41st out of 907 books
—
856 voters
Death at La Fenice (Commissario Brunetti #1)
by
Donna Leon
There is little violent crime in Venice, a serenely beautiful floating city of mystery and magic, history and decay. But the evil that does occasionally rear its head is the jurisdiction of Guido Brunetti, the suave, urbane vice-commissario of police and a genius at detection. Now all of his admirable abilities must come into play in the deadly affair of Maestro Helmut Wel...more
Paperback, 270 pages
Published
July 27th 2004
by Harper Perennial
(first published 1992)
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I liked this novel very much and would have given it five stars had I not just dropped a Cara Black novel and wondered whether I liked Death at La Fenice so much more because of the mediocrity of the previous book. But I really enjoyed the setting, the way Donna Leon does not use too many picturesque Italian words, just what is necessary. A good plot although I had guessed the dénouement well before the end. I am looking forward to reading another Commissario Brunetti enquiry.
First in the Commisario Guido Brunetti series set in Venice, Italy.[return][return]At La Fenice, Venice� s renowned opera house, the curtain is ready to go up for the final act of Verdi� s La Traviata. Everyone is ready and waiting, but the conductor, the world famous Helmut Wellauer, doesn� t appear--because he is dead, of cyanide poisoning, in his dressing room.[return][return]Enter Commisario (Chief Inspector) Guido Brunetti, a compassionate, idealistic but realistic Venetian. Aspects of the...more
A promising mystery series. I heard the author interviewed on NPR in a series about mystery writers who set their stories in one place. Donna Leon’s place is Venice and the mystery was pretty good. I figured out the who fairly easily, but the why was worth reading to the end for. A famous German conductor dies in his dressing room between acts of La Traviata at La Fenica, Venice’s opera house (before it burned down as documented in John Berendt’s The City of Falling Angels). Suspects are a famou...more
Gute Ansätze, aber insgesamt nur mittelmäßig
Dieses Buch stellt mich gerade bezüglich der Bewertung auf einer Skala von 5 Sternen vor ein wirkliches Problem. Es gibt eine wirklich nennenswerte Anzahl von Schwachstellen die auch eine recht harschen Kritik rechtfertigen würden, aber es gibt auch sehr gute Ansätze, die großes Lob verdienen würden.
Die erste große Überraschung erlebte ich, als ich sehr bald feststellen musste, dass Leon ihren Personen scheinbar keine Seele gegeben hatte. Kaum jemand d...more
Dieses Buch stellt mich gerade bezüglich der Bewertung auf einer Skala von 5 Sternen vor ein wirkliches Problem. Es gibt eine wirklich nennenswerte Anzahl von Schwachstellen die auch eine recht harschen Kritik rechtfertigen würden, aber es gibt auch sehr gute Ansätze, die großes Lob verdienen würden.
Die erste große Überraschung erlebte ich, als ich sehr bald feststellen musste, dass Leon ihren Personen scheinbar keine Seele gegeben hatte. Kaum jemand d...more
May 15, 2013
Barbara
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
mystery,
crime-fiction
Four and a half stars.
Death at La Fenice is the first book of the long-standing crime series by Donna Leon. We are introduced to Commissario Guido Brunetti in his native Venice. A famous conductor is found dead in his dressing room during intermission, apparently poisoned by a dose of cyanide in his coffee. In the early stage of the investigation, Brunetti notes “how strangely similar his work was that of a doctor. They met over the dead, both asking ‘Why?’ But after they found the answer to tha...more
Death at La Fenice is the first book of the long-standing crime series by Donna Leon. We are introduced to Commissario Guido Brunetti in his native Venice. A famous conductor is found dead in his dressing room during intermission, apparently poisoned by a dose of cyanide in his coffee. In the early stage of the investigation, Brunetti notes “how strangely similar his work was that of a doctor. They met over the dead, both asking ‘Why?’ But after they found the answer to tha...more
Any book set in Venice I am predisposed to like and the continuing success of the undemanding detective novel as a genre is testimony to its value as an antidote to many things. So, what is there not to like here?
