantly I found this book very slow, repetitive and took half the book to get to... Read more
Published on 6 May 2010 by Shirley Chin
About Face by Donna Leon
This is yet another example of old novels being re-published under a different title. i was deeply disappointed to find that this was not a recent publication, although Leon's... Read more
Published on 12 April 2010 by Mrs. P. A. Oddy
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