From the Bookshelf of Reading the Detectives…

A Noble Radiance (Commissario Brunetti, #7)

Donna Leon

Start date: June 15, 2024

Finish date: July 5, 2024

Discussion: Buddy reads

Why we're reading this: Next in the Brunetti series.
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What Members Thought

Jun 05, 2024 Susan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I am really enjoying this series and, so far, this has been the book that I have found the most interesting. It begins with the discovery of a body believed to be that of a young man who was kidnapped. Brunetti begins to investigate the wealthy, aristocratic family, which leads him to speaking to his father-in-law. They have an uneasy relationship and it becomes more complicated when his father-in-law suggests that Brunetti's beloved wife, Paolo, is unhappy.

The characters in this series are exce ...more

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Feb 02, 2025 Julie Durnell rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

This was one of the best of the Commissario Brunetti books I’ve read so far! Great murder mystery plot, great insight into his marriage and family life, and great interactions with his coworkers.

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Apr 23, 2024 Susan in NC rated it it was amazing

Shelves: tbr-with-gr-groups, my-library, audiobook, library-book, detectives-buddy-read24

This series gets better with every book - I mostly listened to this one, and once again appreciated the skill of the series’s narrator. I started with the first book years ago, lost track and always meant to revisit Commissario Brunetti and his beloved Venice. Thanks to the Reading the Detectives group for prompting me to get back to this fascinating police procedural series - I hesitate to call it that, as I find it so much more.

Every book seems like a time capsule, revealing the zeitgeist of I This series gets better with every book - I mostly listened to this one, and once again appreciated the skill of the series’s narrator. I started with the first book years ago, lost track and always meant to revisit Commissario Brunetti and his beloved Venice. Thanks to the Reading the Detectives group for prompting me to get back to this fascinating police procedural series - I hesitate to call it that, as I find it so much more.

Every book seems like a time capsule, revealing the zeitgeist of Italy, Europe, indeed the world, of the late 1990s. I was a recent college graduate, newly married, in my first jobs, having a child in those years, so I was not slavishly following news - so I often find myself thinking, “oh right, I remember that” when I read these mysteries. Whether it’s the evolution of computer usage, or the fallout from the disintegration of the Soviet Union - the fear of the whereabouts of nuclear material and other weapons, the desperation of satellite states trying to forge their own economies, the corruption, the growing power of the EU.

I always come away thoughtful, not just of those issues, but of how things have evolved 25 years on. The author always gives a complex, often tragic plot involving interesting conflicts and issues of the day, many of which are still evident today. She also has created wonderful, three-dimensional characters who evolve and change with each book, keeping me involved and wanting to come back for more. The discussions between Brunetti and his college professor wife, Paola, cover the nature of justice, truth, love and humanity. It’s never just a whodunnit, and I appreciate that.

This time, the book opens with the new owner of a deserted farmhouse in a small village near the Italian Dolomites ploughing up the neglected garden. He makes the grisly discovery of a decomposing body; preliminary investigation by local police leads to Venice, and Commissario Brunetti. This may be the remains of the kidnapped 21-year-old son of a wealthy count; the young man was taken from outside the family’s villa two years previously, and after two ransom notes, the trail went cold. Nothing was ever found until now - a signet ring with the family crest is found in the grave.

As always, Brunetti discovers lies, stonewalling by witnesses and family, corruption, and clues that don’t add up. It’s a pleasure to follow him through the arduous task of sorting through it all, with the help of his loyal team and family. He and Vianello are even going to learn how to use a computer from the delightful, determined Signorina Elletra! Fascinating to vaguely remember a time when computers were not the center of every police investigation, indeed every office and home… ...more

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Apr 29, 2024 Jill rated it really liked it

Shelves: donna-leon

This case for Brunetti begins with some human bones found in a field, along with a gold ring bearing the crest of a very wealthy family. It seems the son of this family was kidnapped two years ago, a ransom was asked for, but never accepted. Brunetti is therefore given the task of looking into the kidnapping, which as it was two years ago finds that no one is forthcoming on any of the details associated with the incident. The girlfriend who was with the son at the time, had thought at first it w ...more

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Oct 31, 2011 Carol Evans rated it really liked it

Shelves: mystery, audio-book

I would love to visit Italy one day, and especially Venice. Leon’s books, along with others, have made me fall in love with the city.

Setting and character are Leon’s strong points for me. Brunetti keeps me coming back to this series. He’s intelligent, determined, and has a wonderful, strong, loving relationship with his wife and children, who are actually in the books, not just shadows rarely mentioned. And Signorina Elettra, the secretary of the Vice-Questore, is a treat, a woman I would love t ...more

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Jan 16, 2019 Robin rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2019

The seventh entry in Donna Leon’s Guido Brunetti series, A Noble Radiance, is standard fare, but still good reading. The body of a young man with a crest ring that possibly identifies him as a kidnapping victim from a wealthy Venetian family is found in a field in the foothills of the Dolomites. Brunetti is called in to assist with the identification and becomes intrigued with the kidnapping case.

I have been enjoying the 75’s Group Read of the Guido Brunetti series. Interestingly, most of the bo ...more

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Jun 12, 2024 Sandy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: mystery, mystery-detective-grp, audible-read

I love this series, and this may be my favorite yet (this the extra star!). A very interesting plot, with a couple of hints to the solution. There is satisfying family time, the admin gets to parade her capabilities, and, of course, a few digs at his pompous boss. I am glad there are so many more books.

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Aug 26, 2018 Nanosynergy rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, mysteries-thrillers-espionage, series, fiction-1990s, italy, 2018read

A rambling investigation that starts with the discovery of a decomposed body unearthed in a shallow grave in a countryside field and leads to a long-missing, abducted son of a wealthy aristocratic family in Venice. Commissario Brunetti investigates who done it and why.

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