Dressed for Death (Commissario Brunetti, #3)

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Dressed for Death (Commissario Brunetti #3)

3.86 of 5 stars 3.86 · rating details · 2,301 ratings · 183 reviews

Donna Leon’s Commissario Guido Brunetti series grows more popular in America with the publication of every new novel. In this installment, Brunetti’s hopes of a refreshing family holiday in the mountains are once again dashed when a gruesome discovery is made in Marghera—a body so badly beaten the face is completely unrecognizable. Brunetti searches Venice for someone who...more

Paperback, 343 pages

Published October 4th 2005 by Penguin Books (first published June 1st 1994)

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Aug 15, 2007 Spiros rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: those sick of quaint mysteries

Shelves: italy, borrowed

What follows is less a review than a series of anecdotes and digressions (rather like Tristram Shandy).
I found myself in a quandry; I was getting ready to leave work, and I had misplaced my copy of The Worst Intentions (according to Freud, there are no accidents), which left me without a book to read on my weekend. I picked up a knackered pocketbook copy of Dressed For Death, which, if you have ever tried to sell books at Green Apple, tells you all you need to know about Donna Leon: we simply...more What follows is less a review than a series of anecdotes and digressions (rather like Tristram Shandy).
I found myself in a quandry; I was getting ready to leave work, and I had misplaced my copy of The Worst Intentions (according to Freud, there are no accidents), which left me without a book to read on my weekend. I picked up a knackered pocketbook copy of Dressed For Death, which, if you have ever tried to sell books at Green Apple, tells you all you need to know about Donna Leon: we simply do not buy knackered pocketbooks unless the author is wildly popular amongst our customers. I have always been resistant to the Donna Leon phenomenon; looking at the covers of her books, I had always had them figured as picturesque, twee mysteries, set in a Henry Jamesean Venezia of white flannels and high culture (I once read twenty pages into James' Italian Hours; the level of Anglo-American condescension he displayed toward Italy made me want to scream "Hey buddy, we fucking invented civilization...stick your thumb up your ass and rotate!").
Well, was I pleasantly surprised. The story takes place in Mestre, the industrial suburb of Venice, amongst transvestite prostitutes and crooked lawyers and bankers. It's plenty gritty, if not exactly hard-boiled, and, in common with just about every novel I've read set in the Italy of Sylvio Berlusconi, breathes an atmoshere of rampant greed. It is well constructed and well written, but I do have a couple of bones to pick: first, the ending is too neatly wrapped up; even Sherlock Holmes had some failures, and the last line Dashiell Hammett ever had published (at the end of The Thin Man) was "That may be...but it's all pretty unsatisfactory". There's value in occasionally letting the bad guy get away with it. Secondly, it's palpably obvious that Ms. Leon has no real interest in food;she gratuitously describes the protagonist's wife preparing insalata caprese (oooo...how adventurous!). In future, she would be much better served leaving the food writing to Andrea Camilleri, whose mouthwatering descriptions of Sicilian cuisine in the Inspector Montalbano novels have often made me feel very hungry, indeed. (less)

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Jan 29, 2011 Jo rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: city-living, food, mystery, venice

Not my favorite Donna Leon-- a bit more grizzly and sordid than some-- but really worth the read for the start of Chapter Twenty-Three, in which our hero, Commissario of Police Guido Brunetti, having a rare night home alone without his wife and children, cooks his supper and reads Tacitus' Annals of Imperial Rome... "The heat usually robbed Brunetti of all appetite, but that night he found himself really hungry... He stopped at Rialto on the way home, surprised to find some of the fruit and vege...more Not my favorite Donna Leon-- a bit more grizzly and sordid than some-- but really worth the read for the start of Chapter Twenty-Three, in which our hero, Commissario of Police Guido Brunetti, having a rare night home alone without his wife and children, cooks his supper and reads Tacitus' Annals of Imperial Rome... "The heat usually robbed Brunetti of all appetite, but that night he found himself really hungry... He stopped at Rialto on the way home, surprised to find some of the fruit and vegetable stalls still open after eight. He bought a kilo of plum tomatoes so ripe the vendor warned him to carry them carefully and not put anything on top. At another stall, he bought a kilo of dark figs and got the same warning. Luckily, each warning had come with a plastic bag, so he arrived at home with a bag in each hand.

