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Drawing Conclusions

(Commissario Brunetti #20)

Donna Leon

3.88 · Rating details · 7,034 ratings · 635 reviews

Though there are some signs of a struggle, the medical examiner rules that a widow died of a heart attack. Brunetti can't shake the feeling that something or someone may have triggered her heart attack. With the help of Inspector Vianello and the ever-resourceful Signorina Elettra, perhaps Brunetti can get to the truth and find some measure of justice. ...more

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Hardcover, 260 pages

Published April 4th 2011 by Atlantic Monthly Press

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Feb 24, 2011 Kae Cheatham rated it liked it

Shelves: mystery

I was given the chance to read the ARC of this mystery, due out in April 2011. It is the 20th Commissario Guido Brunetti novel, the first published in 1992. As an overall tag for what the book is about, I would say it's a story of possible crimes.

Guido Brunetti is an interesting, thoughtful person; highly observant, very little escapes his notice, from the color of grass, to faint bruises along the neck of a dead woman, Signora Altavilla. Along with the bruises, he considers the placement of fur I was given the chance to read the ARC of this mystery, due out in April 2011. It is the 20th Commissario Guido Brunetti novel, the first published in 1992. As an overall tag for what the book is about, I would say it's a story of possible crimes.

Guido Brunetti is an interesting, thoughtful person; highly observant, very little escapes his notice, from the color of grass, to faint bruises along the neck of a dead woman, Signora Altavilla. Along with the bruises, he considers the placement of furniture in the woman's apartment as peculiar. These are two of the elements that set him on an examination of Altavilla's life and habits. Coroner Rizzardi states the woman's death was from a heart attack and she was known for heart problems. Brunetti wonders if the heart failure could have been precipitated by an act of violence against her.

He pursues the possibility, aided by his assistant, Inspector Vianello, and by Signorina Elletra, the secretary of his immediate supervisor, who is adept at finding all kinds of info. These characters are ongoing in the series, but I had no trouble picturing them and understanding the relationships Brunetti had with them. The same is true with his wife, Paola, and their two teenage children. I enjoyed the family scenes and the loving sparring between them.

I did find Giuseppe Patta, Brunetti's immediate supervisor, is a bit of a cliché--more interested in appearances than crime solving. But Signorina Elettra's personality is so smartly drawn, I think I could recognize her on a street.

Brunetti's wonderment if a crime had been committed against Signora Altavilla is the focus of the book; his quest for information turns up other elements that are also possible crimes—events dealing with the an estate and a will; a game of swindle among charity cases. Brunetti pondered them all as he tried to decide what really happened to Altavilla.

As he does this, he is still ever observant to his surroundings; descriptions of the Venetian cityscape are nicely presented, and (I haven't been to Venice) I assume they are accurate since Donna Leon has lived in Italy for more than 25 years.

I am, however, dissatisfied with ending; I kept checking to see if there was more and still wonder if the e-galley I rec'd was missing a chapter. Although Brunetti seemed satisfied with what he learned, other possibilities remained as to what happened to Signora Altavilla. Her "guest," who left suddenly, hadn't been ruled out (it was a didn't-seem-to-fit phone call cast suspicion here); I even have unanswered questions about her son. And then there are the missing pictures...

I also wonder why so much information is given in Chapter 1 about Signorina Guisti, who found Altavilla's body. Do we really need to know about her breakup with a guy and what his family was like? I kept waiting for something about that to resurface later in the story; but actually, the signorina is mentioned only a few times after chapter 6.

The intricacies of the government agencies and public services was at times funny and interesting. In all, I enjoyed the book, Well crafted with interesting characters.
...more

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Mar 31, 2020 fleurette rated it liked it

Shelves: crime

I delayed writing this review for a long time because I don't really have much to say about this book. I'm in the middle of a massive reading slump and I was hoping that this book would help me beat it. But unfortunately it didn't happen. I have read and enjoyed books in this series in the past, but this one somehow did not work.

