Fatal Remedies

By any stretch of the imagination nothing connects this book's beginning to its end. I'd love to say there was a creative twist, but, no, just no. Added to the misery of one low-energy page after another were the twin tyrannies of weak dialogue and stereotypical characters found more in a Grade D movie. Don't waste your time or money on this book. Leon's capable of much better. (My Fire wouldn't accept the two stars I tried to give this book.)

Had this been any other author (or series) than Donna Leon and Commissario Brunetti I would have given it a one or two star rating. So please read below:

I have read most (at least 12) of the Brunetti series and would give 5 stars to all of them except for this, which was a real disappointment. I have come to love Brunetti, Paola, Chiara, Raffi, Vianello,Signorina Elettra, Pucetta, Count Falier and his wife, and equally despise Vice-Questore Patta and his lackey Scarpa.

For those who critique Donna Leon on her engagement with important issues, I disagree sharply. Yes, she has decided to address important social issues in every one of her books. But she succeeds where others fail because (almost) invariably she has a great plot line and a fabulous setting that you can easily recall if you have been to Venice. That was what drew me to her books initially, but her careful plotting and great characters kept me coming back.

My problem with Fatal Remedies is that it is disjointed both emotionally and in plot. The first part, where Paola acts either very characteristically or uncharacteristically depending on how many Leon books you've read and in what order, was very intriguing. But it was never followed through in a convincing manner. Moreover, the plot simply changed mid-way through and for the first time ever I was disastisfied with a Brunetti mystery. However, unlike some books by other authors, I did finish it.

I want to emphasize that I LOVE Donna Leon and the Brunetti series and hope she never stops. I just hope readers don't read this one first!

First let me say that I find Commissario Brunetti a well-developed and interesting character. He is well principled, although willing to overlook certain activities that are questionable from time to time. By and large, though, the reader can rely on him to do the right thing. Some books in the series are better than others.This is not one of the better ones. Fatal Remedies just did not cut it for me. It begins with Brunetti's volatile but intellectual wife Paola committing a crime to make a political and social statement. The only problem is that the reason for the crime is only known to the Commissario who makes the 'problem' go away by making sure she isn't arrested. It is only 1/4th in to the book after Paola commits the same crime again and is finally arrested that her motivation becomes quasi-known. What activist makes a statement, but then doesn't publicize the reason behind the statement? It doesn't make sense. Also, consider the act - throwing a rock through a travel agency window to protest the sex tours it promotes will never stop the practice. The sex tours practice isn't really integrated in to the rest of the story. Most of the first 77 pages could probably be left out and the rest of the plot could still play out making it an interesting read.

Having read several Brunetti mysteries by Donna Leon, I have come to expect a certain rhythm and ambience. The secondary characters react in a certain way to events. Brunetti worries about the effects of being a policeman, especially in Venice, with its lack of automobiles, prevalence of boats, and fear of authority. The one exception is Paola.

In Fatal Remedies, one crime, committed by Bruneetti's wife, Paola, leads to the discovery of other crimes. Something of a cheat to let her off the hook. Still, the characters are true to themselves, as is the city and the nation. Any reader in the U.S. probably finds the reluctance of witnesses to get involved a bit unbelievable, but other countries operate by different rules. This is very evident in the city of Venice.

I found this to be a weaker addition to the series; nevertheless I read it through and in the end, enjoyed it. I will continue to make my way through the whole series, although not in order, reading as I find the books, most available in the used book store these days.

Donna Leon is one of my favorite novelists; she has a lock on the atmosphere and culture of Venice. All of her novels are located in this wonderful city and often Venice is one of the characters. In this book, however, Venice moves into the background and Guido Brunetti’s wife, Paola steps into the limelight.

Guido is a calm force and Paola is a hurricane. She feels things deeply and is horrified by government negligence and/or corruption around her. This time, Paola has a new cause; some factions of the Italian travel industry have created tours where men can “rape children” in Third World countries. Paola decides to take a stand; she tosses a rock at the large, plate glass window of one of the worst Venice travel companies (a substantial part of their business is in these sex tours).

Thus begins a story in which Paola gets to see the inside of the police business. Her actions endanger her freedom and her husband’s career. Still, she goes forward. However, when a murder takes place – killing the owner of that sex tour business, Paola has to reassess her actions.

Stupid Vice-Questore Patta and his secretary, Signorina Elettra provide much of the humor in these stories; Patta is Guido’s boss. Signorina Elettra’s take on Bingo (played during the Vice-Questore’s never-ending meetings) is not to be missed!