"When he got inside, he opened all the windows in the apartment, changed into loose cotton pants and a T-shirt, and went into the kitchen. He chopped onions, dropped the tomatoes in boiling water, the more easily to peel them, and went out on the terrace to pick some leaves of fresh basil. Working automatically, not really paying attention to what he was doing, he prepared a simple sauce and then put water on to cook the pasta. When the salted water rose to a rolling boil, he threw half a package of penne rigate into the water and stirred them around.

"...When the pasta was done, he poured it through a colander, tossed it into a serving bowl, then poured the sauce on top of it. With a large spoon, he swirled it round, then went out on to the terrace, where he had already taken a fork, a glass and a bottle of Cabernet. He ate from the bowl. Their terrace was so high that the only people close enough to see what he was doing would have to be in the bell tower of the church of San Polo. He ate all the pasta, wiping the remaining sauce up with a piece of bread, then took the bowl inside and came out with a plate of freshly washed figs.

"Before he started on them, he went back inside and picked up his copy of Tacitus' Annals of Imperial Rome. Brunetti picked up where he had left off, with the account of the myriad horrors of the reign of Tiberius, an emperor for whom Tacitus seemed to have an especial distaste. These Romans murdered, betrayed, and did violence to honour and to one another. How like us they were, Brunetti reflected. He read on, learning nothing to change that conclusion, until the mosquitoes began to attack him, driving him inside. On the sofa, until well after midnight, he read on, not at all troubled by the knowledge that this catalogue of crimes and villainies committed almost two thousand years ago served to remove his mind from those that were being committed around him. His sleep was deep and dreamless, and he awoke refreshed, as if he believed that Tacitus' fierce, uncompromising morality would somehow help him through the day."

He cooks, he reads. In Venice, mind you. I don't know about you, but this is my kind of guy.

(less)

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Apr 20, 2010 Joyce Lagow rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: brunetti

3rd in the Commisario Brunetti series set in Venice.[return][return]In a field in Mestre, a small city just to the west of Venice on the mainland, in a field used by the most desperate type of prostitutes, a worker in an abbatoir discovers the body of a middle-aged man dressed in a cheap red dress and red shoes. His face has been smashed in, making him virtually unidentifiable.[return][return]Because it� s August, and Mestre� s Questura is understaffed due to holidays and other misfortunes, Patt...more 3rd in the Commisario Brunetti series set in Venice.[return][return]In a field in Mestre, a small city just to the west of Venice on the mainland, in a field used by the most desperate type of prostitutes, a worker in an abbatoir discovers the body of a middle-aged man dressed in a cheap red dress and red shoes. His face has been smashed in, making him virtually unidentifiable.[return][return]Because it� s August, and Mestre� s Questura is understaffed due to holidays and other misfortunes, Patta decides to � lend� Brunetti to the Mestre force to investigate the crime. Not that there� s much doubt in anyone� s mind what happened--something � gone wrong� in a transaction by the most despised of prostitutes, transvestites. Brunetti, who was supposed to go on the family� s annual vacation in the mountains, instead sees Paola, Chiara, and Raffi off at the train station, and returns to a hot, humid Venice--and Mestre--for this distasteful investigation. Before too long, Brunetti is less than convinced of the apparent motive for the murder; the investigation takes him further into the world of transvestite prostitution and those of the moneyed class in Venice who use their services.[return][return]In most of her books, Leon uses some social issue as a background for her plots, illuminating the less than pleasant aspects of Italian life--in this case, transvestites and the attitudes felt by most Italians towards them, attitudes that in many cases are utterly hypocritical. She does a good job of this without ever becoming preachy, letting the characters speak for themselves and showcase the situation. While I don� t think that Leon does as good a job on the same subject as Magdalen Nabb in her Marshal Guarnaccia series (The Marshall� s Own Case), it� s still a glimpse into that world.[return][return]Because Paola and the teenagers are off on vacation, this book does not have their strong contributions to the series, but that is more than made up for by the introduction of one of Leon� s great characters, the ineffable Signorina Elettra Zorzi. Nominally secretary to Patta, the pompous Vice Questore, Elettra in her debut appearance gives ample notice of the serene, sophisticated, highly talented computer hijacker role which she will expand in future books. The book is worth reading if just for the relish of her appearance. Patta plays an unusually large role in this book in a surprising way. We� re getting used to some of the more minor ones now, such as Sgt. Vianelli and his always off-stage wife Nadia who has found a second career as amateur investigator; all the minor characters lend strength to the series.[return][return]All in all, an excellent story, with the usual good plotting, fine writing, and strong characters. Highly recommended.(less)

