A Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery - Blood from a Stone

Guido Brunetti is one of the most intriguing crime-solvers to capture my attention in years. He is filled with angst to rival Martha Grimes' Richard Jury. This one provoked a lot of thought about the treatment of Italy's version of illegal immigrants, had my mouth watering whenever he paused to eat fresh pasta with his wonderful family, and fleshed out the side characters a bit more.

Another excellent Brunetti book. I admire the fact that Donna Leon's novels explore family relationships, history, literature, and cooking; not just a who dunnit! I wish there were a better map of Venice with each book, however.

He doesn't really come out ahead but neither does the Ministry totally prevail. Ms. Leone invests her tales of crime in Venice with a good amount of reality. Her spare style and descriptive narrative are always a joy to read. Each character has a unique reality; one comes to know and love - or not - the regulars.

I love following Dottore Brunetti through the canals and campos of Venice. Even in the rain and cold of December Venice entices. I always look forward to the meals that Paolo creates for Brunetti and her family. Some of my favorite recipes have come from her kitchen.

I was disappointed in this book, as, SPOILER WARNING, the detective never gets to solve the mystery as the case is taken away from him. The Venetian setting is always a delight. The Kindle edition is excellent, with no problems.

Do not tinker with something that is not broken. All of your books are absolute gems until you tried to get Blood From A Stone. You should never discuss religion and or politics in polite compnay.

This book was a real turn off to me and many of my friends who are devoted Leon fans.

I think this is my favorite Brunettii mystery. Paola, seems a little more human and we learn how she can be a University Professor yet be home everyday to make the family a four course restaurant quality lunch. The daughter acts like your average thoughtless teenager.
Brunetti gets his teeth into a murder that his boss wants him to forget. As usually happens in these books somebody gets away with murder, but Guido seems okay with that this time. I do wonder how he can keep pushing to solve murders when his hard work comes to nothing.

I read that Donna Leon's agreement with her publishers stipulates that the books cannot be translated into Italian. I guess she wants to be able to continue living there.

This Donna Leon book was a dissapointment for me.The plot was tioo contrived to squeezed into her storyline.I don't see how to many readers can believe a African freedom fighter would be trying to make a living in Venice of all places living as a street peddler.I think most of us know by now any commando leader comes out of the fighting with arms dealers and bankers lining up to supply him with arms and money to keep the conflict going so someone can continue to steal it take the mineral resources that Africa abounds with.So if you can find me a combat leader who is living in Venice in a shack I'll eat my hat with his blood diamonds.

ASIN: B0097CWKGY
Blood from a Stone by Donna Leon

Commissario Guido Brunetti is called to the scene of a murder of a black man who was selling fake signature handbags. The American witnesses were clear in their knowledge of the scene they witnessed but it was not much information. Brunetti discovers that the dead man was from Africa and those with him were also Africans. Of course, they were selling these bags illegally. Most were accustomed to seeing men such as them selling to send money home to their families. But the case takes a turn, when Commissario Brunetti discovers pure quality gem stones hidden in the man’s possessions.

Patta, Brunetti’s superior, becomes involved in an international case and tells Brunetti to drop the case. A jeweler, friend of Burnett’s, judges the stones as worth a lot of money. Slowly, evidence accrues assuring that the hit was professional and there was more to the story of the jewels.
Although the beginning was typical of American crime fiction, Brunetti and his team investigate the crime slowly. The reasons for its occurring slowly evolve. Knowledge of the reason is only revealed at the end.

Although I love Donna Leon’s Brunetti stories, this one took considerable time to unwind. The problem seems clear enough – a young, illegal Senegalese street peddler is professionally murdered in the streets of Venice, in front of dozens of tourists.

Commissario Brunetti starts to investigate the murder when he gets opposition from his superior – Vice-Questore Patta seriously opposes this investigation. As he continues to investigate, he realizes this isn’t just about the death of a single street peddler.

One of the most interesting parts of this particular story was Brunetti’s coming to realize that he could personally be in danger by investigating this murder. When an old friend of his father’s (a noted jewel merchant), tries to help Guido get info and is followed, Brunetti realizes he is putting people he cares about in jeopardy.