I don't know what's going on, but this mystery just didn't get me. Or maybe not even this ... I don't know, I really don't know ... I can't say if this book is not as go ...more

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Aug 19, 2016 Jeanette rated it really liked it

Loved this one. Possibly one of my two favorites out of all the Brunetti I've read.

It's not a terrible "crime" as a crime may be defined. In fact, the departed has died from a heart attack. But this novel includes some of Guido's depth and purpose as few of the more evil or destructive cases.

There are a handful of tremendous quotes in this one too. Especially upon a "truth" that I have observed myself for decades. And that concerns how the most aiding and helping of "humanity" in their work and ...more

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Apr 18, 2012 Ayse rated it it was ok

Shelves: mystery

I generally find Donna Leon's books very compelling and thoughtful, as Brunetti's sense of justice and his battles between that sense and the actual laws are always interesting. This latest installment was very unsatisfying, as the mystery to me remained unsolved, or if it was solved it did not fulfill any sense of justice that normally applies to Brunetti's creative solutions. Usually he honors the victims and the important thing is knowing the story of what happened and that there was some clo ...more

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Jun 02, 2013 Nancy rated it liked it

One of the pleasures of reading books in a series is that we have a chance to become really familiar with a set of characters. This particular mystery was not necessarily my favorite of Donna Leon's but it drew on Commissario Brunetti's romantic nature and also refined for the reader his very personal moral code. And, that I liked.

Food and family are usually very important in Leon's series and I was a bit disappointed that Brunetti missed so many meals in this book. It is always a great pleasure ...more

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Aug 19, 2012 Jack rated it liked it

An adequate but not great detective story. This is a recent story about Leon's recurring character, Guido Brunetti, a detective in Venice, Italy. I liked Brunetti, refreshingly he is a detective without a flawed personal life.

The story is unusual for the detective genre. A woman is dead, but it isn't clear if it is murder or a natural death. One of the problems with the story for me is that the question is never resolved, at the end we don't really know how the woman died.

Along the way there are ...more

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Aug 24, 2012 Mark Stevens added it

Terrific setting and sharp-eyed Guido Brunetti (as always). Deep undercurrents of Venice (as with most in this series).

But “Drawing Conclusions,” for me, dragged along. The story failed to work up a head of steam. Guido Brunetti didn’t seem all that concerned. Sure, he’s dogged. Sure, he keeps going over the scant details he uncovers. Yes, he has some powerful conversations and finally gets to the bottom of matters. But the investigation into the strange death of widow Costanza Altavilla is too ...more

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Oct 25, 2020 Lori rated it liked it · review of another edition

When an old woman dies of a heart attack in her home, something feels off to Commissario Guido Brunetti when he visits the scene. The coroner finds evidence the woman had been grasped from the front and that she was possibly shaken. The autopsy is conclusive she died of heart attack and that she hit her head on a nearby radiator when she fell. Still Brunetti feels compelled to unofficially investigate. He finds the woman, a retired teacher, volunteered at a Catholic home for seniors. In his sear ...more

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Sep 19, 2020 Ruby rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Another satisfying Commissario Guido Brunetti story. This time, he and his team are faced with the death of an older woman, who apparently died of a heart attack. The problem is the marks found on her neck and shoulders and the cut on her head. Did she fall and cut her head as the heart attack killed her? Did someone treat her in a way to bring on her heart attack? She was working with two vulnerable populations; was her death somehow related to either one? Although there is, again, no real deve ...more

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Jul 27, 2011 Andrew Smith rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This is the 20th book in the crime series featuring Venice based police Commissario Guido Brunetti. If you are a devotee of this series – like me – then you’ll know that the pace and style of these books is nothing like American or British crime novels: it meanders along with the narrative focusing as much on the city and the ways and customs of its inhabitants as it does on the crime itself or its protagonists. In fact, the books (to me) are more a commentary on the way of life and, perhaps, a ...more

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Mar 06, 2016 ☯Emily Ginder rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-in-2016, detective, mystery, nyu-course-read

A very fast and absorbing read. Venetian Commissario Brunetti explores the death of an elderly woman. She appears to have died of an heart attack, but there are some unexplained bruising around her shoulders. Was she attacked and had an heart attack as a result?

