A Question of Belief (A Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery)

CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corp.) often asks writers and other creatives to admit their "guilty pleasure". Mine is mysteries, but when I'm reading genre fiction I still want it to be a literary gem, delivering not only a compelling story but also enough of an intellectual kick to keep me interested. Donna Leon always delivers.

The complicated series of events behind the crimes Leon's central characters are trying to solve delivers the story. I'm caught up in the questions, curious about the answers, and find myself satisfyingly unable to come up with the solutions.

Along the way, Leon keeps me intellectually engaged because of her lead characters' reading tastes and intellectual speculations. This book is, indeed, a question of belief on many levels. Others have done a good job of recounting the story line so I won't repeat it here. But I will say that anyone wanting a satisfying mystery and a guilty pleasure that delivers on deeper levels will find their author in Deon Leon.

Donna Leon's mystery series featuring Commissario Brunetti has so far been an easy read. There isn't much need for the reader to agonize over the solution. Nor must we expect things to change much from mystery to mystery. The police of Venice are still hampered by the politicians and incompetent superiors. Venice is hampered by either the weather or the tourists. And crimes are still committed.

As has been seen in at least one other of these novels, there are two cases being investigated. In A Question of Belief, Brunetti works to solve the death of a court clerk which may or may not be murder, the clerk's connections to his neighbors and court officials, and as a side question, the secretive machinations of the aunt of Ispettore Vianello. Trying to survive the murderous heat of the city as he investigates these mysteries, he finds himself alone. The family has gone on vacation in the mountains, where he longs to be, enjoying the coolness of the air.

Change is not a strong element in the long story of the Brunetti family, yet it does exist. The two children, Raffi and Chiara, are growing up and their lives and interests change. Brunette's relationship with his wife's parents grows closer. His two most important professional relationships, with Vianello and Signorina Elettra, are mutually supportive. And Vice-Questore Pata remains the same self-serving bureaucrat he started out as. All in all a pleasant and dependable blend of change and sameness.

Another sameness concerns the lack of support for the police in pursuit of criminals. Also, the corruption of the Italian government at large. Complaints on both counts are as much a part of these stories as are the meals Brunetti shares with his family. It wouldn't be surprising if readers weren't becoming as laid back regarding these frustrations as some of the characters.

Book 19, in Commissario Guido Brunetti mystery series

Ms. Leon is notorious at setting up highly charged atmospheric scenes with a Venetian flair and creating a wonderful cast of characters to go with it. In this latest mystery, we have once again, Commissiario Guido Brunetti dealing with a well-developed bureaucratic system built on stubbornness and corruption.

The story opens with Brunetti looking forward to a summer of fresh mountain air with his family and catching up on his reading. It is to be a well-earned rest away from the debilitating heat and the hordes of tourists that invade his hometown during the peak season. Before leaving, he agrees to help investigate the suspicious activities Inspector Lorenzo's aging aunt seems to be involved with. Apparently her interest in astrology has attracted the attention of a new found friend and Lorenzo is worried because she has been regularly withdrawing large sums of money from her bank. He suspects she may have fallen prey to a swindler and has been duped by the charms of a notorious "faith healer".

On another front, things start to move quickly on cases that have been delayed in court. It is suspected that Judge Luisa Coltellini and Araldo Fontana have been sidelining files for the benefit of one of the parties and reaping the rewards for quite some time. Brunetti knows this practice contributes to the lack of efficiency and ethics of the judiciary system, leaving a black mark on all. Before leaving on vacation he sets in motion a quiet investigation by his team.

His best laid plans and vacation is cut short, when it is learnt that Fontana has been murdered in a violent attack. His quiet investigation explodes and he is brought back in the thick of the action and into the simmering Venetian heat...

