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    Earthly Remains: A Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery
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    Earthly Remains: A Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery
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    Earthly Remains: A Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery
    Ebook322 pages4 hours

    Earthly Remains: A Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery

    By Donna Leon

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    About this ebook

    Donna Leon’s bestselling mystery novels set in Venice have won a multitude of fans for their insider’s portrayal of La Serenissima. From family meals to coffee bars, and from vaporetti rides to the homes and apartments of Venetians, the details and rhythms of everyday life are an integral part of this beloved series. But so are the suffocating corruption, the never-ending influx of tourists, and crimes big and small. Through it all, Leon’s Commissario Guido Brunetti has been an enduring figure. A good man who loves his family and his city, Brunetti is relentless in his pursuit of truth and some measure of justice.

    In Earthly Remains, the twenty-sixth novel in this series, Brunetti’s endurance is tested more than ever before. During an interrogation of an entitled, arrogant man suspected of giving drugs to a young girl who then died, Brunetti acts rashly, doing something he will quickly come to regret. In the fallout, he realizes that he needs a break, needs to get away from the stifling problems of his work.

    When Brunetti is granted leave from the Questura, his wife, Paola, suggests he stay at the villa of a relative on Sant’Erasmo, one of the largest islands in the laguna. There he intends to pass his days rowing, and his nights reading Pliny’s Natural History. The recuperative stay goes according to plan until Davide Casati, the caretaker of the house on Sant’Erasmo, goes missing following a sudden storm. Now, Brunetti feels compelled to investigate, to set aside his leave of absence and understand what happened to the man who had become his friend.

    Earthly Remains is quintessential Donna Leon, a powerful addition to this celebrated series.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAtlantic Monthly Press
    Release dateApr 4, 2017
    ISBN9780802189455

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    Reviews for Earthly Remains

    4/5

    114 ratings19 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Kein klassischer Brunetti, da er sich während einer Auszeit mit einem Mann anfreundet, der ein dunkles Geheimnis aus der Vergangenheit mit sich rumschleppt. Dieses läßt ihn nicht los und führt am Ende zu seinem Selbstmord. Im Nachgang forscht Brunetti nach den (Hinter-)Gründen.
    • 5/5
      Commissario Guido Brunetti is compassionate, well-educated, and gentle. When he acts impulsively to protect a fellow officer from making a costly mistake, Brunetti sets in motion a series of events that will have far-reaching consequences. First, he is told to take a two-week leave from his job at the Questura. His wife makes arrangements for him to stay at a villa on the island of Sant'Erasmo. While there, he will have little to do except read and enjoy nature's beauty. The caretaker, Davide Casati, is an old friend of Brunetti's late father; Davide and Guido spend time rowing, swimming, and slowly getting to know one another. Casati is reserved and often despondent, still grief-stricken over the death of his much-younger wife, Franca, four years earlier. At least, he has his beehives to tend; he is passionate about beekeeping. However, when Casati notices that some of his bees have begun to die, he decides to run tests to find out what may be killing them.

      "Earthly Remains," by Donna Leon, begins slowly but steadily picks up steam, especially in the second half. We enjoy spending leisurely days and nights with Brunetti as he reacquaints himself with his beloved books (he is a big fan of Pliny and other ancient writers), gazing at beautiful sunsets, and engaging in vigorous exercise. When a tragic and deeply shocking event interrupts Brunetti's vacation, he enlists the help of the always accommodating Signorina Elletra (whom he depends upon for her incredible ability to ferret out information) and, along with his fellow detectives, Claudia Griffoni and Inspector Lorenzo Vianello, launches an investigation that will uncover dark and dangerous secrets that have been hidden for decades.