Guido’s family is here and they often add a bit of humor to a deadly serious story. They also show Guido to be a caring, compassionate human – not just a bloodhound on the trail of murder. Once the reader sees that serious danger is involved, it raises the ante on Guido’s need to find the truth.

Guido Brunetti Series

1. Death at La Fenice (1992)
2. Death in a Strange Country (1993)
3. The Anonymous Venetian (1994) aka Dressed for Death
4. A Venetian Reckoning (1995) aka Death and Judgment
5. Acqua Alta (1996) aka Death in High Water

6. The Death of Faith (1997) aka Quietly in Their Sleep
7. A Noble Radiance (1997)
8. Fatal Remedies (1999)
9. Friends in High Places (2000)
10. A Sea of Troubles (2001)

11. Willful Behaviour (2002)
12. Uniform Justice (2003)
13. Doctored Evidence (2004)
14. Blood from a Stone (2005)
15. Through a Glass Darkly (2006)

This is my second Commissario Guido Brunetti novel and I liked it much better than the first (‘A Question of Belief’).
This one revolves around the murder of an African street vendor shot in front of a crowd of tourists in a Venetian public square.
Brunetti discovers, while searching the African’s apartment, a hidden stash of rough diamonds worth millions.
Warned by his superiors to leave the case alone he proceeds to investigate in secret.
An engaging, intelligent story.

Another episode in Donna Leon's Commissario Guido Brunetti series cannot come too soon! In this, the 14th book, Leon's inimitable policeman is once agan, well, inimitable. It

was a dark, icy and anything sleepy wintry night in Venice, when suddenly five shots ring out, or so it goes. However, Leon's "Blood from a Stone" is anything but simple or trite.

A young African man, a "vu compra" (one of the illegal immigrants known as "venditore ambulante," who sell counterfeit designer luggage in the local squares) is shot dead by two

men. It is so professionally done that when Brunetti arrives on the scene, there is little wonder that little or no evidence, save the dead body, remains. What does remain, however, is enough to trigger Brunetti's suspicion that this is no ordinary shooting and that darker, more sinister, even evil, forces lie simply beneath the surface.

Thus, armed with his usual loyal team members (Signorina Ellatra and Sgt. Vianello,among others), Brunetti once again sets out to solve this case and once again he meets head on the opposition from his own superiors. By now, of course, Brunetti knows that

there is a much bigger picture here and to tread lightly is an undestatement. Still, with his usual tenacity, teamed up with his own unique code of ethics ("for an Italian law officer"),

he begins the investigation, which, as Leon usually does, leads us into waters where no angels (or sensible police chiefs) would dare to tread. "Blood from a Stone" looks into a red-hot international political picture, one very real and seems to know no boundaries, or even depths to which it extends. These socially significant issues generally transcend into Brunetti's personal life, his wife (an academician and healthy liberal in her own right at a Venezian university) and two children. It is perhaps this familial inclusion that makes Leon's Brunetti a more humane, compassionate individual, one whom any ready can

readily respect and admire.

Leon's prose seems to capture the tone and atmosphere of the "pearl of the Adriatic" perfectly. "Opposite them a small group was gathered around three buskers, two violinists and a cellist, who were playing a piece that sounded both baroque and out of tune." Venice, Leon's home of record now, has a special appeal to Leon and as an American ex-patriot she seems content not only to expound on its beauty and pluses, but to address

those areas, especially the corruption, that she feels need addressing. "The Paganelli(Brunetti observes) was a narrow hotel, slipped in, like an architectural dash separating

two capital letters, between the Danieli and the Savoia & Jolanda."

As in her other books, Leon makes no effort to hide her criticism of local (and national) graft and corruption, which seem to permeate all levels and all classes. Each of her books tends to concernate, but not exclusively, on a major issue, whether it be political, religious, social, economic, or human rights. Leon's prose reflects a depth of understanding of these issues that perhaps many of the other police procedural authors avoid (with the exception, perhaps of P.D. James, Ruth Rendell, and Martha Grimes, at times). Not that a novelist has any obligation to go after social injustices, for, after all, one characteristic of fiction is merely to entertain and there are many, many fine novels which do so.