Donna Leon has lived in Venice for many years and she obviously loves the place and people. However, she has no problem sharing some of the incongruities of the country. She shows that the Italian government moves slowly … if at all. It’s nice to see that other countries have problems too.

I think the reason I love these stories is that they remind me of American life in the 1950’s. The spouses really talk to each other; parents see their role in molding their children’s character by interacting with them (not sending them to watch TV). Guido’s home is the family’s refuge from the chaos outside their apartment.

Another thing I enjoy is the insider’s look at the Venetians as they eat, live and die. This is a great way to learn about another language, culture and cuisine without leaving your chair!

Not the best book in the series, but certainly very entertaining. Commisario Guido Brunetti has a law-breaker in his house - his wife. She has been picked up by the police twice for throwing rocks through a travel agency window. His wife believes she's making a point by drawing attention to travel agents who book trips for pedophiles to go countries like Thailand to have sex with girls as young as 10. Her unrepentant actions not only effect the family but Brunetti's career. When the manager of the travel agency is murdered, Brunetti believes it is his duty to find the murderer and clear his wife from suspicion.

First Sentence: The woman walked quietly into the empty campo.

Comm. Guido Brunetti is in a difficult position. It is his job to uphold the law. However, his wife, Professor Paola Brunetti, wants to stop a local travel agency from running sex tours for men. She demonstrates her cause by vandalizing the agency. With added pressure from above to solve a robbery and murder with possible Mafia connections, Brunetti is concerned both about his relationship with his wife and his career.

A book that starts without a prologue but with an unexpected, intriguing opening will always capture my interest and Leon wrote a great first chapter with "Fatal Remedies." But there are so many things to which I look forward, and enjoy, from Leon.

Her characters are wonderful. Brunetti has a very normal family with normal conflicts, even when they are demonstrated in not-so-normal ways. I appreciate his seeming pragmatism and understanding that his job is to uphold the law, which is not always just. The wonderful, smart and enigmatic Signorina Elettra is endlessly fascinating, for Brunetti as well as for the reader.

Leon creates a rich sense of place through sensory descriptions of sight, sound and particularly, smell. She also uses humor and introspection well..."There are days when I think everything's getting worse, then there are days when I know they are. But then the sun comes out and I change my mind."

In spite of the light moments, Leon always reminds us that this is a true police procedural in which there is violence and tragedy. Well done, Ms. Leon.

FATAL REMEDIES (Pol Proc-Insp. Guido Brunetti-Italy-Cont) - VG
Leon, Donna - 8th in series
Arrow Books, orig. ©1999, UK Paperback - ISBN: 9780099269304

Donna Leon now makes Venice her home. In her mysteries, if you know Venice well, you'll have the thrill of rediscovery as she walks you through familiar campos, stroll by the Grand Canal, take a vaporetto to a destination, eat local pastries and foods. Her detective inspector hero is Commissario Brunetti who has a loving wife, two great kids, and a great home life, but is always at odds with his superiors. He likes those Venetian pastries and all the great food and seems lethargic, but he is far from being slow-witted.
In this outing his wife on two occasions as a protest throws a rock through the window of a travel agency that caters to sex tourists. This causes her husband great sorrow and embarrassment, but he is even more aggravated when a murder connected to her action takes place. The book's title is very appropriate to the plot.
In the beginning is the description of a clever game. When the staff attends boring meetings, they play buzz word bingo. When the meeting's chairman says a certain buzz word, they can relieve boredom by matching the buzz word up with specially prepared cards that have the buzz words instead of bingo numbers.
The narrative rolls along smoothly as the gentle, kindly, philosophical Brunetti copes with police work as well as the corruption and inefficiency of the Italian state. Brunetti says, "There are days when I think everything's getting worse, then there are days when I know they are. But then the sun comes out, and I change my mind."
This mystery has a very sharp depiction of the women characters and female psychology. It even has a gun fight. But in general Leon's mysteries have more reflection than action. This is one of her better efforts with a clear cut narrative. Venice is the key setting, but not as much of a character in this book as in some of her others. Little asides about the water damage and dampness in the hallways of buildings makes us realize how fragile the city's infrastructure is. Brunetti is an anti-hero that you come to like because he's an old-fashioned, amiable soul adrift in a society that has, in many ways, passed him by.