I was uncomfortable with some of the illegal and corrupt actions taken by Brunetti and members of his police department. Unfortunately, that is the way life operates in Italy today and so it is a realistic, but sobering, view of that soc ...more

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Apr 22, 2011 Beth rated it it was amazing

Guido Brunetti is having dinner with Vice-Questore Patta and Lieutenant Scarpa, forced into this social occasion ostensibly to discuss promotions. Guido is praying for the end of the world or, at least, some violent distraction by armed intruders so that he could grab a gun and rid himself of the two men. Brunetti is not a a violent man but dealing with these men at the Questura is one thing, dealing with them on his own time is something else again.

When his cell phone rings, Brunetti thinks it

Guido Brunetti is having dinner with Vice-Questore Patta and Lieutenant Scarpa, forced into this social occasion ostensibly to discuss promotions. Guido is praying for the end of the world or, at least, some violent distraction by armed intruders so that he could grab a gun and rid himself of the two men. Brunetti is not a a violent man but dealing with these men at the Questura is one thing, dealing with them on his own time is something else again.

When his cell phone rings, Brunetti thinks it might be his wife, calling him in order to offer him a pretext for leaving. Instead, it is a real call is from the Questura. A woman has been found dead in her apartment, within walking distance of the restaurant. Neither Patta nor Scarpa would ever answer such a call, so Guido is free to leave and do his job as required. He arrives to learn that Anna Maria Giusti, returning from a few days in Sicily, had gone to her neighbor’s apartment to collect her mail. Signora Altavilla, a retired teacher in her sixties, is dead. There is some blood near her head but there are no signs of overt violence.

Brunetti has been doing his job for a long time but he has not become jaded. “A short time later, the men emerged with a stretcher, the form on it covered by a dark blue blanket. Brunetti was glad to see that the blanket was clean and freshly ironed, though he knew it made no difference.” Doctor Rizzardi, the pathologist, refuses to give Brunetti any opinion on the cause and manner of death but Guido “has a feeling” that something other than natural causes is at play. Inspecting her apartment, the police discover packages of unopened women’s underwear in a variety of sizes and individually wrapped toiletries The quiet schoolteacher opened her home as a safe haven for battered women. Men who attack the women they know would not be likely to have qualms about attacking a woman they didn’t know.

As the police continue learning about the dead woman, they discover another aspect of her life, another example of her altruism. She was a frequent visitor to a home for the aged, a willing listener to the stories told by people in their latest years. The director describes Signora Altavilla as a “confessor”, hearing things that people would never tell members of their families. “Madre Rosa referred to her terrible honesty….”. The confessor believed that absolution required restitution of goods and of reputations. Perhaps someone was afraid of the knowledge she had for even old stories can be dangerous.

In this book, there is one crime but two strands that lead to it. Leon again wraps the story around societal problems. Signora Altavilla was poking at the people who live in the shadows, those who abuse women and those who take advantage of the elderly. Brunetti is the heart of the story as he is in all the books in the series. He has not lost his humanity and he does not close his eyes to the difficulties imposed by following the letter of the law. His partnership with Signorina Elettra, the force behind the Venice police, has always led to criminal behavior. She steals information and he aids and abets her by using what she finds. Together, they work for the people of their city in ways best not investigated. Their’s is a business relationship, evolving over the years as they deal with the bureaucrats responsible for serving the best justice money can buy.

Leon seasons the story with moments that reflect Brunetti’s compassion, principles, and love of the ordinary things in life. As the family gathers for dinner, “It simply filled Brunetti’s heart to have them there and to be able to see and hear them, knowing they were safe and warm and well-fed.” He wants nothing less for the people who come into his professional life, whether old or young, wealthy or not. He is from the working class and married into the ruling class. He knows that despite their differences, he and his father-in-law are kindred spirits when it comes to family. The battered women have no family to whom they can turn. The elderly have their welfare in the hands of strangers. Guido wants to protect them as he protects his own children.