      Leon's brings her central characters to life against the backdrop of the sights and sounds of Venice and its surrounding islands. Davide Casati is a tormented man whose past transgressions give him no peace; Brunetti's conscience will not rest until he gets to the bottom of a complex case that he believes it is his duty to solve; and Guido's colleagues, Griffoni and Vianello, help Brunetti immensely by using subtle psychological ploys to get witnesses to speak freely. The author goes far beyond the standard mystery formula when she raises questions about why people harm, not just one another, but our environment, as well. "Earthly Remains" is an excellent vehicle for Guido Brunetti, whose wisdom and tenacity impel him to dig deeply for truths that have long been buried under a mountain of lies.
    • 5/5
      I have always enjoyed the Commissario Brunetti series. Set in Venice with an MC who I have always wanted to meet this police series is as much about people as it is about crime. Author, Donna Leon has a literary way with words and a good understanding of human nature.The plot of 'Earthly Remains' is absolutely topical and nasty and frustrating. Set against the natural peace and beauty of the Venice laguna is mankind's nastiness and Brunetti cannot tie up all the loose ends but the reader can.A very good read for all whodunit fans and for those who like foreign locations and especially for readers who want a great read.
    • 4/5
      As a Brunetti fan, I was somewhat taken aback by the slower pace of this latest installment in the series. After a rash response during an interrogation (very funny!), Brunetti realizes that he needs a break from work and goes by himself to retreat to an island estate of a relative. While there he befriends a local man with whom he feels quite close in a short time due to their common passion for rowing. After Davide drowns, Brunetti determines to learn more about the man he knew for too short a time.
    • 3/5
      Brunetti goes on vacation in Donna Leon's 'Earthly Remains.' Well, it's not so much a vacation as a two-week medical leave away from the stress of work. And we all know before he sets foot on the train that a mystery will develop.For those who have read Leon's last half dozen or so books, if I said that Brunetti will visit a beekeeper, what would you gauge to be the odds that the bees are dying of a mysterious ailment probably related to the environment and/or pollution? Right.There's no escaping the stresses of modern life while reading Leon; her books are now centered on them.And Brunetti's caught in a place and time that is out of joint. (A reader's copy was provided by Netgalley.)
    • 5/5
      Underlying the crimes committed in this novel, is an in-depth look at the problems plaguing modern day Venice. Davide Casati is haunted by the role he has played in compromising the ecology of Venice, in causing the death of his bees, and perhaps even the death of his wife.Out rowing with Casati every day while he is taking recuperative leave Guido Brunetti becomes aware of the Casati's troubled mind, and when Casati is found drowned he decides to find out what happened in his past.Once again Donna Leon takes an issue that is troubling modern Venice,embeds some crime fiction in it, and then makes us think about the bigger picture, issues that make even have global implications.An excellent read.
    • 5/5
      Commissario Brunetti is burnt out and if he does not take a break and relax, either his health will be permanently damaged or he will explode and permanently damage his career. Fortunately a distant relative has a villa on an island not far from Venice where Brunetti can go to decompress. Yet even here death follows, and Brunetti's investigative skills are needed.This is the twenty-sixth book in the series and, like its fellows, it is excellent. However, as I read the negative reviews on Amazon I must point out that it is a contemplative book, not a shoot-em-up, and the title could well have been "Pentimento".I received a review copy of "Earthly Remains: A Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery" by Donna Leon (Grove Atlantic) through NetGalley.com.
    • 4/5
      Yet another entry in the Guido Brunetti series. I have enjoyed reading each one. Unfortunately, in this one there is no justice done when the mystery is unraveled. But, then, that may well be her point.
    • 4/5
      Brunetti takes a couple of weeks sick leave to spend on an island in the Venice lagoon. He reunites with an old friend of his father's whose sudden death prompts him to investigate and learn about decades old pollution of the lagoon. Not much mystery but great setting and characters!
    • 4/5
      Commissario Brunetti has a very unusual reaction during an interrogation and realizes that he needs a break from his stressful position at Questora. He accepts an opportunity to rest at a relatives villa on the laguna and spread the days rowing - not thinking not feeling.When the man that he was rowing with turns up dead, Guido realizes that he must have answers to questions that he had failed to ask this man when he was alive.I love all the book where Guido Brunetti is the central character trying to prevent or correct a social wrong. This was no different in bringing me a magnificent story.
    • 4/5
      I received an electronic copy and thank NetGalley and Grove Atlantic.

      I have read only one or two of Donna Leon's Inspector Brunetti novels and after finishing Earthly Remains I wonder why. The writing is exactly as I would expect to hear the dialog spoken. The descriptions take you to the place and time as if you were an invisible participant. The story is challenging and believable.