Joan Didion once wrote that some locations are owned by the writers who capture them best - Paris belongs to Hemingway, parts of California to Steinbeck, etc. So I wonder if it is time to suggest an American mystery writer, Donna Leon, owns Venice? Reading a Leon murder mystery is an opportunity to spend time in Venice with a long time resident who knows all the best gossip.

I invariably enjoy Leon's Commissario Brunetti series and this is one of the best of the five or six I have read. In part this is because it brings Brunetti's wife Paola into the forefront. Brunetti is not one of these type A hard boiled, my life is my work type detectives. He has a life, a full one, is quite happily married and the father of two children. Indeed scenes with Brunetti at home or in a cafe at lunch are are often more enjoyable than those at the police station.

Leon may be better as a social novelist than a mystery writer. There are fewer plot snags here than in some others in the series, but for example, Paola's actions in the first chapter in which she deliberately vandalizes a travel agency known to be running child sex tours to Asia generates a wierd on again/off again level of fame for the Brunettis. The Commissario is besieged by the papparazzi in one chapter, and forced to take administrative leave (which by the standards of the Venice police depicted here, does not differ greatly from a normal work day), then called back in to work when the owner of the travel agency is murdered, and his conflict of interest would be greater than ever. In following chapters, Brunetti is is interviewing the murder victims wife and his coworkers, and no one seems aware of his connection to the initial act of vandalism. Huh?

Am I being too logical? Another glass of vino as we sit by the Rialto perhaps?

Donna Leon's eighth novel in her Commissario Guido Brunetti series is another crown of glory for this American writer. In "Fatal Remedies," Leon, ever the one to keep her readers' absolute attention riveted to all details, continues her intriguing mise en scene mysteries with sharp focus, clarity of detail, and powerful character observations. This book is well worth the wait.

Leon begins with a new twist: Brunetti's wife Paola has been arrested for smashing the window of a travel agency which she knows arranges sex-tours to third-world countries where Westerners exploit, especially, the child-for-sex trade. This is an issue which Paola finds she cannot permit to go unnoticed, having two children of her own. Like Antigone, her sense of moral outrage at an issue the state does nothing about extends to the point where she takes the law into her own hands. Through her personal crusade, she hopes to call attention to this social canker and, with public outrage she hopes to generate this evil will be halted. She believes that she is prepared to take the consequences for her own actions. It is not so simple, she finds out. Unfortunately, she discovers that her own crusade has negative ramifications for her family and that instead of halting one injustice, she appears to be compounding another by hurting the ones she loves....Brunetti is called back to work and the chase begins.

Brunetti, whose passion for truth, justice, equality, and respect for his beloved Venice, finds himself once again forced to confront moral and legal dilemmas. Leon is at her best and "Fatal Remedies" doesn't miss a beat as the pace picks up, page by page...Leon is not one to dodge social and contemporary issues, as her readers well know from previous books. Her views on environmental destruction (and how the Italian government and its citizens view the subject), social and political corruption, and such social issues as sex-tourism and the importation of former East Bloc citizens to work the local prostitution trade are readily identified. And the author is not timid in her criticism. It's not that she is indicting Italy and the Italians, but that these ills seem to be pervasive.

Leon, an American, lives in Venice and knows the Italians well, but she has lived in other countries (previously she had taught English at an American university at the Vicenza U.S. Army post) and is well versed on contemporary issues. And she loves Venice. Each of her novels tenders her feelings for the Most Serene Republic and readers cannot escape without feeling the life, the very essence of Venice, and her knowledge of that city's history and its ethnic origins make her books ring with a resonance that is real yet we know her story is "only a novel."

In "Fatal Remedies," Leon counts on her readers to assume much (in fact, a first-time reader may be confused by references that are clear only from having read earlier works), which is a shortcoming of individual works in such series; however, as "a part of the whole" this book works well and contains all the ingredients Leon has so successfully concocted in the past. The publisher tells us that she is currently working on a new installment. Shall we count the days?

A Washington Post reviewer called her writing style a "gentle pace." I call it boring. I thought this tale would never begin; then I thought it would never end. Way too calm and predictable for today's fast paced thiller reader. I will not read her again.

Anyone familiar with the Commissario Brunetti series knows that Donna Leon likes to take a social theme and intertwine it with the plot of a police procedural. She plays the two off each other deftly in her books.

In this book, she uses two themes, and brings the action right into Brunetti's family, As a result, we also get to wrestle with how to confront evil doing at a very personal level.

