Audio Book Review: Willful Behavior, a Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery
I've been listening to a number of Commissario Guido Brunetti mysteries by Donna Leon. These books all center around a detective based in Venice, Italy. An honorable man working in a city of corrupt civil servants, police, and politicians, Brunetti gamely goes through his work days solving crimes perpetrated by greedy and unscrupulous characters. Brunetti's Venice is also populated by honest artisans, shop owners, oppressed immigrants, and hard working folks that make the city lively and vibrant. Brunetti's thankless job is tempered by his wonderful family life: An aristocrat born wife, Paula, who happens to be a philosophical literary professor and a fantastic cook; two teenage children who behave like typical teenagers but who are well grounded and smart. Brunetti's frequent visit to the local bars for a glass of prosecco during the work day, his ability to always go home at lunch to enjoy his wife Paula's cooking and advise makes his tough job more tolerable and makes the reader envious of the leisurely Italian lifestyle even when murder is afoot.
I'm not sure how many Commisario Brnnetti books have Donna Leon written, but the audio version of those books are really enjoyable. I listen to them while driving, before I go to bed, or while cooking. These audiobooks are readily available through Los Angeles Public Library's emedia audiobook collection and downlodable through the Overdrive eMedia Console App. This latest audiobook, Willful Behavior, threw me off a little bit. The previous audio books I listened to were narrated by David Colacci, a man with a great Italian accent who takes me to Italy while listening to his voice. This new audio book is however narrated by a British sounding Stephen Crossley. At first I thought no way will I like this new narrator, but after a few minutes, the accent didn't matter. The story was one of the best Brunnetti investigations.
Brunetti is approached by an intelligent and serious Claudia Leonardo who wants to find out how to obtain a posthumous pardon for her grandfather. She ends up murdered. It happens that the grandfather was once a Nazi collaborator who helped buy and sell artwork owned by Jews before they fled Fascist Italy. Claudia's attempt to rectify her grandfather's wrongs led Brunetti to wonder whether the priceless artwork in the hands of her and her family members may have led to her death, or whether her death was simply a crime of passion.
The Brunetti's story formula is predictable, but delving into Italy's war time history and its current undertones of Fascism nostalgia makes the story layered and thought provoking. The description of Paula's meals always make me want to make pasta afterwards.
I'm not sure how many Commisario Brnnetti books have Donna Leon written, but the audio version of those books are really enjoyable. I listen to them while driving, before I go to bed, or while cooking. These audiobooks are readily available through Los Angeles Public Library's emedia audiobook collection and downlodable through the Overdrive eMedia Console App. This latest audiobook, Willful Behavior, threw me off a little bit. The previous audio books I listened to were narrated by David Colacci, a man with a great Italian accent who takes me to Italy while listening to his voice. This new audio book is however narrated by a British sounding Stephen Crossley. At first I thought no way will I like this new narrator, but after a few minutes, the accent didn't matter. The story was one of the best Brunnetti investigations.
Brunetti is approached by an intelligent and serious Claudia Leonardo who wants to find out how to obtain a posthumous pardon for her grandfather. She ends up murdered. It happens that the grandfather was once a Nazi collaborator who helped buy and sell artwork owned by Jews before they fled Fascist Italy. Claudia's attempt to rectify her grandfather's wrongs led Brunetti to wonder whether the priceless artwork in the hands of her and her family members may have led to her death, or whether her death was simply a crime of passion.
The Brunetti's story formula is predictable, but delving into Italy's war time history and its current undertones of Fascism nostalgia makes the story layered and thought provoking. The description of Paula's meals always make me want to make pasta afterwards.
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