This wasn't actually very good. Donna Leon rather used this novel to rail at the things she hates about modern Italy - corruption in Government and the judiciary, the treatment of Roma, the attitude of the Catholic Church to misbehaviour in it's ranks, and the role of the Mafia in Sicily and elsewhere. Phew! It starts with the funeral of Brunetti's mother, which becomes an excuse for the officiating Priest to request Brunetti's help investigating a sham religious order. This plot line goes nowhere (almost as if the author had forgotten about it), and the remaining two thirds of the novel are focused on the sad death of an 11 year old Roma child found drowned in the canal. The girl was involved in a break-in at a middle class Venetian house, and the circumstances of her death are subject to a huge cover-up, mostly with the connivance of Brunetti's idiot boss, Patta. In the end, as usual, there are no arrests, no convictions and a lingering feeling that Italy, and Venice, are lawless places where evil doing amongst those with connections can be ignored with impunity. Shame. I was looking forward to this story - hopefully Brunetti #18 will be a better novel, and a return to form for Ms. Leon.

Published March 2009. Read on Kindle.