I am a fan of this series; the stories are usually refreshing, captivating and have an underlying message. Although interesting, this latest is not one of Ms. Leon's best, I found the plotting lacked suspense and the pacing rather slow moving. Too many minor details bogged down the storyline and the mystery is overshadowed by long descriptions of the culture, the food and the architecture. In this novel or travelogue it appears Ms. Leon has let her love of Venice override her love for writing exquisite mysteries. Some may enjoy it and some may not......

Donna Leon's Commissario Brunetti novels are unconventional mysteries. This is the 19th such story of life in Venice. The author does a great job of conveying the sticky heat of August and the agony of 20 million tourists descending on such a small place as Venice.

This isn't my favorite Leon story but it is spellbinding in the unique study of Italian bureaucratic dishonesty versus citizens trying to eke out their lives.

It is important to read these novels close to the order in which they are written. Things happen in the family, and at the Questouri, that affect future stories.

It’s always a pleasure to read a novel featuring Commissario Guido Brunetti, a goodhearted man for whom all police work is a question of ethics and justice. Like most of us, however, some of the jobs he’s called upon to undertake are more interesting than others. In A Question of Belief (19th in the series), Brunetti is stranded in the stifling Venetian August, his family vacationing in cool, fresh Alto Adige. As always, the case of the moment involves politics, bureaucratic corruption, and a social issue, in this case, homosexuality. As the book opens, crime on the island also appears to be on holiday, so Brunetti and Ispettore Vianello, his equally compassionate assistant, occupy themselves with nonviolent concerns, such as bribery in court cases and fraud on the part of psychic healers. Coincidentally, a brutal murder occurs, its victim a clerk at the very court they’re scrutinizing.

Donna Leon is equally adept at immersing her readers in the ambience of Venice and plotting an intricate, compelling police procedural. In Belief, for some reason, her focus seems to have been diverted from Brunetti’s case work to the dreadful heat of summer smothering the canals and piazzas. It’s easy enough to enjoy this novel for what it is, though it’s far from Leon’s best. A good summer diversion for us!

I have just read the first three Brunetti/Leon books and loved them. Loved the mysteries, loved the Venetian settings and insights about Venetians, loved the Brunettis, etc. and then, too impatient to wait for my local library to deliver the next Brunetti story in sequence, I picked up this title. What a disappointment! Boring beyond words. Boring storyline, boring pace, boring repeated descriptions of ultra hot weather and clothes sticking to body parts.... Finally resorted to skim reading just to finish the book, only to discover a very disappointing ending....

I will go back to reading the stories in sequence and hope to find out that this particular title is a lone exception.

About:
A Question of Belief is the nineteenth book in Donna Leon's series featuring a Venetian police commissioner named Guido Brunetti.
Set against the stifling Venetian heat, there are two investigations going on in this installment.

A man named Araldo Fontana has been murdered and he is suspect of being involved with a corrupt judge who delays trials for bribes. Guido was looking forward to a cool vacation in the Alps with is book loving wife Paola and their two children. He finds himself in the midst of a murder investigation instead.

Guido's sidekick is Ispettore Vianello. Vianello's aunt seems to be taken in by a corrupt psychic. Her bank account has been dwindling and she insists it is for charity. This is the second investigation.

My thoughts:
As I mentioned before, A Question of Belief is the nineteenth novel in this series. This can be read as a stand alone book.
The author sets the mood perfectly and as I read I could definitely imagine the stifling hot weather in Venice. I think I would have enjoyed this one more if I had read a few of the others books first and gotten a better feel for the characters. The story did start off a bit slow for me, but it picked up toward the middle, once the murder occurred and the investigation really took off. Author Donna Leon added a twist that I hadn't seen coming and the ending was not what I expected. I don't include spoilers in my reviews, so I'll leave it at that.

Guido and his family were my favorites in this story. I especially liked Paola's literary references. Guido actually takes time out of his busy day to come home and sit down to lunch with his family. I found that a nice touch.
Overall, a nice, quick dose of mystery set in Venice with some memorable characters.