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May 12, 2012 Jennifer added it

Returned to the library unfinished. Leon's politics are pretty good by my standards (and I have really exacting standards), and her treatment of trans* issues is relatively civilized even by today's reckoning, which means it was fantastic for 1994, when this book was originally released. It's obvious that any negativity towards trans* people or sex-workers that the characters in the book voice is not Leon's, but is meant to be an accurate representation of attitudes in Italian culture at the tim...more Returned to the library unfinished. Leon's politics are pretty good by my standards (and I have really exacting standards), and her treatment of trans* issues is relatively civilized even by today's reckoning, which means it was fantastic for 1994, when this book was originally released. It's obvious that any negativity towards trans* people or sex-workers that the characters in the book voice is not Leon's, but is meant to be an accurate representation of attitudes in Italian culture at the time. So far, so good.

But it's tiring to encounter yet another trans* sex-worker murder victim--even though that, too, could be written off as an accurate representation of transphobia and misogyny, since sex-workers are often at incredible risk for violence, and trans* women, regardless of their work, are as well. (There's a reason we have a Transgender Day of Remembrance, after all.) But it's just--does it always have to be this? Do we always have to keep using people's differences as motivations for a plot? Must we always appropriate the life experiences of marginalized people for popular entertainment? Despite all the good stuff I mentioned in the first paragraph, my revulsion at encountering another example of such appropriation was visceral enough that I stopped reading the book for a month.

Two days ago I picked it back up, but after another fifty or so pages, was still on the fence. I flipped through to the end of the book to get an idea of how Leon would wrap up the trans* angle, only to find that an opportunity to really dig into the problem of transphobic violence was magically transmuted to something entirely different in the last moments of the case. Embittered by this discovery, I have opted not to finish this particular installment of the Brunetti series. This is a shame, because Leon seems to be hitting her stride as a writer with this novel, and although there's a bit of initial lag, as with books 1 and 2, the lag is shorter, and the story told more skillfully. Fortunately, there are many other books in the series for me to enjoy.(less)

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Aug 29, 2011 Tony rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction-crime-detection

Leon, Donna. THE ANONYMOUS VENETIAN. (1994). ****.
Here’s another installment in the author’s Commissario Guido Brunetti series. A workman out for a smoke break discovers a woman’s body hidden under some bushes behind the factory where he works. He calls the police and they remove the body. It’s then that they discover that the woman is really a man in woman’s clothes. Since the area behind the factory is usually used by prostitutes, it’s assumed that this man was also plying his trade and was k...more

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Aug 09, 2012 Ed rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, 2-stars, guilty-pleasure, part-of-a-series, read-on-kindle, italy

I haven't been overly impressed with the Guido Brunetti series, so that may beg the question of why I am on Book #3 of the series? Well, while the writing and plots have not done much for me, I do have an affection for the Commissario, and even more so for Venice which I have been fortunate enough to visit twice in past few years.

