From the Bookshelf of Reading the Detectives…

Death at La Fenice (Commissario Brunetti, #1)

Donna Leon

Start date: June 15, 2022

Finish date: July 8, 2022

Discussion: Buddy reads

Why we're reading this: Starting a new buddy read series.
[close] Starting a new buddy read series.

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Buddy reads

* Willful Behaviour by Donna Leon (Brunetti #11) (Oct/Nov 25)
By Susan · 21 posts · 11 views

last updated 10 hours, 20 min ago

* Willful Behaviour - SPOILER Thread - (Brunetti #11) (Oct/Nov 25)
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last updated Oct 23, 2025 12:57AM

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What Members Thought

Mar 23, 2020 John Frankham rated it it was amazing

Shelves: crime-detective

Just as good , re-read again, in Aug 2021. 5*

I am going to read all the fabulous Donna Leon Brunetti series based in Venice again. This was the first, and it didn’t disappoint.

So honest (and angry) about the endemic corruption in many areas of Italian public life, Leon also makes one feel that one is in Venice amongst the beauty of the city, the confusion, the food, and so much more. We are introduced to Brunetti’s wife and two teenage children, and this thread in the whole series is convincing, ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Jul 23, 2019 Jennifer Kloester rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2019

This was my first Donna Leon book and I enjoyed it. Loved seeing Venice through Commisario Brunetti's eyes and will definitely read more of the series. The murder was a good one and the mystery intriguing enough to keep me reading. ...more

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Jun 04, 2022 Jill rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: donna-leon

A world-famous musical conductor, is found dead in an interval of a performance, at La Fenice, a main opera house in Venice. It would seem to be that he has been poisoned via a cup of coffee served to him. Commissario Brunetti is called in to investigate. We meet Brunetti's family, who seem to be quite conventional, although it is brought to our attention that his wife's family is one of the wealthiest, whilst he manages on his salary from the police.
This was really a 3.5 star book for me. I did ...more

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Aug 14, 2017 Tony Fitzpatrick rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

A cracking police procedural based in Venice - the first of a series by Venice resident Donna Leon featuring Inspector Guido Brunetti. Basically a noted German conductor, Helmut Wellauer, has been found dead in his dressing room at the famed La Fenice opera house, poisoned by cyanide. Brunetti with a terrific understated style solves the crime by discovering much of the unsavoury background and personality of Wellauer, and the motivations of those closest to him to see him killed. I was assuming ...more

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Jan 06, 2021 Leslie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle, mysteries

I quite enjoyed this first book in the Brunetti series (even though I figured out a good portion of the solution). I look forward to reading more of Leon's mysteries. ...more

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