Every time I open a new book by Donna Leon, I'm introduced to another new Venetian community. This time it's the sandspit which is home to the close-knit fishermen of Pellestrina. Two murders, a community that won't tell its secrets, two Police employees who go incognito to the place to dig out its secrets.... all this adds up to an exciting story that ends in an unusually bloody and violent way. As always, it's not an 'and they lived happily ever after' conclusion ( )

This was a change of pace from Leon's other novels so far in the Brunetti series. Most of the action takes place on an outlying spit of land separating the lagoon of Venice from the Adriatic. Two murders have taken place and the inhabitants of the (literally and figuratively) insular fishing community close ranks against the outside world... even the Venetians can scarcely understand their dialect, let alone their attitude. Yet one of the victims is somehow an outsider and unmourned. What can he possibly have done to turn his entire community against him? Meanwhile, Signora Elettra leaves her desk, her computer, her network of informants, and her floral arrangements and goes on vacation to stay with her cousin who married a fisherman. She picks up virtually no information, but falls hard for an attractive young man who is extremely well dressed. After closing the book, it occurred to me that it really was out of character for Elettra not to do a background search on the fellow. Brunetti has to do the background search himself (good thing, he was relying on Elettra far too much).

Refreshingly, at the end of the book it is clear that the legal case against the murderer is airtight and for once, the criminal is likely to face a lengthy prison sentence. This is not the usual ending to a book in this series! ( )

A Sea of Troubles is Book #10 in Donna Leon’s Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery series.
This series is all things Italian, all things Venice and Commissario Brunetti is the star detective.
This is a disturbing story.
On the island of Pellestrina, south of the Lido on the Venetian lagoon, a small boat suddenly explodes killing 2 local clam fishermen. It soon becomes clear that the fire was deliberately set and Commissario Brunetti decides to investigate.

I don’t know if Ms. Leon set out to disparage Italian law, culture, code of ethics and morality, but
every title has very (this title is #10 of 32 as of 2023) unsatisfying and frustrating endings for me. The everyday tales of graft, corruption, bribery and revenge have me reeling at times.
I still read the books - Italy, and Venice in particular, is a very alluring location. And Brunetti is an appealing character. Very well-written. **** ( )

Dos pescadores de almejas, un padre y un hijo, han sido asesinados: un caso aparentemente fácil para Brunetti. Cuando el comisario se da cuenta de que no puede vencer la dificultad de entenderse en un dialecto diferente y la desconfianza que la cerrada cofradía de almejeros abriga contra la policía, accede a que la enigmática signorina Elettra pase unos días de vacaciones con unos parientes en la isla y averigüe, de incógnito, lo que esconde la impenetrable comunidad.

The 10th installment is somewhat of a departure from the usual formula of the series. The murders that kick off the story happen on the island of Pellestrina and not in Venice proper and then Signorina Elettra ends up under cover on the island - she has relatives there, she needs a vacation so she manages to convince Brunetti that she can be useful. As usual, it is not just human actions that haunt the investigation but unlike the usual problem of bureaucracy and Venice being Venice, it is nature that seems to be going against the detective. The storm at the end of the novel reminded me of the storm in King Lear - and despite knowing that everyone had to survive (as they are in future books), it made me worry about the characters. And that says something about the writing of Donna Leon. ( )