One thing that Leon has done in these books is nicely capture the spirit of Venice and the Italian people. And there in lies one of the problems with this installment,...more

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Jul 19, 2011 Catherine Hurst rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is the third book I've read in Donna Leon's series about Commissario Guido Brunetti of the Venice Police. I chose to start at the beginning of the series--rather than read the latest book--and I would recommend this to you if you're interested. The author is a native of New Jersey, but has lived in Venice for the past 30 years, and she creates a complete visual and sensory world for her novels while still making them accessible for the US reader. Commissario Brunetti is a charming and thoug...more

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Jul 09, 2012 Jann Barber rated it 3 of 5 stars

Our mystery book club members July selection was to pick one of Donna Leon's books. I chose "Dressed for Death."

I had to laugh when I realized that this book was set in Venice during an extremely hot period of several weeks when many citizens leave town in search of cooler haunts. Reading it during an extremely hot period of time here seemed appropriate, although I admit that I sat in air conditioning as I read. Still, I could definitely relate to the sweating experienced by Commissario Brunetti...more

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Sep 26, 2009 Maddy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2005-reads

RATING: 3.5
PROTAGONIST: Guido Brunetti
OCCUPATION: Commissario
SETTING: Venice, Italy
SERIES: #3 of 15
SUMMARY: The district of Mestre is shorthanded, so when the body of a transvestite whore is found outside a slaughterhouse, they reach out to the Venice division. Commissario Brunetti takes on the case. Right from the start, it doesn't feel right to him. The "whore" is a middle-aged man with a paunch, not exactly "bait" for those partaking of this lifestyle. As he investigates further, he also turn...more

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Dec 27, 2012 Susan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Commissario Brunetti reminds me, in some ways, of Jack Frost, another dogged, sincere (television)detective who has a difficult, petty, self-involved boss. Brunetti gets to work in Venice, though, so he has a definite advantage over Frost who works in chillier England.

This book, third in the series, is grittier than the two previous ones, and yet it also has its charming moments. Brunetti is sent out to investigate the murder of a presumed cross-dressing male prostitute, but of course, nothing...more

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Jun 17, 2010 Lobstergirl rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery-thriller, fiction

Thoroughly bland, but then we don't read mysteries hoping they're actually Joyce or Pynchon, do we? Here, Brunetti investigates the corpse of a transvestite prostitute found outside an abattoir in Mestre....or is it? (A transvestite prostitute, that is. It is an abattoir, it is Mestre.) As always, Venetian corruption dogs his efforts as he ingests insalata caprese, penne rigate in simple sauces, and kilos of peaches, with plenty of acqua minerale to combat the swampy sweaty miasmas of summertime...more

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Sep 06, 2011 Sharon rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery

This was another enjoyable book in the Brunetti series. In this installment the body is found outside a slaughterhouse in the industrail district of Mestre. Brunetti is forced to stay back to investigate this murder, missing his vacation with his family, as well as enduring very hot, humid, mosquitoey weather. Although the writing is good, I did not enjoy the novel quite as much, as I missed the more popular tourist locations and descriptions of Venice that I found more familiar.

The body turns o...more

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May 06, 2010 Monica rated it 3 of 5 stars

“Brunetti's hopes of a refreshing family holiday in the mountains are dashed when a gruesome discovery is made in Marghera - a body so badly beaten that the face is completely unrecognizable. But when the victim's identity is revealed, the investigation takes a very unexpected turn.”

Another great Commissario Guido Brunetti mystery. Donna Leon is one of those authors who can make the most of a mystery without getting too sensational about the whole thing. The murder of one leads to the murder of...more

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Jun 21, 2010 Cameling rated it 3 of 5 stars

An earlier one in the Commissario Brunetti series, we are introduced to smart and beautiful Elettra in this one. A body is found in a field behind a slaughterhouse, the person so violently beaten that there is no face to identify the person who later is found to be a transvestite. Without an identity and with just an artist's rendition of what the person might look like based on part of his facial structure and hair, Brunetti and team visit the red light districts of Venice to try their luck int...more

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Sep 26, 2012 Jocelyn rated it 4 of 5 stars

Guido Brunetti investigates another politically fraught case -- a not very good-looking dead guy in a red dress and heels. First Brunetti has to figure out who he is, which is difficult as his face is totally bashed in.