Donna Leon knows Venice better than I do and describes it well: how the mood of the city changes with the weather and the seasons; how its history is ever present—and how it is a different place to those who visit it and those who know it well. And the unique complexity and containment...more
Donna Leon knows Venice better than I do and describes it well: how the mood of the city changes with the weather and the seasons; how its history is ever present—and how it is a different place to those who visit it and those who know it well. And the unique complexity and containment...more
I enjoyed this book a lot; sat down and read it in a day. As is often the case, I came back to the first book in a series after having read a few of the later ones. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not – but at least I know that I like the later ones. This is indeed the first book in the Commissario Guido Brunetti series, set in and featuring the city of Venice. But strangely for me, it immediately featured a character (Brett Lynch) who had already featured in one of the subsequent books I...more
Opinião no blog http://howtoliveathousandlives.blogsp...
Donna Leon agrupa nesta obra os elementos essenciais de um bom policial: um enredo misterioso e empolgante, uma personagem principal extremamente carismática e descrições detalhadas de uma cidade impressionante.
Esta estória tem como pano de fundo a belíssima cidade de Veneza, retratada pela autora de uma forma realista mas mantendo o misticismo habitualmente associado a este local. As descrições são detalhadas mas não massudas, ajudam o lei...more
Donna Leon agrupa nesta obra os elementos essenciais de um bom policial: um enredo misterioso e empolgante, uma personagem principal extremamente carismática e descrições detalhadas de uma cidade impressionante.
Esta estória tem como pano de fundo a belíssima cidade de Veneza, retratada pela autora de uma forma realista mas mantendo o misticismo habitualmente associado a este local. As descrições são detalhadas mas não massudas, ajudam o lei...more
Reading this book reminded me why I can't usually find in genre fiction what satisfies me in a novel. I think this is a pretty good example of genre fiction. It does not flaunt, for example, the deliberately awkward and ugly similes characteristic of noir fiction. I recently stopped reading a detective Chen mystery (A case of Two Cities by Qui Xiaolong) after about 30 pages because from time to time blossomed in my path a simile resembling one of those giant Indonesian flowers that look and smel...more
Funny how a whole crime series can pass you by. I heard Donna Leon discussing this book on a radio show and,having visited Venice, thought this would remind me of my holiday. I even had a photo of the Gran Teatro la Fenice to use as a bookmark. Anyone looking for an action packed travelogue is in for a disappointment. I don't think gondolas are mentioned once. Not even in a chase sequence.
Although the author lives in Italy, apparently she is unrecognised there and the books are not available in...more
Although the author lives in Italy, apparently she is unrecognised there and the books are not available in...more
Aug 17, 2011
Tony
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fiction-crime-detection
Leon, Donna. DEATH AT LA FENICE. (1992). ****.
This was the author’s first in her series of cases featuring Commissario Guido Brunetti and the city of Venice – so much for my reading the books in order. The mysteries, so far, seem to be low key psychological investigations into various crimes, concentrating on the people behind the crimes rather than on the crimes themselves. In this respect, Ms. Leon ha modeled herself after the novels of George Simenon and his police commissioner Maigret. As w...more
This was the author’s first in her series of cases featuring Commissario Guido Brunetti and the city of Venice – so much for my reading the books in order. The mysteries, so far, seem to be low key psychological investigations into various crimes, concentrating on the people behind the crimes rather than on the crimes themselves. In this respect, Ms. Leon ha modeled herself after the novels of George Simenon and his police commissioner Maigret. As w...more
I'm not much of a mystery reader, but I suspect this isn't really of the caliber of an Agatha Christie or Alexander McCall Smith. The writing is stilted as if it had been translated from another language (it hasn't). The characters are fully fleshed out in a way that's nice -- except for our sleuth Commissario Brunetti, who seems oddly unmotivated. His main psychological repertoire involves feeling awkward and wondering about why he's wondering about something. I'm not sure precisely how much of...more
I have not only another long and complex detective series to devour, but a new destination!