The first in this series is called Death at La Fenice and was published in 1992. I'll have to be on the lookout for other Guido Brunetti mysteries.

A heat wave engulfs Venice in this, the 19th Guido Brunetti mystery, and the Commissario is looking forward to a vacation in the cooler Alps with his family and even makes it onto the train. But four hours into the trip he is called to return to the city to solve the murder of an official involved in a complicated scam. At the same time, Brunetti is attempting to assist his sidekick who fears his favorite aunt is being bilked by a charlatan.

The aunt has delved deeply into astrology and her family has noted that she has been withdrawing money from the bank. Her family's efforts to find out what she is doing with the cash have been to no avail, so Brunetti agrees to surreptiously get to the bottom of the mystery. Also, unofficially, he has been supplied with information that certain cases at the local court are being unduly delayed, usually benefiting one party over another.

This novel is filled with all the charming characters who inhabited those that have preceded it in the series. The atmosphere of Venice is, as customary, portrayed to benefit the reader. And for a mystery novel, the conclusion is truly different. The book is recommended.

It should be noted that simultaneously with this novel, Atlantic Monthly Press has published "Brunetti's Cookbook," with recipes by Roberta Pianaro and culinary stories by Donna Leon. The cookbook recreates many local and seasonal recipes based on meals from the series along with original essays by Donna Leon to give Brunetti fans much pleasure.

With the release of "A Question Of Belief", Donna Leon has now penned her 19th novel in the Commisario Brunetti mystery/crime series set in Venice, Italy. The novels are always a breath of fresh air and probably the best recurruing series in the genere today (it has even garnered a recent cookbook and travel guide based on the cuisine and locations of these great novels).

That being said, "A Question Of Belief" is one of the lesser entries in this series. This is not a bad thing - even a mediocre Brunetti novel is still better than most of what is out there. Through these 19 novels author Donna Leon has painted a picture of Venice that is both beautiful and corrupt. For her hero and protagonist, Commissario Guido Brunetti, it is a city possibly beyond corruption with no help of return - just an attempt to maintain some balance and order amidst the insanity.

The novel begins with Brunetti missing out on his family vacation due to a murder investigation that requires his attention. The story begins with the investigation in to an alleged 'faith healer' who may be duping the elderly Aunt of Ispettore Vianello and then moves into a murder of an alleged homosexual man of some prominence - possbily at the hands of a more prominent and closeted member of Venetian society. The storyline becomes somewhat disjointed as the first investigation is rudley pushed aside by the second and is only revisited in the novels final pages.

Brunetti, as always , is torn between justice and politics and the opportunity to do the right thing or simply turn a blind eye. A decent entry in the series - I hope the 20th book is a little meatier and provides more of the complex relationships Brunetti has with his wife, Paolo, and his co-worker, Signorina Elletra. Ciao!

August is always hot in Venice, but police Commisario Guido Brunetti feels a different kind of heat as the tourists seem underfoot everywhere and the cop wants to escape the city with his family into the cooling mountains. The Commune employment records supervisor Toni Brusca makes a strong case that women can prove to be more deviously criminal than men; the evidence provided is the court record of a female judge who postpones cases that benefit one side.

As Brunetti ponders the allegation of misconduct on the bench, he knows he can do nothing about it though he wonders if the judge in question is skimming personal profit from the advantages she gives to one team. Since he has no play in the latest judicial corruption as Italy has become the perfect capitalist government run by sleaze and dishonesty, Brunetti begins to shut down with his vacation about to begin. Then the violent crime occurs that is in his jurisdiction so though he could sneak away on his R&R pretending not to know, Brunetti begins his investigation with a sigh.

Brunetti is a throwback police detective who believes in the honesty of man though overwhelmingly realizes the Internet with all its positive connectivity also provides another negative source for the powerfully corrupt to skim the system. Fast-paced with a strong cast and a powerful look at Venice and its local government, A Question of belief is a great entry as the hero struggles with what he learns about trust abused for personal gain and as immorality rules. Yet readers know that Diogenes only need to meet him to find an honest person trying to adhere to his values in a system that prefers the lowest ethical denominator.