When one of the strands leads back to events fifty years before, Brunetti has to look at a basic truth from which choices are made. “…even the worst of men wanted to be perceived as better than they were.” History is always being re-written by those who abandoned conscience for cash and convenience. As Brunetti discusses bad choices made in order to bring about a positive result, he thinks of Henry of Navarre. In 1589, when the French Protestant was the last man standing in the line for the throne of France, he had to return to the Catholic Church in order to be crowned king. Henry, eager to be Henry IV, said “Paris is worth a Mass.” For Guido life in twenty-first century Italy is about the end justifying the means.

Donna Leon fills every page with details that can be spoilers. As with all the Brunetti books, DRAWING CONCLUSIONS moves very quickly. Leon is another author whose books beg to be read at one sitting. She does not provide pat endings but she provides endings that are true to her character. Brunetti is a rock. He may be worn by storms but they never change the essence of the decent man that he is. ...more

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May 04, 2011 LJ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: mystery, female_author, police_procedural, contemporary_post_1945, italy

First Sentence: Because she had worked for decades as a translator of fiction and non-fiction from English and German to Italian, Anna Maria Giusti was familiar with a wide range of subjects.

When a woman finds the body of her neighbor, Comm. Guido Brunetti is called to the scene. The medical examiner pronounces the cause of death to be a heart attack, but Brunetti has questions created by the blood from a wound on the victim’s head and a bruise near her throat. A search for the truth leads Guido First Sentence: Because she had worked for decades as a translator of fiction and non-fiction from English and German to Italian, Anna Maria Giusti was familiar with a wide range of subjects.

When a woman finds the body of her neighbor, Comm. Guido Brunetti is called to the scene. The medical examiner pronounces the cause of death to be a heart attack, but Brunetti has questions created by the blood from a wound on the victim’s head and a bruise near her throat. A search for the truth leads Guido to a home for the elderly, but it takes the assistance of Insp. Vianello and the talented Signorina Electtra to learn the truth surrounding the victim’s life and death.

There are many reasons to love Ms. Leon’s books. From the very first page, you are drawn into the story with no desire to leave it until the final line.

Leon creates such a definitive sense of place you feel you are by Brunetti’s side. The love both the author, and thus the character, have for Venice is apparent yet not idealized. They are aware of the flaws and decay which surrounds them, while realizing the irony of the city’s physical decay adding to its perceived charm. Her description of meals always leaves me hungry.

Brunetti’s relationship with Paola creates a solid core to both Brunitti’s character and the story. The dialogues between them bespeak a long marriage between two people who love, respect and understand one another as often exemplified by the humor in their conversations. One characteristic which makes Brunetti such a good policeman is that he accepts the possibility of “less tangible phenomenon.” In this case, it is feeling the “traces of a troubled death” in the victim’s apartment that causes him to investigate further in spite of the examiner declaring the cause to be a natural death. Including such details as Brunetti’s view of faith adds to our understanding of the character.

The somewhat enigmatic Signorina Elettra Zorzi is brilliant and clever and someone from whom no information is safe. You also feel she would be a dangerous person to annoy as her revenge would be subtle yet effective. Leon does not slight the supporting characters either. Even the most minor player is fully developed and memorable.

Even the strongest opening, the most evocative sense of place, and the most natural dialogue can’t support a book without a compelling plot. No worries here. There are interesting observations on the differences between Italians from the North and South as well as a fascinating insight of battered women and the private system of safe houses to protect them. There are intriguing ethical and legal questions to make you think. And there are truths; some simple, but truths nonetheless, about that which is really important and the lengths to which one will go to protect it.

If you’re looking for car chases and fist fights; look elsewhere. “Drawing Conclusions” is a wonderfully written book that will stay with you after closing the cover.

DRAWING CONCLUSIONS (Pol Proc-Comm. Guido Brunetti-Italy-Cont) – Ex
Leon, Donna – 20th in series
Atlantic Monthly Press, ©2011, ARC – Hardcover ISBN: 9780802119797
...more

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Apr 04, 2019 Ed rated it liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Leon and mystery fans.

Shelves: reviewed, in-inventory-billings, mooched, crime-fiction-mystery-thriller

Six-Word Review: Brunetti doubts death cause, pursues hunch.