Donna Leon is so easy to read. Likable protagonists, interesting issues, action and suspense, and lots of great Venetian color. This includes descriptions of meals. These kinds of descriptions fall flat for most authors. For Donna Leon, they set a nice tone. Maybe that's because n...more

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Apr 30, 2010 Max Kiltz rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Another of my favorite authors. She is from Venice. Here, I am stealing a review from an Amazon customer who expresses my thoughts better than I can myself: "Once again Leon deals with the task at hand with ease, covering many topics, Corruption of government, the sex trade and drugs. The fictional characters are beautifully woven in, a comic team of testosterone police trying to prove what it takes to be real men, right up to my favorite the wonderful Sicilian Vice-Questore Giuseppe Patta (Brun...more

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Dec 30, 2012 Marisa Adair rated it 3 of 5 stars

In the tradition of the police procedural, it is a reality that our cop/hero can never have a peaceful holiday. I'm not sure why they even try! In this installment, our Commissario Guido Brunetti leaves his family behind to deal with a transvestite who has been murdered, a bullying boss, and corruption at every level of the Italian government. Brunetti deals will all in his usual understated manner. And he even makes himself a fantastic meal of pasta with plum tomatoes purchased from the nearby...more

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Nov 08, 2012 Book Concierge rated it 3 of 5 stars

Audio book performed by David Colacci

Commissario Guido Brunetti’s plans for a family getaway to the mountains are waylaid when a body is found, the face so badly beaten as to be unrecognizable. What is clear, however, is that the man was a transvestite, and probably a prostitute. Or was he?

I love Guido and this series of mysteries set in and around Venice. Brunetti is methodical and unflappable; he understands the Italian bureaucracy, and how to get around it. Not a man who suffers fools gladly,...more

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Jan 09, 2011 Scot rated it 3 of 5 stars

The best thing about this police procedural series by Leon is that it is set in modern Venice, and she knows Venice as only an insider can, so along the way as we read we pick up insights into what makes the place so special and what makes Venetians so distinctive (from, say, Milanese, Romans, or Sicilians). It is a procedural detective investigation series, and the protagonist, Commissario Guido Bernutti, is a likeable enough fellow. (This is the first novel by Leon I’ve read, though the series...more

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Aug 29, 2008 Heather added it

I refuse to rate this book because I've seen better writing on bathroom walls in a skating rink.

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Nov 25, 2011 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars

Ugh, murder of transvestite in abbatoir, this is going to be hard going. Good thing she made this the third in series and I am willing to hold my nose and at least try. Bruno is going to have to be especially charming though...Wow, I couldn't put it down. Guido and her characters, even the small ones, have genuine depth. Thie ending of this one is satisfying but perhaps a trifle improbable? Not sure, will ponder. She introduced a fascinating new character, another in the stable of ones we are ea...more

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Feb 06, 2013 Patty rated it 4 of 5 stars

Ironically, though I'm not reading the books in the series in the right order, they keep getting better and better. Probably, I'm just getting to know the characters - and Venice - better and better.

The background topic this time was transvestite prostitutes and the issues that came up for me were respect for diversity (as is often the case in the series) and man's ability to lie so convincingly that he himself begins to believe it.

This is the book in which we meet Elettra.

Most memorable quote:...more

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Jan 15, 2013 Shari rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Commisario Guido Brunetti, of Venice, a detective of a calmer nature, he has no failed marriage or difficulty of relationships that intervene or cast shadows over the crimes he is investigating. He's a loving father and husband. He has a just and caring, yet firm, manner with his colleagues, the victims, their familes and the suspects. He can make mistakes and face up to them, yet in Leon's writing the stories are layered and compelling. Even a nice guy csn be interesting and worth following.