But "Blood from a Stone" certainly is one of Leon's best, a great sign that her series is not

weakening or running out of steam. Here's to future Brunetti episodes!

In "Blood from A Stone" the usual Donna Leon cast of characters is on deck: Commissario Guido Brunetti; wife Paola; daughter Chiara; son Raffi; trusted fellow investigator Vianello; his ally in the boss's office, computer-whiz Elettra; opportunistic and gutless boss Patta; and Lieutenant Scarpa, an unscrupulous, and malignant fellow cop.
This book has a leisurely, meandering narrative style with an awful lot about Brunetti's family and the introduction of many characters along the way. It gets into conspiracies, African wars, and intrigue in high places that Brunetti has no control over. In mysteries the iconic detective can be battling his supervisors, but when he loses all power over outcomes, then we often get unsatisfactory endings.
The book has Leon's usual wonderful connection with Venice, her ability to explore moral dilemmas, her elegant style, her detailed descriptions of her protagonist's great gourmet delights, her ability to flawlessly develop characters, but because the book deals with things beyond her detective's control, we are left adrift.
The book begins with the hitman murder of an outsider, a black African who is selling knock-off pocketbooks on the street. Why was he, among many, singled out and assassinated? These immigrant street vendors live on a different planet from the Venetians and appear and disappear like aliens.
Brunetti was blocked from promotion because he refused to curry favor with the men in power. His boss Patta warns Brunetti off the case. Who in Italy could force a police official not to investigate a case? "The obvious candidates fell into the general categories of governmental, ecclesiastical, and criminal; the great tragedy of his country, Brunette mused, was how equal they were as contenders."
This is not one of Leon's best efforts because her detective gets involved in something way above his pay grade, but it does give her a chance to swing by some big moral issues. Luckily, as in other Leon books, we are left with her fine gifts as a writer, and she is always providing vivid and evocative descriptions of Venice that make the city come alive anew for readers.

Reading Donna Leon's Commissario Guido Brunetti is always a treat for me, and this latest Brunetti installment proved to be as engrossing and as enjoyable as previous books in the series. But truth be told, the mystery took a while to unfold, and unwound at a much slower rate than previous mysteries. On the other hand, this difference still not affect the overall lyricism or grace of the book. Commissario Brunetti is still a policeman whose main objective is to do his job well, honestly and fairly, in spite of the corruption around him. In this case, "Blood From a Stone," Brunetti tries to discover why a Senegalese street peddler, a vu cumpra, was professionally shot down in public. Because the man was, in all probability, an illegal immigrant, the police have little to no knowledge of who he was or why he was killed; and because of his illegal status, the likelihood of someone coming forward to identify him and provide vital details is next to nil. Frustrated but undaunted, Brunetti and his faithful colleagues (Vianello & Signorina Elettra) plod on, using whatever useful contacts they have to learn more about the Senegalese immigrants, and why someone would want to kill one of them. But even before they can get very far in their investigations, they're warned off by Vice-Questore Patta (Brunetti's boss the bane of his life). Patta intimates that they'd all be better off if Brunetti backs off. And while Brunetti is not a big fan of Patta's, he cannot help but wonder who could scare or influence Patta enough to ensure that he warned Brunetti off. Irreggardless of Patta's warning, Brunetti presses on, only to make a discovery among the dead man's things that really puts the fat on the fire...

In spite of the sedate pacing, "Blood From a Stone" was still a fantastic read. Donna Leon is a masterful storyteller. Competently, she sets the stage -- the Christmas season in Venice, the cold, the tourists, the vu compra and the invisible life they seem to lead -- and then, brilliantly, without lecturing, she makes political point, fusing it to the novel and making it the focal point of the book. But everything is gracefully done, making this incredibly engaging novel a very riveting read. And at the heart of everything, is the series' moral and stalwart hero, Commissario Guido Brunetti, a man whose need to discover the truth and punish the guilty, is what makes this series (and this book, in particular) so very compelling and enjoyable. All in all an excellent read, not to be missed.

I was looking forward to blissfully soaking myself in a good old-fashioned cloak and dagger novel, but initially found this one a little tepid. More used to the rat-a-tat pace of the American crime caper, or the sinister undercurrents of the English countryside, it took me a while to get used to the well-read, genial hero of this Venetian mystery.