Harriet Klausner

Having read all nineteen books in the Brunetti series, I wanted to describe a few of my reactions to the series so far, and make some comments. To start off: how refreshing it is to see a man who comes home to eat a sit-down meal with his family. Not even just at dinner, but frequently at lunch, as well. Needless to say, this would be practically unheard of in the U.S. Commissario Brunetti is a man who listens; not just to those that he interviews, but also to his family and co-workers. His children intimidate him into taking ultra-short showers, but he luxuriates in long ones when the kids aren't around to bang on the bathroom door. Paola ceaselessly tries to refine his consciousness about women. Ispettore Vianello similarly tries to increase his awareness of environmental issues. And signorina Elettra, well, she realizes the futility of trying to make Brunetti computer literate, but she is constantly surprising him with what one can do online.

Brunetti's relationship with his in-laws appears to improve as the series progresses. He is surprised that the contessa, although religious, is very non-judgmental about the beliefs or non-beliefs of others. Even she is critical of Catholic hierarchy, an attitude that is quite prevalent, not to say universal, in this series. Count Falier, with a patrician name that reaches back centuries in Venice, plays the part perhaps expected by such a man. Comfortable in the highest social circles, able to use his contacts to penetrate secrets of the powerful, he pursues one of the quintessential Venetian virtues: money-making. Disappointed, perhaps, that his only child married beneath her, he increasingly understands what attracted her to Brunetti.

Venice, herself, is accepted as a given. Not a single character that I can recall, ever talks about leaving Venice. No one pretends that Venice isn't crowded with tourists, unbearably hot in August, politically corrupt, and increasingly polluted. Even the idea of plunging into the Grande Canal strikes horror into Venetians. But to want to live elsewhere? No way! Forget about it. It is incredibly amusing to read in some of these reviews that Donna Leon hates Venice, or hates Italy, or disparages Italians. Are we reading the same books?

This is not to say that these books don't express frustration with Italian and Venetian bureaurocracies and politics. On more than one occasion Brunetti considers quitting. But he enjoys his work, at least part of time, and his on-the-job friends do much to keep him on the job. He does have a passion for truth, and he loves getting to the bottom of things. He can have the same doggedness as Sara Peretsky's Vicky Warshawski. Sometimes he has no problem bending, or completely ignoring, the rules. He certainly does not want to give much thought to how signorina Elletra obtains much of the information she provides him. He is deeply pained when the rich and powerful intervene to protect the guilty, as frequently happens in these stories. Sometimes the powers-that-be prevail, but not always.

One of the aspects of the series that I enjoy the most is the picture it portrays of how life is lived in contemporary Venice. What peoples' apartments look like, what they have for breakfast, how they relate to each other at work, what Venetian teenagers are like and how they relate to their parents. It is very difficult as a tourist to really get to know how Italians live their lives. There are books such as Tim Parks Italian Neighbors and Italian Education that are helpful, but I am grateful to a series like this that follows a handful of characters over many situations and circumstances and presents what life is like in Venice.

Among other strengths, Donna Leon is a master of dialogue. Commisario Brunetti's exchanges with the inestimable Signorina Elettra never fail to delight, and you're invited to sit at the table for a coffee or prosecco as Brunetti and Vianello stop to discuss life and crime. The commisario's verbal duels with his boss, Patta, and the chance to eavesdrop as Brunetti questions suspects add to the deep pleasures of these books, which are also greatly enriched by the marvelous presence of his beloved wife, Paola, and his city, Venice.

From Leon (as well as other excellent mystery writers) I have come to expect a satisfying ending that clears up the red herrings and subplots that have been dropped along the way. In "A Question of Belief" Leon fails to connect the various people and issues that you have met along the way. It is as though she got busy with something else and simply decided to stop writing. A most disappointing read. I only gave it a two instead of a one because I have liked her earlier works and I did read it to the end. Now I wish I had not wasted my time.