Ven...more

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Aug 23, 2011 Elli rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: crime-criminal-activity, cultural-setting, detective, family-relationships, venice

The third in the series, and I totally enjoyed it! Venice, except the Commissario needs to go to a nearby town to help out with understaffing during the summer vacation period and misses out on his own. But the elements are the same. A happy family life, conditions and concerns of Venice in the forefront, and using and cooperating in circumstances far from honest or ideal to solve the crime and make things a bit safer for those who live there. This series is beginning to become a habit! A pleasa...more

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Jan 14, 2011 Catherine Mustread rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: italy, mystery

Action starts immediately in this mystery in which a man dressed as a transvestite is found murdered in a field near a slaughter house in an industrial area near Venice. Besides scandals this mystery also involves political favors, a corrupt charity and banking.

The fastest moving of the first three in the series, but not as much personal information about Guido. Interesting sub-plot about Guido's superior, Vice-Questore Giuseppe Patta, whose wife has just left him for a man high-up in the porno...more

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Jan 01, 2010 Gerald Sinstadt rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Venice is never a mere background for Donna Leon's engaging mysteries: the city is as much a character in the unfolding plot as the police and the villains. And Venice, it seems, is never short of villains. There is corruption at the heart of the case that confronts the amiable Commissario Brunetti but the story begins with a body. Not a body that is what it at first appears, but one that leads into the louche world of transvestite prostitution.

Leon's books are the more believable for the fact...more

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Dec 11, 2008 Reinhold rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: crime

Der dritte Teil der Reihe ist besser als die Vorgänger

Im hier zu besprechenden Werk handelt es sich um den dritten Teil, der inzwischen zwölfteiligen Reihe um den in Venedig ansässigen Commissario Brunetti. Die ersten beiden Teile (Venezianisches Finale und Endstation Venedig) waren nicht dazu angetan, mir zu erklären warum Leon so gefeiert ist. Der dritte Band nun ist zumindest ein erster Schritt in diese Richtung. Vielleicht nicht gerade überragend aber durchaus als gelungen zu bezeichnen.

Wie...more Der dritte Teil der Reihe ist besser als die Vorgänger

Im hier zu besprechenden Werk handelt es sich um den dritten Teil, der inzwischen zwölfteiligen Reihe um den in Venedig ansässigen Commissario Brunetti. Die ersten beiden Teile (Venezianisches Finale und Endstation Venedig) waren nicht dazu angetan, mir zu erklären warum Leon so gefeiert ist. Der dritte Band nun ist zumindest ein erster Schritt in diese Richtung. Vielleicht nicht gerade überragend aber durchaus als gelungen zu bezeichnen.

Wie schon in den ersten beiden Teilen hat Leon eine großartige Story geschaffen. Der Kriminalfall ist hoch interessant und in ein wirklich gutes Umfeld eingebettet. In diesem Band wird eine Leiche auf einem Feld hinter einem Schlachthof in Mestre (einer Stadt in der Nähe Venedigs) gefunden. Das Gesicht des Mannes ist vollkommen zerstört, er trägt jedoch Frauenkleider. Da in Mestre gerade kein Kommissar anwesend ist, wird Hilfe aus Venedig angefordert und Brunetti daher zur Unterstützung entsandt. Die Ermittlungen in der Homosexuellenszene führen irgendwie nicht weiter, als völlig überraschend nach einer Woche die wahre Identität des Ermordeten bekannt wird. Es handelt sich um einen Bankdirektor aus Venedig. Die Ermittlungen führen Brunetti in ein wildes Intrigenspiel rund um Macht und sehr viel Geld.

Was unterscheidet nun "Venezianische Scharade" von den beiden Vorgängern, wenn diese doch auch eine gute Story hatten werden Sie sich vielleicht fragen. Nun hier endlich bekommen die Personen einiges an Tiefe, sie sind längst nicht mehr so oberflächlich und inhaltslos wie noch in den ersten beiden Bänden. Dies ist ein großer und sehr wichtiger Fortschritt. Ähnlich ist es mit den Beschreibungen der Szenerie, das ganze Geschehen und die Rahmenhandlungen bekommen endlich mehr Farbe und mehr Bilder. Es ist ein enormer Schritt von der Oberflächlichkeit hin zu einem Roman.