Guido Brunnetti, devoted family man and lover of good food, is a far cry from the stereotypical hard-boiled, macho cop hero. The story is well written, with a thought-provoking plot that takes time to unravel.

My main quibble is that our hero is reduced to being a frustrated witness when the final pieces of the puzzle fall into place. Neither he, nor the reader, has the satisfaction of declaring whole-heartedly, "Case closed!" Still, I think the series holds promise. Next time, I might try one of the better-reviewed books of Ms. Leon's like, "Doctored Evidence" or "Uniform Justice". Until then, Ciao Guido!

Books full of psychology and verbal sparring rather than action benefit from being listened to rather than read. The professional reader (or author) is able to use timing, pace, and pauses to bring inaction to life and invite you deeper inside the mind of the narrator. I found that David Collaci's reading of Blood from a Stone upgraded this book from a four-star effort as a personal read into a five-star listening experience through the unabridged CD.

The main character in Blood from a Stone isn't Commissario Guido Brunetti, but rather the city of Venice. If you know and love Venice, you'll add one star to your experience with this book or CD by being reminded of your great experiences there.

The book is a near-literary-quality novel, even though portrayed in a police procedural format. Ms. Leon is much more interested in having your think about what it means to be a good human than in intriguing you with her mystery and exciting you with her plot. The book raises fundamental questions about our connections to every other person on the planet, our colleagues, friends, loved ones, and family members. Although the book will seem preachy at times about one view or another, Ms. Leon leaves plenty of room for you to draw your own conclusions. But you'll definitely find your sensitivity honed as you think about more dimensions of relations with others . . . and their consequences for you and others.

As the book opens, two assassins stalk and kill an illegal street vendor who is a black African. The police don't rush to the scene and don't find any helpful information to identify the man. Commissario Brunetti makes slow progress through a combination of Signorina Ellatra's computer and persuasive skills, his own snooping around, and Sgt. Vianello's willingness to provide loyal shoe leather and silence. A visit to the abode of the victim yields more clues, but no identity. The clues raise disturbing questions that don't belong in a police investigation.

Soon, Vice-Questore Patta is telling Brunetti that he should go through the motions and not find the killer. The pressure to ignore the killing grows. Brunetti plays along while pursuing a hidden investigation that features his trustworthy colleagues, friends, and family in off-the-record activities. Why is the fix in? Brunetti can only speculate until late in the story.

The book's conclusion leaves Brunetti with an interesting dilemma, one that you should think about as though it were your own before you find out what Brunetti does.

The strength of this book is in its superb portrayal of the ambivalent attitudes and relationships among the illegal African street vendors, the police, the vendors' customers, ordinary citizens, and the vendors' landlords. Ms. Leon does a wonderful job of getting across the full range of perspectives and experiences. Ultimately, she wants you to decide what the crimes are and who the criminals are in the illegal set-up from a moral rather than a judicial perspective.

If, however, you just want an intriguing and fast-paced mystery, you'll wonder what all of the side trips into philosophical questions are all about.

One of her best. The written is superb. Her exploration of the immigrant problem AND the way the the corrupt government uses the "terrorism" issue to hide its own crimes is beautifully handled. The characters are three-dimensional, real people, and Brunetti's family life is well drawn, one of things that keeps me coming back. This one has a very subtle ending, but a powerful one nonetheless.

It would appear that one of the reviewers (Gloria something) who gave this book one star was not paying attention near the beginning of the book when one of the assassins is described as having "hairy hands." With Donna Leon, you REALLY have to pay attention.

I look forward to reading the next in this series, having read all of the previous ones. There's not a bad one in the bunch.