"A Question of Belief" is Donna Leon's 19th outing with Commissario Guido Brunetti so there aren't many ways to surprise her readers who are now very familiar with this good hearted cop, his family and his colleagues. We know we will get a delightful sense of life in Venice with an expose of some of the seamier side of contemporary Italian society in addition to an engaging crime to disentangle. The summer heat wave and Brunetti's interrupted holiday provides novel background atmosphere as does the introduction of a senior female colleague who will doubtless emerge as a more developed character in future offerings. Throw in a dubious faith healer, a demanding old mother and ambitious parvenus with an expensive lifestyle to sustain and you have added spice to a familiar and still pleasing recipe.

My first Donna Leon book, after hearing about her on twitter. Enjoyed the writing and the characters, although the Italian titles were a little hard for me to keep track of. The summer heat was oppressive! :D Well done. My main let-down was that neither of the plot lines were really resolved. No one paid for the crimes. Perhaps that was a way of showing how Italian politics works, but it left me disappointed.
Will try some of her others.

The August heat in Venice is inescapable, even for Commisario Guido Brunetti who receives a call to return to the city on a murder case even before the train taking him and his family to a vacation in the cool mountains has arrived at its destination. This nineteenth mystery in this series by Donna Leon is titled, A Question of Belief, and I find than I never tire of this character. In this installment, Brunetti calmly confronts corruption on many levels: he tries to release a colleague's aunt from the pull of a charlatan stealing her money; he investigates a judge who specializes in delaying trials; and he solves a murder. Leon is a talented writer who continues to enrich an already well-developed character. She presents dialogue and description in ways that bring readers to Venice so vividly that I almost felt the heat.

Rating: Three-star (Recommended)

My first and last Donna Leon novel. The murder plot is very thin. The secondary plot really goes nowhere. There is no suspense and no interesting detective work. Basically, the cases are resolved by opportune confessions. The author seems to be writing for her uncritical fans and use the novel to discuss her pet peeves. The novel is full of odd prejudices and clichés: Romanians are criminals, Eastern European women have potato bodies (really? All of them?), homosexuals are lonely men who engage in anonymous sex, or homosexuals are effeminate individuals who are good at decorating. And xenophobic Northern Italian separatists are after all right and the South is bleeding the North. Lackluster mystery novel peppered with ugly politics.

Ah, I have the feeling that this definitely isn't the best book to read as an introduction. I'll probably reread it after I've read a number of the earlier books. While I didn't find the two investigations enthralling, I loved the atmosphere, the criticism of Venetian government and agencies, the literary interests of the characters, and in short just plain enjoyed the entire setting, so I do give this a high rating, but again doubt that it's a good starting point in the series.

Like all of the Brunetti books, this one has intricate plotting, strong characters, and the very admirable character of Brunetti himself. The heavy atmosphere of the criminal pursuit is livened by the humor between Brunetti and his wife, the play with Henry James, and the goodness of those who care about people.

After hearing an interview with the author on NPR today, I thought I'd check out the books. Reading a page or two of a couple was enough to tell me I hadn't discovered an author I could trust to write well and think clearly. On the first page of this one, her hero, bored in his office, is described as being ready to welcome "the Rapture." Really? Surely "the Rapture" is a concept of the American evangelicals, not the Roman Catholic Italians. This is wrong on so many levels...in another novel of Leon's I checked out,
the opening sentence compares a red shoe's color to the red of a London bus...why, in God's name, when this novel takes place in Italy? Then she goes on the admit that the butcher who is looking at the shoe thinks the color like that of a Ferrari....okay, so why bother to drag in London buses? Just to fill up space? Why don't writers these days think it necessary to edit their works, or don't editors feel it necessary to do any work? No, it is probably just that readers these days will read any nonsense and not even notice the difference. Yeah, I'm hard to please--but don't tell me I'm a nasty snob...I just expect literacy. And am usually disappointed.