The book opens with an act of vandalism against a tourist agency which allegedly helps book sex tours to southeast Asian countries which exploit children as prostitutes. This particular act threatens Brunetti's career and reputation. It's an act which many would dismiss as stupid or naive. Yet Leon really gives the reader a holographic view of the act from all angles. With a fine nuance, something most writers would bobble turns into a satisfying reflection on responsibility in a world occasionally gone mad.

Separately, there is a robbery, which starts a long thread towards a similar act of exploitation, tainted medicines for the third world. Although two separate issues, Leon combines them in her plotting as if they were two sides of a zippered jacket. The resolution is quite satisfying.

Fatal Remedies is the eighth book in the Commissario Brunetti series and the eighth book of Donna Leon's that I've read. All of Leon's characters are well described, seem real and she does a great job of weaving the story with the characters. I love the character development over the series. Fatal Remedies concentrated more on Paola, Brunetti's wife than any of the others books that I've read. I love reading about Brunetti's family as much as the actual mystery, although the mystery parts have always been superb. And I love Venice the setting for the series.

For the first time Donna Leon brings both Brunetti and his wife Paola into the body of the story at the same time. Dottoria Paola (the future Contessa) has always been determined and headstrong (a barely covered stand in for Leon). She has her own mind and is not afraid to express it. In this case it has to do with the sending of Italian men on 'sex vacations' to Asia, where they have sex with young girls and boys.

Leon does a fine job in tying it into a murder that Guido is working on without doing any silly gyrations. The flow of the story intertwines the two plots but with a deft and subtle hand and it never feels like Leon has added something to 'jigger' the story. All in all a fine addition to a well written series.

Terrible! My first and last Donna Leon book. There's no murder until more than 100 pages in, if that gives you any indication what to expect from this "murder mystery." Those 100 pages are filled with Brunetti's internal moral struggle with his wife's act of civil disobedience in . . . gasp . . . breaking a window. You won't care who died, who did it, or why. An extra star for the taste of Italian life, but otherwise, blah.

Paola Brunetti, the Commissario's brilliant and caring wife, goads him into doing something about the terrible problem of marketing child prostitutes to tourists and businessmen. Much to Guido's chagrin, however, the methods she uses to focus attention upon this atrocity are not quite within the law. Following the demands of his own conscience, however, Guido juggles personal and professional complications to try to see that justice is done, never an easy task when the Mafia and big money are involved.

This book never clicked with me. It combines a pedestrian murder mystery with some feminist (or at least female-centered) themes. Commissarion Guido Brunetti is the main man, a high-level police detective in Venice. He is taciturn, smart, and unrealistically bookish for a policeman (well, this is a novel). He enjoys a fairy tale home life with his wife, the well-born Paola, and 2 kids. In a depiction that seems aimed at distaff readers, he is deeply in love with his wife, an art history professor, is wholeheartedly respectful of all her views and actions, and feels no attraction toward other women.

The story begins when Paola breaks the window of a travel agency that provides sex tours to Thailand. She is infuriated by this practice and, despite being the wife of high-ranking police officer, decides to act on her own. The matter gets hushed up, and then despite the risks to her husband's career, she does it again. This time she gets arrested and the media gets a hold of it. Throughout this (pretty unrealistically), her husband never gets angry, and never even raises his voice to her. Shortly after, the owner of the travel agency turns up garroted with a note nearby calling him a child molester.

Only a desire to see how it turned out kept me going to the end of the book. The writing was certainly competent, but the wit and atmosphere I had been hoping for from a good Italian-set thriller was not apparent for me, and the characters did not really get my attention either. The storyline was fairly typical, and overall, this did not live up to the hype I had encountered (an article in The New York Times praising Leon's work).

This is an excellently-written and entertaining view of how the balance of world power and influence is likely to change in the coming decades. It presents a sensible, balanced and persuasive case for the increasing influence of emerging countries such as China and India, without in any way creating an alarmist scenario for the future of America.

I like the structure of the book. There are three plots going consecutively: a family issue, a crime to be dealt with and an office intrigue all well written so well that you feel that you are part of the plot.

The dense typesetting makes this book tiring to read on a kindle. I tried changing the font size but what is really needed is more white space. It also takes a long time to turn the page, about as long as when there is a photo on the page you're turning to. This is annoying on every page turn.

The paperback copy I received of Fatal Remedies was in one piece and the pages were clean, but I was irritated by several flaws.
THe binding was coming apart. It had two Queens Public Library stickers on it. Across the top is the stamp "Queens Library" as well as the handwritten word 'mystery.'
This quality of this copy should have been marketed 'fair' at best.