- Paperback: 326 pages
- Publisher: Arrow; New edition edition (1 Mar 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0099269325
- ISBN-13: 978-0099269328
- Product Dimensions: 17.4 x 10.9 x 2.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 280,319 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Friends In High Places
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Donna Leon's sweetly cynical Venetian cop Brunetti has his principles, but is always prepared to bend them a little, to appeal to his own Friends in High Places. When bureaucrat Rossi starts to investigate whether his apartment in a historic building has any right to exist, he and his wife start to look for leverage;
At no time did it occur to him, as it did not occur to Paola, to approach the matter legally, to find out the names of the proper offices and officials and the proper steps to follow ... Venetians ignored them, knowing that the only way to deal with problems like this was by means of acquaintances, friendships, contacts and debts built up over a lifetime.
When Rossi rings him at his office, seeking help, and is found dead under some scaffolding, Brunetti feels a particular obligation to find out whether he fell, or was thrown. His investigations take him to the heart of corruption, to money lenders and officials and drug dealers and petty thugs, and to solutions and resolutions that are only ever going to be partial. Brunetti is an attractive detective because he has a human preparedness to make compromises and a judicious sense of when it is morally appropriate, and when it is not. And as always in this excellent and popular series, the true protagonist is the city of Venice, its buildings and its weather and its smells. --Roz Kaveney --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Evening Standard
‘All Donna Leon’s novels are excellent…Friends in High Places is, however, by far the best’
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Without a doubt, "Friends in High Places" is Donna Leon's best book in her mesmerizing Commissario Brunetti series. "Friends" is the ninth in this outstanding series and Leon has not failed her fans with this latest edition, which, for some unfathomable reason, is not yet published in the States!
The author is able to capture what very few writers in the mystery genre do-- she creates such memorable characters that the reader actually feels he really knows--and even possibly understands--her creations. Certainly, Leon does to Venice what few other writers do to their settings. It is unbelievable that she is able to understand fully the mechanizations of the modern Venetian. She has weaved her plots so intricately--and plausibly--in her series, which seems short of a miracle for some "outsider"--she's an American!--to be able to grasp the bureaucracies of that system, be it religious, political, social, even the illicit "trade" bureaucracies.
With her unforgettable Brunetti and his family, Leon's themes run throughout her novels: among them the "moral path" which is at odds with what Venetians have come to expect and to accept, it seems. If one has a problem, the solution is to utilize his "friends in high places"--a favor for a favor--to solve it. The corruption seems to permeate all aspects of their lives.
But, of course, first, this is a murder mystery, and here, again, Leon is in top form. How exquisitely she leads the reader through this valley of temptation and evil! Yet, despite the impossible task of ever "cleaning up Venice," Brunetti plods on. He alone, it seems at times, knows right from wrong. He takes refuge and solace from his wife Paola; he loves his two children, and his greatest fear is that something evil might harm them.
He senses something is very wrong when a local bureaucrat is found dead; it is labeled an accident, but Brunetti has his suspicions, especially after this bureaucrat had previously contacted him to tell him that he had vital information that he must reveal to him, and to him alone. Before this revelation can occur, he is found dead. Brunetti doesn't believe in coincidences, especially when an attorney who is involved in a corruption investigation is found murdered by a sniper--an attorney whose telephone number Brunetti had found in the bureaucrat's wallet.
From this point on, Leon and Brunetti move cautiously--and sensibly--through this tangled, deceitful web.
The author is quite astute in her observations and realist she is, the endings of her books are not always the "happy ever after" type. Frequently, Brunetti has to con- cede to powers greater than his; he alone cannot stem the flow of corruption--and the Brunetti world, as seen through the series, seems to have no boundaries on corruption, be it from illegal dumping of toxic wastes to the illegal sex trade with local travel companies to the smuggling of drugs from Eastern Europe. Leon leaves no holds barred and the reader is often left to wonder if there really are truly decent folk anymore. Leon does not imply that the corruption is only in Venice, that Pearl of the Adriatic, but leads us to assume that such corruption--especially with today's big bucks, can be anywhere. The average reader knows this all too well, anyway.
For Leon fans, reading this book is not just an inclination, it is a must, naturally;
for new readers, it's also a great read, after reading this one, they will want to go back to the eight previous ones. Indeed, it's a "avventura felice della lettura"!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Reading four to five books a months, it can be an expansive passion. Amazon gives me the possibility to buy the book I want brand new, sorry, I hate second hand, at very convenient prices. Please people, keep on reading on paper!!! Don't give up for your new iPad or android phone.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Donna Leon's Commissario Brunetti novels evoke not the Venice of the travelogue but rather the real working, eating, sleeping city. Beautifully written as always, her latest novel again leads the reader through the underbelly of Venice. Corruption, greed and violence permeate the outwardly civilised world inhabited by Brunetti as he investigates the murder of a bureaucrat he has previously met, briefly, during a planning permission enquiry. By turns a gripping detective story of delicate complexity and a searching exposee of wheels within wheels, Friends in High Places continues the tradition of the decent man fighting to work within a labyrinth of corruption. This book is intelligent fiction at its best - solid characters, a satisfying plot and a lightness of touch that only someone who deeply understands her subject can command. A truly satisfying read.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Hooray for a very different fictional detective to the norm
Well done Donna Leon for creating Commissario Guido Brunetti. Here, at last, is a fictional detective who is not a sad and broken character, bereft of family and friends,... Read more
Published 20 hours ago by Meerkat
SOMEWHAT UNSETTLING
A shock start. The fourth floor apartment the Brunettis have lived in for over twenty years apparently does not officially exist. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mr. D. L. Rees
Readable police procedural (with cozy-mystery elements) set in Venice
I came across this volume, "Friends in High Places," quite by accident at my local branch library, to which it had just been transferred in conformity with a policy of shifting the... Read more
Published 21 months ago by L. E. Cantrell
Good transaction
The book arrived quickly, packed in a jiffy bag. This item was a first edition of a not-too-recent book, so I didn't expect the condition to be perfect, and it was pretty much as I... Read more
Published on 30 Jan 2010 by J. Darnbrough
"Reality was there, malleable and obedient"
This is the ninth novel in the Commissario Brunetti series. With a title like `Friends in High Places' and a picture of San Marco's campanile on the cover, one immediately deduces... Read more
Published on 11 Oct 2009 by Nicholas Casley
Friends in High Places
Another excellent read from Donna Leon. Her descriptive passages transport me effortlessly to Venice where I can empathise with Guido Brunetti. A well constructed book as always.
Published on 16 Aug 2009 by John Barlow
Friends in High Places by Donna Leon
The book arrived in good time and was in excellent condition. I've enjoyed reading it and would like to read more by the same author.
Published on 25 May 2009 by Mrs. Marguerita Malthouse
No Mystery
Much crime fiction is transportable. Change the names of the streets, adjust the thermometer, translate the ciao's and the auf widersehen's and the seeya's and the actual... Read more
Published on 16 April 2009 by G. M. Sinstadt
"High Places" deserves high praise
First sentence: When the doorbell rang, Brunetti lay supine on the sofa in his living room, a book propped open on his stomach. Read more
Published on 6 Nov 2008 by L. J. Roberts
Public Corruption and Personal Values
If you've liked the Guido Brunetti mysteries, you will probably feel that this is one of the best in the series.
What's it all about? Read more
What's it all about? Read more
Published on 28 Dec 2007 by Donald Mitchell
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