Ebenfalls eine deutliche Verbesserung hat die Sprache erfahren. Leon benutzt nun längere aussagekräftigere Sätze und kehrt der bisherigen kurzen und unpräzisen Ausdrucksweise den Rücken. Bereits im ersten Band ist über einige Seiten lang ein sprachlicher Genius aufgetaucht, der dann aber wieder verloren ging. Hier nun endlich ist beinahe das ganze Werk in einer schönen Sprache verfasst.

Dieses Buch kann ich nun also tatsächlich empfehlen. Es bekommt zwar nur vier Sterne, da bestimmt noch einiges Potential nach oben vorhanden ist, aber es ist schon in einer Qualität wo man eine Empfehlung aussprechen kann. Meine Empfehlung lautet jedoch auch: Lassen Sie die Finger von den ersten beiden Bänden, sie versäumen keine wichtige Rahmenhandlung. (less)

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Apr 03, 2008 LJ rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: female_author, mystery, police_procedural, italy, contemporary_post_1945

DRESSED FOR DEATH (Police Proced- Comm. Guido Brunetti-Italy-Cont) – VG
Leon, Donna – 3rd in series
Penguin/Grove Press Book, 1994, US Paperback – ISBN: 0143035843

First Sentence: The shoe was red, the red of London phone booths, New York fire engines, although these were not images that came to the man who first saw the shoe.

Commissario Guido Brunetti is looking forward to a holiday in the mountains with his family. The discovery of a man’s body, face beaten beyond recognition, wearing a red dress...more

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Aug 29, 2011 Anita rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mysteries

This was a thoroughly entertaining, quickly-read mystery. The Venetian setting in mid August was intriguing but, perhaps best of all, so were the five meals which received loving attention from author and consequently, the reader. In fact, this author has published a culinary book based on the the meals she discusses in her series. Her main character, Commissario Guido Brunetti, is likable to the point that you can imagine him as a friend whose stories you always want to make time to hear.

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Dec 14, 2012 Petty Witter rated it 3 of 5 stars

Books 3 in the Brunetti series, though both books work well as stand-alone reads I do recommend they be read in order as a series.

Published here in the UK as The Anonymous Venetian (or was it merely reissued at a later date as this?), as always it is the descriptions of Venice, the food and the Commissario's relationships that make Dressed For Death as good a read as any of the crime element.

Possibly my favourite book in the series so far. Gripped right from the start, I enjoyed all the numerous...more

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About Donna Leon

Donna Leon (born September 29, 1942, in Montclair, New Jersey) is an American author of a series of crime novels set in Venice and featuring the fictional hero Commissario Guido Brunetti.

Donna Leon has lived in Venice for over twenty-five years. She has worked as a lecturer in English Literature for the University of Maryland University College - Europe (UMUC-Europe) in Italy, then as a Professor...more

More about Donna Leon...

Books by Donna Leon

Death at La Fenice (Commissario Brunetti, #1)

Death in a Strange Country (Commissario Brunetti, #2)

A Noble Radiance (Commissario Brunetti, #7)

Through a Glass, Darkly (Commissario Brunetti, #15)

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Quotes from The Anonymous Venetian

“How beautiful, the grace of women; how soft their charity.” — 4 people liked it

“Once, walking with him, Paola had stopped and asked him what he was thinking about, and the fact that she was the only person in the world he would not be embarrassed to tell just what it was he had been thinking about at that moment convinced him, though a thousand things had already done so, that this was the woman he wanted to marry, had to marry, would marry.” — 1 person liked it

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title link	preview: Dressed for Death
avg rating	preview: Dressed for Death Goodreads rating: 3.86 (2301 ratings)
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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/68094.Dressed_for_Death?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1309209862l/68094.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/68094.Dressed_for_Death?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Dressed for Death by Donna Leon[/url]

Dressed for Death (Commissario Brunetti #3)

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