This is the most slow moving book of the entire series in my opinion. As with all Leon's books, it is a character driven story as opposed to a thriller or mystery. It builds on the discovery of an older woman's body. Costanza Altavilla is obviously dead from a heart attack. But, based on some marks on her body, Brunetti wonders if it was just a heart attack or if it's possible the attack was the result of someone threatening her.

As he ...more

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May 18, 2013 Monica rated it really liked it

What I can say about “Drawing Conclusions” that I haven’t said about all of Donna Leon’s other books? Her books are always well thought out and have more to do with the complexity of human emotion than they do with the violence of death. I never tire of the way Brunetti works through an investigation…the way he thinks, the way he looks inside himself to arrive at answers. I’m nearing the last book that Leon has of yet written in this series...and am hoping she writes a little faster!

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Apr 01, 2012 Lysergius rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: crime

Guido Brunetti's latest case involves the death of a retired school teacher who is found dead in her apartment by her neighbour on her return from holiday. Although her death is apparently from natural causes, Brunetti is not convinced... His investigation uncovers a web of intrigue and deceit stretching back beyond the statute of limitations. Fascinating. ...more

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Jul 27, 2014 Cris rated it it was ok

Mediocre mystery book with a lot of lose ends and unsatisfactory resolution. I liked the detective but it is not an original character. Disappointing.

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Mar 02, 2021 Nancy rated it really liked it

A pretty-good Brunetti, in which the crime (is it a crime? the reader isn't sure) is examined by a curious but not convinced Commissario. Later in the plot, Brunetti himself weighs the occasionally beneficial outcomes of crime against what would certainly be legally considered criminal behavior.

If you like a thoughtful, amusing examination of Things Done Wrong and how they turned out in the end, this is a wry and delighful read, vintage Commissario Brunetti. If you like a straightforward plot a ...more

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Mar 15, 2021 Greta rated it liked it

Donna Leon tells an unusual mystery story about a death in Venice that is ruled natural, but seems suspicious to Commissario Guido Brunetti. As more and more people become known, stories do reveal suspicious deal making among former residents of Venice. Nothing is clear cut, but knowledge of the inner workings of business dealings in Venice helps produce answers.

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Dec 07, 2021 Pat rated it liked it

Shelves: fiction-mystery

I’m not very familiar with this series, having only read one other, so probably didn’t enjoy this as much as I would have had I been more familiar with the recurring characters. And the setting is so foreign to provincial me that it makes me greatly regret never having gotten to visit such a fascinating city and country as Venice, Italy. But this author had some very poignant observations to make making this better than your usual cozy mystery.

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Nov 27, 2019 Sara rated it liked it

Another great Brunetti case----an elderly woman is found dead in her apartment of an apparent heart attack except for some odd bruising. As he questions those who knew her, he is surprised by the vague comments about her being a good woman and by the son's relief that she'd had a heart attack, all of which make him suspect she might have been hiding something. ...more

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Oct 12, 2021 S.G.Radonsky rated it it was ok

2011; #20 Commissario Guido Brunetti is called away from family dinner by inspettore Lorenzo Vianello to investigate death/murder of an elderly widow. Stolen orgignal art is main theme. I didn't enjoy reading this story. ...more

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Dec 26, 2020 Heidi rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 5-star

He walked up the steps, past the shoes and the papers: to a Venetian, this amoeba-like tendency to expand one's territory beyond the confines of the walls of an apartment seems so entirely natural as barely to merit notice.

Another amazing novel by this author.

Brunetti was not a man of faith, at least not in a way that posited a supreme being that concerned itself with the doings of men: as a policeman, Brunetti knew enough about the doings of men to make him hope the deity would be warned away He walked up the steps, past the shoes and the papers: to a Venetian, this amoeba-like tendency to expand one's territory beyond the confines of the walls of an apartment seems so entirely natural as barely to merit notice.

Another amazing novel by this author.

