Suffer the Little Children
-
-
2.0 • 1 Rating
-
-
- $15.99
-
- $15.99
Publisher Description
NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER - BACKSTAGE: STORIES OF A WRITING LIFE BY DONNA LEON
'A perfect blend of characters, place, mystery and social issues. [Leon’s] sixteenth Brunetti novel is also one of her best.' The Times
‘Leon builds her plot meticulously. [She] has her finger on the pulse.’ The Mirror
When Commissario Brunetti is summoned to the hospital to interview a senior paediatrician whose skull has been brutally fractured, he is confronted with more questions than answers. Three men burst into the doctor's apartment in the middle of the night, attacked him and took his young son – but why?
As Brunetti investigates, he quickly discovers that the kidnapping was not a one-off, but part of a multi-city raid targeting numerous families. It seems that small-town malice seethes beneath the surface of the beautiful city of Venice, and Brunetti must work together with Ispettore Vianelli – himself investigating a money-making scam between pharmacists and doctors – to uncover the truth. . .
‘As ever, Leon writes with an insider's knowledge of Venice, expertly navigating its complex geography.’ Sunday Times
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Leon's 16th Commissario Guido Brunetti mystery, at once astringent yet lyrical, two rival police forces Brunetti and his Venetian colleagues and the carabinieri are both interested in a doctor who illegally adopts an Albanian infant. When three carabinieri break into the doctor's apartment and seize the child at night, they injure the doctor, leaving him mute. Much of the early action takes place in a hospital, and because Venetian hospitals appear only slightly less bureaucratic and Kafkaesque than their stateside counterparts, Leon's marvelous insights into Italian life, so sharp when she explores a military academy in Uniform Justice or glassblowers in Through a Glass, Darkly, aren't as fresh, sinister or compelling here. But once the IVs and bandages give way to vandalism at a pharmacy and the family secrets of a neo-Fascist plumbing tycoon, Leon regains her stride and the novel's last fifth is first-rate and masterful. Leon seldom delivers a "feel good" ending, choosing instead conclusions that are wise and inevitable while still being unsettling.
