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Through a Glass, Darkly: A Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery | 
 enlarge | Author: Donna Leon
Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press
Category: EBooks
List Price: $10.00
Buy New: $8.00
You Save: $2.00 (20%)
Rating:  24 reviews
Sales Rank: 27604
Format: Kindle Book
Media: Kindle Edition
Pages: 272
Number Of Items: 1
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
ASIN: B001J6ORHG
Publication Date: April 1, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Product Description
Donna Leon opens doors to the hidden Venice like no one else. With her latest novel, Through a Glass, Darkly, Leon takes us inside the secretive island of Murano, home of the world-famous glass factories. On a luminous spring day in Venice, Commissario Brunetti and his assistant Vianello play hooky from the Questura in order to help Vianello's friend Marco Ribetti, arrested during an environmental protest. They secure his release, only to be faced by the fury of the man's father-in-law, Giovanni De Cal, a cantankerous glass factory owner who has been heard in the bars of Murano making violent threats about Ribetti. Brunetti's curiosity is piqued, and he finds himself drawn to Murano to investigate. Is De Cal the type of man to carry out his threats? Then one morning the body of De Cal's night watchman is found. Over long lunches, on secret boat rides, in quiet bars, and down narrow streets, Brunetti searches for the killer. Will he unravel the clues before the night watchman's death is allowed to be forgotten?
A fascinating novel set in the intersection between tourism and native Venetian society, Through a Glass, Darkly is Donna Leon at her finest.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 19 more reviews...
 Ambition, Anger, and Greed in Murano's Glassmaking Industry March 8, 2008
Donald Mitchell (Boston)
Since I started reading this series, I've been waiting with much interest for a mystery based on artistic glass making on Murano. Venice is well known for its glass, even if many pieces are now made in Asia and only sold in Venice or on Murano.
I remember like it was yesterday visiting Venice for the first time and being told that a glass maker would send a boat to take me to Murano so I could look over the glass. I liked riding around in the fast boats so this was an easy deal.
We headed out with a great flourish. Once there, we were treated like royalty and watched an artisan making objets d'art from molten glass. Inside the store, we were assured that many good values were available. I was especially impressed by the sculptures based on Picasso's style.
We bought a few items and were sent back by vaporetto. I guess we didn't spend enough to get a fast ride back. But it was fun!
Donna Leon portrays a darker view of Murano despite setting her story on leisurely spring days when everyone wants to play hooky from work. As the book opens, we find that an engineer concerned about the environment has married the daughter of a Murano glass maker who has a great desire to harm his son-in-law rather than let him near the family business. To help out the engineer, Marco Ribetti, who is a friend of Vianello, and Ribetti's wife, Commissario Guido Brunetti does a little informal investigating to see if there is a chance of real danger to Ribetti.
In the process of learning more about the angry father-in-law, Brunetti meets a very upset night watchman who has been made crazy from grief due to the slow development of his twin daughter. Everything seems fine until the night watchman turns up dead . . . having been roasted overnight next to a raging glass furnace he was supposed to tend.
Everyone is satisfied it's an accident, except Brunetti, who investigates on his own.
For those who like to find an intriguing murder in the first chapter and a steady progress towards finding out who did it, Through a Glass Darkly will be frustrating. This book is more about being a Venetian than it is a murder mystery.
If you've been reading this series for sometime, you know that Venetians are very fond of money and distrustful of their government. They even speak a dialect of their own with one another rather than deign to speak Italian.
Donna Leon wants to make the point that even if you are surrounded by corruption and incompetence, there are some forms of corruption and incompetence that are more desirable than others. She is probing the gray areas that are mostly black. I thought it was pretty well done if you have read at least five of the earlier novels in the series.
But what made the book come up above average for me was one of her best endings. I won't say more but be sure to stick with the book so you have a chance to see how she resolves this story.
If you want a straight murder mystery, I suggest you pick another book.
 Happiness February 27, 2008
Joyce Fallon (Amherst, MA)
As a recent trip to Venice inspired my thirst for anything to do with Venice and my veracious appetite for reading, a friend turned me on to Donna Leon. I am so happy to be reading about places that I visited.
 Ventian Glassmaking Mystery Barely Sparkles December 3, 2007
John F. Rooney
I was vacationing in Venice from November 8, 2007 to November 14, 2007, so I was anxious to read my third Donna Leon mystery. In each crime novel she writes about another aspect of Venetian life. This book deals with the Murano Island glassmaking factories and pollution of the lagoon. I wanted to get another taste of Venice by immersing myself in her book, looking for a pleasant reliving of my visit by her sense of place and her depiction of Venice. She does have Venice as the background, but it is kind of an offhanded, less than vibrant use of the city.
A father blames the disposal of waste chemicals in the glassmaking process for his daughter's birth defects. He goes on a one-man crusade to prove his thesis. Commissario Brunetti again defies his superiors to launch an investigation. Once again his family is involved in the story, and his daughter helps solve the case. Leon's descriptions of the glassmaking process with a mestre (master craftsman) creating beautiful works is interesting. The glassmaking furnaces and a copy of Dante's "Inferno" figure in the story.
Leon has a pokey, stately-paced way of telling a story. There's not much action or suspense in this leisurely developed story. Her characters have a certain vitality and seem to live and breathe. She knows how to develop her plot, but she, unfortunately, doesn't move it along as fast as she might. She's a very capable stylist. Just be ready for a rather unhurried narrative about an honest and persistent cop.
Nine Lives Too Many
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 Way under par May 7, 2007
Scott E. Conrad (Cincinnati, OH USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I previously read A Noble Radiance by the same author and enjoyed it. I grabbed this book while away on business when I finished the other book I was reading. The only good thing to say is that this novel helped me go sleep quickly.
The plot meanders and is not very interesting. Brunetti is basically investigating a threat to someone which gets his foot in the door when something finally happens. Basically, the first half of the book is about something which is only marginally related to the dead body. I struggled to finish the book and will not put it in the pile of books for my wife to read. Instead, it is going in the giveaway pile.
Deadly glass March 4, 2007
Beverley Strong (Australia)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Inspector Vianello asks his boss, Commissario Brunetti to help him obtain the release of one of his friends who was arrested at a demonstration protesting the chemical pollution of the canals of Venice. This leads them into the investigation of the murder of a worker at a glass blowing factory in Murano, the world famous home of the glass blowing industry. The main culprit seems likely to be the owner of one of the factories, a choleric old man who is convinced that his old ways of getting rid of the residue of his business isn't harmful to anyone and who refuses to bend to any new, environmentally friendly rules. What follows is a story of greed, lust for political power and one of Donna Leon's usual great reads about the exploits of the Venetian police officer, Commissario Brunetti and the every day life of the people of Venice.
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