Brunetti was not a man of faith, at least not in a way that posited a supreme being that concerned itself with the doings of men: as a policeman, Brunetti knew enough about the doings of men to make him hope the deity would be warned away from them in search of some more deserving species. But at odd times during his life he found himself racked with a sense of limitless gratitude: it could come upon him at any time, and it always leaped upon him with maximum surprise.

Guido Brunetti is always a man of philosophical thought, compassionate demeanor, integrity and wit - not to mention his deep love of his family and his enjoyment of rhetoric. This book, as much or even more than the others in the series, highlights those marvelous character traits and his highly entertaining relationships with his winsome family, with his impossibly malleable superior, Patta, and with the dazzling Signorina Elettra.

His superior's secretary, Signorina Elettra Zorzi, was behind her computer,; she was bedecked, like unto the lilies of the field, in a blouse that had to be silk, for the pattern in gold and white would have been wasted on any lesser fabric.

It had been so flawless that Brunetti had not seen the change take place. He recalled the passage - he thought it was in the Twenty-fifth Canto - where Dante sees the thieves transformed into lizards, lizards into thieves, the moment of transformation invisible until complete. One instant one thing, the next, another. So too had Patta passed from the sustainer of peace at any compromise to the relentless seeker after justice, ready to mobilize the forces of order in the pursuit of truth.

I think I laughed and smiled more through this book than any other of Leon's novels, simply because his enjoyment of his family (and his wife's cooking) was so on display.

Chiara seemed satisfied when her mother assured her that the chicken was a free range, bio chicken, that it had lived a healthy, happy life, and Brunetti, a man sworn to keep the peace, did so by not enquiring just how one was meant to tell if a chicken had been happy or not. Chiara, of course, did not eat any of said chicken, but her vegetarian principles were sufficiently assuaged by her mother's assurances as to the lifestyle of the chicken to cause her not to provoke the other members of the family with her comments upon the profoundly disgusting act they were engaged in by eating said chicken. Her brother Raffi, unconcerned as to the chicken's happiness, cared only for its flavor.

The plot was a little convoluted for my taste (or perhaps I was distracted, seeing as it's the holidays), but it is the characters, wit and language that win my heart in this series. Brunetti's laudable character is so transparent when he finally draws the right conclusions about what actually happened to lead to the death of the widow in the apartment. I wish I knew a man like him in real life.

However much this dinner with Patta and Scarp might have driven Brunetti to long for a second grappa - or the second coming - the realization that acceptance would prolong the meal led him to resist the waiter's offer, just as good sense led him to resist the bait offered him by Scarpa.

This installment contains everything I love about the series - the wit, the preciousness of family, the corruption of the Venetian government, and the incomparable person of Guido Brunetti himself. I hated to have it end! ...more

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Apr 02, 2019 Dominic rated it liked it

Great setting - chose this book because Venice is awesome. But... plot was a little erratic and random. Not a great mystery.

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Sep 30, 2011 Toni Osborne rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Book 20, in the Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery

As usual Ms. Leon’s social concerns always play a prominent component of her mysteries; in her latest tale she looks into how a civilized society treats abused women and the elderly. The catchy setting is the romantic waterways of Venice with the loveable and caring Commissario Brunetti at the helm.

The story opens with the death of sexagenarian, Widow Costanza Altavilla, from what appears to be a fatal heart attack in her apartment in Santa Croce Book 20, in the Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery

As usual Ms. Leon’s social concerns always play a prominent component of her mysteries; in her latest tale she looks into how a civilized society treats abused women and the elderly. The catchy setting is the romantic waterways of Venice with the loveable and caring Commissario Brunetti at the helm.

The story opens with the death of sexagenarian, Widow Costanza Altavilla, from what appears to be a fatal heart attack in her apartment in Santa Croce. The medical examiner concludes, no foul play, death by natural causes. Brunetti’s experience and instincts lead him in a completely different direction, why would an elderly woman living alone have clothing of different sizes and style not fitting her stature? Digging deeper he uncovers the fact she was running a clandestine safe house for women seeking shelter from domestic abuse, perhaps her death is the result of an encounter with a violent partner of one of these women. Eventually the enquiry brings him to a senior citizens home and to a gallery of a questionable art dealer……and with the help of Inspector Lorenzo Vianello and the ever-resourceful Signorina Elettra Zorzi, the truth surfaces and justice prevails.