Donna Leon has done it again!! I am well familiar with Venice and it is like going back home!! No matter the circumstances of Brunetti's cases, it feels like you are there visiting old friends, eating great food and drink... Enjoy!!

As a dedicated Leon fan, I was sadly disappointed in this one. Nothing of real interest occurs in the first half of the book. It is as dull as the heat engulfing Venice, which she decribes in numbing detail. As much as I enjoy the relationship between Brunetti and his dedicated Lieutenant, Vianello, it can't prop up a weak story line. If you are new to this author, go back to her earlier work, which is far superior.

Somewhere along the line Donna Leon seems to me to have run out of gas, maybe even to the point of fobbing off sections of this book for someone else to write ... or to fill in the blanks of a story outline she provided. She doesn't live in Venice any longer, has an estate further north up towards the majestic Dolomite mountains (like Paola in this latest book of hers, she certainly must enjoy eiderdown comforters a whole lot more than the muggy summer heat and humidity of Venice she's had to endure before), and spends the majority of her time now fully immersed and engaged in her intense passion for Baroque opera, particularly and most especially for the operas of the Baroque-era composer Händel. Among other things, she writes (or helps write) critical liner notes for opera CDs (she's purportedly an opera critic for the London Sunday Times, among other things), writing liner notes for director Alan Curtis' and others' opera CDs, fussing with the selection and hiring of 'prima donnas' of director Alan Curtis' opera company "Il Complesso Barocco" (Google that name, you'll see Ms. Leon prominently featured in the photos there; she has a financial interest in his opera company), writing the libretto for her own opera, "Donna Gallina", conducting writing seminars in Germany and Spain ... whew!! No wonder she's lost her "Brunetti" voice. Whole chapters are written in the choppy choppy choppy contemporary murder/mystery novel style; a real "whodunnit", if you know what I mean. There are passages, paragraphs, a couple of chapters where the old voice of Donna Leon comes through -- the voice she has admired so very, very much, and imitated; the voice of Jane Austen. The writing style of Jane Austen. Yeah, the Venice travelogue stuff is still there all through the book to titilate and pique the interest of the Venice lovers in the audience, to keep them reading on to see if she (well, Brunetti) is going to mention some place or places that we've been to and/or seen -- or hope to be going to and seeing. But this time, in this book, Leon's fire has gone out. Her plots have always been -- to readers who don't particularly care to be taken by the hand and led on walks through Venice to sample the people, food, and culture of Venice -- insipid to the point of being boring. Good endings though, is the general comment people tell me when I recommend Leon to them, and they've read her books. And -- a Brunetti mystery couldn't be a Brunetti mystery without Leon's generous sprinklings of social commentary on what she see's as good and evil (often with a black and white dividing line); that's the literary candy that keeps the educated (read liberal) class reader coming back again and again to her Brunetti-series novels. Don't get me wrong; I've strongly recommended many of Leon's early Brunetti mysteries to friends and even to strangers! I think her books are definitely of literary merit (thanks, Jane Austen!), and so well written that I've told some of my writing friends that the pace of her novels and the subtlty of characterizations (thanks, Jane Austen) are to be admired and studied carefully if they would like to improve the quality of their own writings.
No, I didn't care for "A Question of Belief"; it raised to many questions in my own mind about Donna Leon herself.

Ken Kellogg-Smith
Abingdon, Maryland

From Leon (as well as other excellent mystery writers) I have come to expect a satisfying ending that clears up the red herrings and subplots that have been dropped along the way. In "A Question of Belief" Leon fails to connect the various people and issues that you have met along the way. It is as though she got busy with something else and simply decided to stop writing. A most disappointing read. I only gave it a two instead of a one because I have liked her earlier works and I did read it to the end. Now I wish I had not wasted my time.