The city of Venice is a lead character in these books. Not the tourist city of gondoliers and campaniles, but the little nooks and bars that the residents frequent. The Undercity, as it were, that the guidebooks don't mention. Oh, sure, the Grand Canal is here, as is St Marks and all the rest, but the city is shown as a place where people live, where people love, where people commit murder and all manner o...more
The city of Venice is a lead character in these books. Not the tourist city of gondoliers and campaniles, but the little nooks and bars that the residents frequent. The Undercity, as it were, that the guidebooks don't mention. Oh, sure, the Grand Canal is here, as is St Marks and all the rest, but the city is shown as a place where people live, where people love, where people commit murder and all manner o...more
Before I get to the review part, can I ask a question of my Goodreads friends? I know some of you probably speak Italian, so can someone please tell me how to properly pronounce "Fenice"? With my years of French I automatically go with "Fe-nees", but I suspect the correct pronunciation might be "Fen-nee-che". Whenever I have to say the title out loud I'm never sure if I'm saying it right and always end up waffling between the two options. So it'd be nice if someone could tell me how to say it ri...more
I recently heard an interview of Donna Leon on NPR last Sunday night. She was surrounded by adoring fans who asked her interesting questions about contemporary Venice. Her answers were equally interesting. She has lived all over the world, and currently resides in Venice. She cherishes her anonymity there and though she is an American, she considers Venice her home. I was captivated by her great passion for opera, international cuisine, and crime throughout her interview. I was eager to see how...more
If a book is set in Italy, chances are I’ll snatch it up. I loved my three weeks in Italy and so have a weakness for such books. “Death at La Fenice” takes place in Venice, and Leon does the city justice. Seeing gay, lesbian and bisexual characters in such a mainstream mystery was awesome. Even awesomer was looking at Leon’s other books (“La Fenice” was published in the early 1990s, although it just came out in ebook) and seeing that some of the lesbian characters return in future books. Observi...more
Feb 10, 2011
Natacha Martins
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2011,
biblioteca
A história propriamente dita começa com a morte do maestro Helmut Wellauer, um dos músicos mais respeitados pelos críticos, um génio musical, que é encontrado morto no seu camarim, envenenado. Helmut morreu durante o intervalo da ópera que estava a dirigir na altura, no teatro La Fenice, um lugar emblemático em Veneza. Guido Brunetti é destacado para investigar a estranha e inesperada morte do maestro. Não havendo um suspeito óbvio, a única solução que Brunetti encontra para desvendar o mistério...more
A couple of people I know read this book, and it had good reviews in a couple of places, so I thought I'd give it a try. Unfortunately, when I finished it, I thought to myself, "Well, OK."
I did like the main character, Guido Brunetti, the Police Commisario in Venice, and the descriptions of his home life. I liked finding out some "local" info about Venice and the people that live there.
The story involved a well-known, megastar operatic conductor who - at the very beginning of the book - is foun...more
I did like the main character, Guido Brunetti, the Police Commisario in Venice, and the descriptions of his home life. I liked finding out some "local" info about Venice and the people that live there.
The story involved a well-known, megastar operatic conductor who - at the very beginning of the book - is foun...more
Aug 12, 2011
Rebecca Anderson
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
challenge-11
I have never met a character that can deflect attention away from himself as much as C. Brunetti. I say this first because it was so annoying how often he pushed the camera away from him, I can honestly review the other characters of this book, but probably not him.
This book is a border-line cozy mystery. I say border-line because I actually half enjoyed it. C. Brunetti is an officer in Venice who investigates the murder of a infamous maestro. The mystery is... well, colorful. There are loads of...more
This book is a border-line cozy mystery. I say border-line because I actually half enjoyed it. C. Brunetti is an officer in Venice who investigates the murder of a infamous maestro. The mystery is... well, colorful. There are loads of...more
I love Italy and I've tried reading a few of the Italian masters of crime fiction. I decided to read this because it is on a BBC Book Club list. I was pretty disappointed. Some people might like Donna Leon and I'm sure she has an army of fans but I found the prose stilted and dull, the plot cadaverous and the book stuffed with cliches and dull stereotypes about Italian life and culture. The prose style read as if it had been badly translated from the Italian.....it turns out the author is an Ame...more
A German maestro is found dead in his dressing room during the performance of la Traviata at the famous opera house la Fenice. It is almost immediately apparent he died of cyanide poisoning - the drug was in his coffee. Commissario Guido Brunetti must parse the great number of potential suspects to solve the crime. Was it due to the maestro's rumoured Nazi past, his singling out and destruction of homosexuals in the opera, the grudge a poverty-stricken former opera star held against him for the...more
Oct 29, 2011
Jennifer
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fiction,
library-loan
It took me a long while to get comfortable with this book. It seemed curiously flat when I had been looking forward to immersing myself in Venice (which I have never visited), and yet some aspects of the setting seemed slightly laboriously clarified. Rather differently, I found the pervasive corruption difficult to stomach (I know, I know, I'm reading a novel about a killing and I'm struggling with financial impropriety) I was starting to feel that although I had believed this would be the first...more
Death at La FeniceI finished this up yesterday and found I enjoyed the book a lot. I hope I'll be able to fit in reading more books in the series at some point. (Happily, except for this first one that I had to borrow from the library, the rest are all available for Kindle - and I'm even allowed to buy them down here in little old New Zealand.)