      Without giving up too much, Inspector Brunetti "falls on his sword" to save one of his officers from ruining an interview with a member of one of the city's more illustrious families. This leads to the Inspector taking a brief rest at a villa owned by one of his wife's relatives on an island in the Laguna. This is where the story really begins.
    • 4/5
      Commissario Brunetti inadvertently gets himself medical leave and Paola bundles him off to an aunt's vacant villa on a nearby island. And it will surprise no one that after a few days the man he has associated with has gone missing and is found dead. It's the unhealthy environment.
    • 4/5
      One of the very best of this series..Wonderfull setting, a beautiful island in the Venetian laguna.,full of apricot trees and flooded with brillant sunshine...Brunetti is spending some weeks in this idealistic scenery so he can escape from the stress of his job, but can he?
      Good story,interesting characters and as mentioned before, a stunning environment..
    • 4/5
      Coming back to Commissario Brunetti is like coming back to an old friend. Now that I've been to Venice, I can picture where he is. This one ended on an ambiguous note. Hmm.
    • 4/5
      A different take on Brunetti. In this episode, GUido is sent off to one of the outer islands to take a break from policing. His blood pressure is too high, he's depressed and he just needs to drop out. As usual, trouble follows and Leon weaves a beautiful picture of the outer lagoon, the encroaching environmental problems the area is experiencing, and Brunetti's impossible to overcome gallantry and goodness.
    • 3/5
      I will compare the first half of this book to the film Ulee's Gold, complete with the bees = snooze. I suppose that is the point since inspector Brunetti is supposed to be relaxing. The second half picks up when a case to solve enters the picture. I made it to the end but I thought the author spent too long setting the stage. Venice is a main hallmark of this series so in that sense, I guess the book succeeds. Not one of the best for me.
    • 3/5
      I liked this book very much until I turned a page and discovered that was the end. It was very abrupt and left many questions unanswered. I’d think that somehow my e-copy is missing the last couple of chapters, except that others have commented on the ending. I guess the author was under a deadline and couldn’t take the time to write an ending. Disappointing.
    • 4/5
      Synopsis: Brunetti needs a break so he stays in a house on an island. He meets one of his father's best friends and goes rowing with him. After a particularly bad storm, the man is found drowned. Brunetti must decide if his death is accidental, suicide, or murder.Review: I knew this had to end badly and it did. The story brings in the pollution of the lagoon by big business.
    • 5/5
      As well-written and engaging as her previous books, in EARTHLY REMAINS Donna Leon takes Venice Commissario Guido Brunetti on a different path than his previous stories. At the beginning of the story, Guido realized that the police officer with him was about to attack the man with them, the one who might have been responsible for the death of a young woman. Acting quickly to diffuse the situation, Guido faked a heart attack. The trick worked, but Guido didn’t know how to let them know he wasn’t really ill. So he was taken by ambulance to the hospital where the doctor insisted that he be tested.After looking at the results of the tests, the doctor realized Guido had not had a heart attack but had high blood pressure. She said he was suffering from exhaustion caused by stress which might lead to a heart attack. She recommended that he take two or three works off to give himself a chance to recuperate.Guido decided to go to Sant’Erasmo, a nearby island where one of his wife’s relatives had a home available for his use. The escape worked wonders. He looked forward to rowing and reading the Greek and Latin classics he hadn’t reread for awhile. Davide Casati, the caretaker of the property, and his daughter, Federica, took care of his every need: food, laundry, housecleaning by Federica and daily row boat trips with Davide, whose wife had died four years earlier and whose grave he visited at least once a week. He blamed himself for her death.Davide was also a beekeeper. On one of their trips, Davide became very upset when he saw that his bees were dying. Then, one day, he told Guido that he would not be available the following two days because he had business to attend to. A violent storm swept through that night and he did not return. No one knew where he had gone.Federica asked Guido’s help in locating her father and, with the help of the local authorities, he set out to do just that, interviewing people of the area and others that Davido had known in the past. In the process, hidden secrets began to surface.The Commissario Guido Brunetti series is a welcome relief from the profane, violent, bloody, car chasing scenes typical in many modern mysteries. The main villains are the politicians and those with connections to them especially his boss, Vice Questore Guiseppi Patta. His long-time helpers, particularly Ispettore Lorenzo Vianetti, Claudia Griffoni, and his boss’s well-connected secretary, Signorina Elettra Zorzi play important roles. Surprisingly, when he talked on the phone with his wife Paola, he didn’t ask about their children.Interesting observations: “When the young man failed to react adequately to his self-effacing superiority, the lawyer ceased to use the plural when addressing the two men.”When Brunetti returns to his office on his way home after being released from the hospital, he assumed the position of a sick man. “Patta, in his ineffable way, displaying the tact and discretion that had for years endeared him to his colleagues, seeing Brunetti, stopped dead and demanded, ‘What’s wrong with you now?’”“The boat pulled in and tied up, and the early crowd of tourists disembarked, going off in search of their Indonesian-made Burano lace and Chinese-made Murano glass, certain that, out here on a genuine Venetian island, they’d be sure to get the real thing. And at a better price.”“It’s always the odd, unpredictable things that set us off....Grief lies inside us like a land mind: heavy footsteps will pass by it safely, while others, even those as light as air, will cause it to explode.”“His thoughts slid away and he considered why teasing cripples was so much worse than hurting them. They were cripples because their bodies had been damaged in some way, not their dignity. Teasing attacked any pride that had managed to survive.” My main complaint with Donna Leon’s book is her unnecessarily short chapter. Often two or three chapters are immediate continuations of the previous chapter. I usually take away one star for that. However, in this case I will not do this because the book is dedicated “For Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.