Venice is experiencing a rainy season which is making it harder for the illegal street vendors of knock-off, designer labelled handbags to make a living. Right in the middle of a sale, a Senegalese man is shot four times in execution style, in front of his prospective customers. All of the "vu cumpra", the illegal sellers, disappear quickly before the police arrive, headed by Commissario Brunetti. His immediate superior orders him not to pursue the matter and to hand over any files and evidence to the Departments of Interior and Foreign Affairs. Brunetti is not as amzed at this kind of directive as a policeman in another country would be, as the government and its departments are rife with corruption, and he is quite used to it. Nevertheless, he continues his investigations and searches the apartments of the "vu cumpra", having found their addresses from his own slightly suspect contacts. He discovers a collection of uncut diamonds, hidden in a bag of salt and deduces that the Senegalese men are planning to exchange the diamonds for arms, to use in the civil war in Angola. The government has been working to gain a lucrative contract to have exclusive mining rights in Angola, and it appears that the authorities are happy to have future rebels bumped off by the Mafia, on the orders of the government.

This series has been around for some time and I'm not familiar with the characters, but have enjoyed their company so much that I'd like to go back to the beginning of the series.

I read Fire at the Fenice and found it acceptable but not inspiring enough to continue the series.

Now, with the Blood from a Stone, Ms. Leon hits hard at the situation of African immigrants in a society unaccustomed to other cultures and races. There was a NYTimes piece by the Italian author, Saviano, re the African rioting against the Mafia in the Naples area. He called it a 'fight for rights' rather than accede to the mafia as home grown Italians do or leave as they can afford to do it. This connects well with Ms. Leon's thriller.

As a Greek, I found it especially interesting since we, too, are not accustomed to non-caucasians in our country. The shanty town, the hard work, the servitude into which some are forced is all the same. I see the police chasing the handbag salesmen in Athens more as a joke and a way to grab handbags for themselves, it seems. They look like healthy, bright young men. What a shame they cannot find a place more suitable for their talents and to fulfill their dreams of economic security.

Thanks, Ms. Leon, for bringing this topic to the great public with your thriller.

I'm inspired to try other works by her now.

Demetra Athanasopoulou

Donna Leon has another winner here. Her use of the language is superb and her humor, though subtle, is profound. The plot and subsequent playing out of this story is too like real life. Who can you really trust? Not the government; not $$$$$$; not much but family and some friends. Another great read.

I love the Brunetti books, but this one just seems to miss the gondola, as it were. It's a mystery in which which Brunetti seems to be more of a spectator than the solving sleuth. Even Leon's usually amusing interchanges between Brunetti and his boss Patta lack spark here. About the only thing in which this book excels is Leon's descriptions of Venice. Armed with my map of the city, I follow all the action canal-by-canal, calle-by-calle. So, mainly for the travelogue I give it three stars. Donna Leon is a superstar in my book and I guess she is allowed to occasionally boot one. Hope her next book regains the artistry that her previous offerings do.

Donna Leon's 14th Guido Brunetti mystery novel explores contemporary issues in Italy and the magical city of Venice. She skillfully uses her good Commissario, his family, and his colleagues to make political and social statements about Italy and global problems.

The story begins with the execution-style murder of an illegal African street vendor in a busy Venetian campo while he was attempting to sell his fake designer handbags to a group of American tourists. (An African street seller is called a vú cumprá, which is an Italian slang term for you wanna buy? -- the official and more PC Italian term is extracomunitario.) Commissario Brunetti, called to investigate the killing, realizes just how little he knows about these illegal street sellers -- where they're from, how they got to Italy, where they live, how they survive. With the help of his loyal sidekick Vianello, and the stunning, computer savvy Signorina Elettra, he gets a foothold on the case when he locates where the victim lived. He finds some critical evidence in the vú cumprá's apartment, but doesn't report it because he doesn't trust it in the hands of the police hierarchy. Just when he is making progress on the case, Vice Questore Patta, Brunetti's annoying, slow-witted boss, orders him to stop the investigation which has been taken over by not one but two Italian ministries in Rome. Naturally, Brunetti, determined to find out what is behind all this intrigue, disobeys and has to tap into his connected and powerful father-in-law, Count Falier, in his search for answers.

The book is set at Christmas time in Venice. Leon describes the seasonal festivities in marvelous detail. As always, Brunetti's wife Paola and kids Chiara and Raffi get a fair amount of stage time. We join them for gourmet lunches and dinners, go Christmas shopping with them, and witness major disagreements between mother and daughter. Leon is sympathetic to the plight of the vú cumprá and to the misfortunes of Africa. As usual, American tourists and the corrupt Italian bureaucracy come under here critical gaze.

