Uniform Justice [Audio Download]

A young cadet at an exclusive Venetian military prep school has been found hanged in his dormitory. The school quickly has it proclaimed a suicide, but Brunetti knows otherwise. He and his team of loyal members of Venice's police department quickly begin
their investigation--an investigation that, once more, leads us into the power structures of "the Pearl of the Adriatic."

Leon is never slow to touch up socially significant issues and she plows into this one at gale force. "Corruption in Things Italian" seems to be her middle name and she pulls no punches. One would imagine that the Italian military and even some of its other "sacred" institutions will not view this book (nor her others!) in pleased frames of mind. Still, Leon is one of the most popular American novelists read abroad today (in fact, even her recent hard-bound copies are NOT published in the US for some really strange reason!).

Again,"Uniform Justice" is Leon at her best and Brunetti doing what he does best--solving murders. An excellent read!

As ever, all the usual ingredients which make the series so special are here: the excellent Brunetti (it's very hard to express how refreshing a detective he is among the the slew of cliched loners; he is remarkable); the sensuous yet slightly grimy portrait of Venice; Bruentti's heart-warming family; Leon's ability to create excellent character sketches in a limited number of pages; and Brunetti's children, who drift in the background with invigorating youth, like joyful spirits. It's all so comfortable and warming.

What else is excellent? The plot, for one. The mystery. Leon's examination of a rather frightening military culture. I like these books in part because the social opinions Leon expounds, the messages she gives, are so incredibly sensible. Many people indeed could benefit from reading these novels - and not just Venetians. One thing symbolised so excellently is the ability of the little man, the serf, almost, to get one-up on those higher than him, despite corruptionm, which is an ability which seems rife in Venetian society. The scenes in which Brunetti is able to so easily manipulate his boss are a supreme joy to read, and very funny as well.

But what, therefore, makes this one the best? The ending does. Leon is a very curious writer in that crime-fiction is just a hobby, to finance her first love - opera. You'd think that she might take, therefore, a slightly cavalier attitude toward it, but not at all. Moreso than many other exponents of this type of novel who take the form more seriously, she refuses to be bound by convention. She is, oddly, an innovator. She takes chances and turns things on their head and doesn't like to adhere to "rules", even if it means breaking some of the most strict guidlines of crime fiction (as she did in her first novel). The miracle is that she is able to break these guildlines incredibly sucessfully, and her mysteries are still satisfying. No other mystery writer breaks the rules as sucessfully, or as enjoyably. The ending to this book is superb, I thought. Obviously, it won't suit people who must have their criminals brought to justice, but for those who are impressed by a realistic portrait of justice (and a display of where it cannot reach), one could do no better than reach for the novels of Donna Leon.