As we expect from Ms. Leon, the novel is beautifully written, narrated with elegance and sly humour. Set against a backdrop of police indifference and corruption we see another side of Brunetti, distressed and having contradictory feeling towards the casual attitude of his fellow Venetians. The story is well-paced and moves very quickly with some unexpected twists to keep us guessing till the end, a never ending game of speculation trying to guess what really happened to Signora Altavilla. As always, the domestic interludes play a vital part of Donna Leon’s novels, this one is no exception. She has seasoned her story with moments that reflect her protagonist’s compassion, principles and the love for the simple pleasures of life.

“Drawing Conclusions” is an interesting and captivating addition to the series I enjoyed thoroughly. ...more

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Mar 13, 2011 Biblio Files (takingadayoff) rated it really liked it

After the disappointing A Question of Belief and About Face, I had resolved to quit reading Donna Leon's new books and go back to her excellent first mysteries. The way she combined social issues with fast-paced detective work in the early books was irresistible. My favorite was her first -- Death at La Fenice.

Then her books started to emphasize the social issues more than the mysteries until in the last few books the murders seemed to take a back seat. I stopped reading about halfway through A ...more

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Nov 15, 2011 David Harry rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: Anyone who loves mysteries

Shelves: mystery

I love Venice and one of the reasons I loved Donna Leon’s latest book, Drawing Conclusions, is because it is set in Venice. The famous Commissario Guido Brunetti return again to investigate the apparent heart attack of an older woman.

The other reason I loved Leon's novel is because it perfectly captures the imperfections of the human condition. These human imperfections are as apparent as the crumbling imperfections of the once great city.

Commissario Brunetti probes what, to the professionals ...more

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Apr 14, 2013 Judie rated it it was amazing

Commissario Guido Brunetti is called to investigate the death of middle-aged woman in her apartment. She had been dead for a few days. There was a cut on her scalp, blood on the floor and radiator, and a few light marks near her neck. The death appeared to be a heart attack.
The woman was the mother of Vice-Questore Guiseppe Patta’s son’s former veterinarian and Patta wanted to know what happened. Fast.
His first priority is learning about the woman. With the help of his assistant Vianello and ...more

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Jul 14, 2012 Caroline rated it liked it

Shelves: mystery

When an elderly woman is found dead in her apartment, with no sign of an intruder, and the coroner reports her death as the result of a heart attack, there should not have been any inquiry into her death. However, since Commissario Brunetti was called out to the scene of the crime, he experienced a sense of disquiet over her death. More so when he speaks with the coroner and is informed that there were some faint bruises on the woman's shoulder, which could have been caused by a person's grippin ...more

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Jul 26, 2012 Judy rated it liked it

This is the 20th book in this series and only the second one that I have read. I read #18 and this one. I have a feeling that to do justice to the series that I should start at the beginning and read them in order so that the characters and the relationships can unfold and mature. But until then--Venetian Commissario Guido Brunetti is called to the apartment of a woman in her 60s who is found dead by her neighbor. Although the autopsy reveals that she died of a heart attack, Brunetti thinks that ...more

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About Donna Leon

Donna Leon

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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

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Commissario Brunetti (1 - 10 of 31 books)

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Death at La Fenice (Commissario Brunetti, #1)

Dressed for Death (Commissario Brunetti, #3)

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

Friends in High Places (Commissario Brunetti, #9)

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Quotes from Drawing Conclusions

“You know how it is. After a time, something that’s happened, even if it isn’t very nice, if you just don’t talk about it, it sort of goes away. Not that you forget about it, not really, but it isn’t there any more.’ Brunetti recognized the familiarity of this, and Vianello said, ‘It’s the only way life can go on, really, if you think about it.” — 0 likes

“even the worst men wanted to be perceived as better than they were. How else could hypocrisy have risen to such delirious levels?” — 0 likes

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Drawing Conclusions

(Commissario Brunetti #20)

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