In Blood from a Stone, we are introduced to some interesting characters -- Claudio Stein, who was close to Brunetti's father during and after World War II; Don Alvise, a socially active ex-priest who left the church because of disagreements on giving assistance to African immigrants; Renato Sandrini, a resentful criminal defense attorney who owes Brunetti some favors and is married to the daughter of a local mafia don; and, Azir Mahani, an Iranian immigrant teenager who is Chiara's new friend.

This book is a must read. Donna Leon is such a marvelous writer.

Donna Leon seldom disappoints and this book is well thought out. I enjoy the descriptions of Venice and all the wonderful food! Leon does not glamorize police work or the politics that effect the results.

Donna Leon is a master at delineating the corruption of the Venetian social system all the while giving her protagonist, Commissario Guide Brunetti, depth and humanity. His family comes alive in her books, particularly his wife, Paola.

This is perhaps her richest book. She gives the refugee problem a thorough look and although has no answers to the issue, gives you plenty of room to think about it. Leon never insults her readers with pat answers.

An African street vendor is killed...shot down while pushing his wares outside normal work hours. You know, of course, that he is an illegal émigré and so does Brunetti. He struggles to solve the slaying against the wishes of his higher-ups who force him to work on the case surreptitiously. An interesting metaphor that parallels the plight of the illegal vendors.

Highly recommended.

Guido Brunetti is a strong family man with a realistic family life. I loved when Guido's wife commented about marrying a man but getting his appetite. He is also a dedicated, ethical policeman who loves his city and believes in what he does, in spite of the corrupt system in which he must operate. It is these elements which made this book, and this series, one I really enjoy. However, I don't feel this was the best book in the series. The pace was slow and I found the ending unsatisfying with threads left unresolved. But Leon has a wonderful style of writing that involves you in both the characters and the story.

I have mixed feelings about this book and I would have given it one star if it weren't because she touches a very important theme, although she does it in such a pathetic way that you are left with that 'Orwelian' feeling that things are just getting worse!

It didn't take more than 50 pages for me to begin to get impatient with this book. The plot unravels so slowly and, granted that Brunetti's bosses want it that way, Donna Leon wasted precious opportunities to keep the reader's interest. Her characters are dull, her descriptions of places and characters border on the cliche, in short, she does not make you grow fond of the characters. Brunetti's character is simply lame. There is absolutely nothing extraordinary about him. It almost seems that is wife would be more equipped for his job than he is. He seems insecure, shy and untalented. She introduces 'phantom' characters of sorts who don't bring much to the table. I read she is a famous and known writer because of her insight on Italian life and ways. However, her insight on Venice, apart from constant reference to various landmarks, is minimal. I kept on wondering, has this woman ever been there or did she just read about Venice on a guidebook? I cannot say this was a distinctively Italian mystery. Brunetti seems more like an American blue collar worker to me.

I have to say though that the way the plot unravels is different and surprising. Pity she didn't use it to her advantage. She could have touched on the intricacies of the plan, and in the end the reader is left with the notion of what happened but with a few questions unanswered...

Coming from a background of Agatha Christie mysteries, I don't consider this worth my time or that of a serious mystery reader. Brunetti, like Paris Hilton, is famous for having done nothing. He just makes a few calls and that's it. No insight. No "little gray cells". No brains whatsoever, pure speculation and "pulling of strings". I do understand not every murder can get solved, let alone given justice. However, her idea was grand but her execution pathetic. Folks, don't waste your time with this one.

Is Donna Leon getting tired? This reads like a book dutifully churned out because another 'Brunetti' was due. It never gets beneath the surface. There are plenty of excellent elements -- the central idea, tracing through 'blood diamonds' & what happens to them -- is really good. But it is never used properly. We get a lot of Venetian atmosphere, true -- but not much else. Even if it meant leaving Venice for a bit, surely the central point could've been followed through.

And why do Paola & Brunetti react to the Italian situation as an American left-winger would? They are supposed to be Italians. Would they really worship & revere the State as American left-wingers do?

Disappointing. Please just work out a proper plot, Ms Leon, next time.