I was rather proud of myself that I had essentially guessed the murderer about ¾ of the way through, even though I couldn't figure out the why of it until...more
I was rather proud of myself that I had essentially guessed the murderer about ¾ of the way through, even though I couldn't figure out the why of it until...more
Commissario Brunetti is given the task of investigating the sudden death of a famous conductor at the Venice opera house. The maestro died in his dressing room during an intermission, an apparent victim of cyanide poisoning. It's a well plotted mystery, told in a deliberate, almost languid fashion, that gets bogged down on only a few occasions. There's a few red herrings, but they make the resolution more satisfying. The side story of the soprano and her "secretary" are particularly interesting...more
A rather engrossing mystery. Commissario Guido Brunetti is called in to investigate the death of a famous and genius conducter, Wellauer. He is found dead in his dressing room after the second act - a cup of coffee laced with cyanide spilled in the floor. He has been behaving oddly, distracted and according to several people, one of them having played a performance with him before, his old brilliance and fire are gone. The orchestra for the opera La Traviata is off - the music is not holding tog...more
After reading several books in the Brunetti series, I've decided to go back and read some of the earlier books. Commissario Brunetti is called in to La Fenice to solved the murder mystery of the conductor Maestro Brunetti. The murder (cyanide poisening in his coffee) occurs between the second and third acts. There is a complex cast of suspects for his murder--including several former and current employees. Also he is hinted as possibly being a Nazi, and he hates homosexuals.
Other recurring char...more
Other recurring char...more
Home from Italy and back to Venice (in my books). The Bookread ratings are all over. I enjoy the story telling and Italian inserts but evidently the Italians do not because, I learned from the bookreads ratings, the series is not published in Italian!
TRIVIA
Censorship: Brunetti reflected upon the possible advantage of censorship of the press......German people got along very well with a government that demanded it, and the American government seemed to fare similarly well with a population that w...more
TRIVIA
Censorship: Brunetti reflected upon the possible advantage of censorship of the press......German people got along very well with a government that demanded it, and the American government seemed to fare similarly well with a population that w...more
This mystery series was recommended to me, and since the setting is Venice and I love anything Italian I figured it was a sure bet. Inspector Brunetti is called to investigate the murder of a world famous conductor, who was poisoned between acts 2 and 3 of La Traviata. While Brunetti is a likeable protagonist, and the modern day setting of Venice, with its aristocratic heritage juxtaposed over the crumbling architecture and poverty of the masses is intriguing, the mystery itself seemed secondary...more
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Aug 01, 2010
Lisi
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2010-reads,
read-in-german
Der Roman „Vezianisches Finale“ von Donna Leon beginnt mit dem letzten Akt einer Oper in Venedig, wo die Zuschauer in den Saal strömen, um sich den letzten Akt anzuhören. Doch es geschieht nicht wie geplant, der Dirigent wird entschuldigt und durch einen anderen ersetzt, was einiges an Diskussionen auslöst.
Kurze Zeit später betritt Commisario Brunetti den Ort, da es ziemlich schnell feststellt, das der Dirigent tot ist und ermordet wurde.
Man nimmt als Leser an, dass es nun eigentlich mit den Erm...more
Kurze Zeit später betritt Commisario Brunetti den Ort, da es ziemlich schnell feststellt, das der Dirigent tot ist und ermordet wurde.
Man nimmt als Leser an, dass es nun eigentlich mit den Erm...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Mystery, Crim...: Nov/Dec Group Discussion: Death at La Fenice | 72 | 251 | Dec 22, 2012 01:56am | |
| Starting From The Top | 11 | 56 | Aug 12, 2012 05:36pm |
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...
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
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Jan 30, 2013 04:41am
Jan 30, 2013 05:31am