Quietly in Their Sleep

Every time I read another Donna Leon mystery I ask myself, "How much longer can she keep this up?" It seems impossible that she could go on write book after book, each as stunning as the last.

Well, she has done it again with Quietly in Their Sleep (1997), an engrossing story about a nun who leaves her order after twelve years and prepares to begin La Vita Nuova. She arrives in Commisario Brunetti's office one day to tell him her suspicions about the deaths of five elderly patients in the nursing home where she has been working.

With nothing else to do (Venice has very little crime), Brunetti and his sidekick, Sergeant Vianello, visit the families of three of the people who have died and although none of them is likable, there seems no sign of foul play.

Once again in this book Brunetti relies on the office secretary Elettra, she of the many and mysterious connections in the world of finance, crime, and it turns out, religion, to find information for him that would normally be unavailable even to the police. Among other things, she turns up some interesting information about the priest who teaches Brunetti's daughter's religion class. No wonder the child hates the man!

Leon's mysteries are not in the classic style. Sometimes it's discovered that there was no murder after all. Sometimes the murderer pops up only very late in the book. Sometimes Brunetti discovers the evildoers but the Italian justice system in its corruption and complexity can do nothing to touch the powerful criminals. Once in a while Brunetti is able to do a little something to even the score, often relying for help on his father-in-law, who is one of the most powerful nobles of La Serenissima.

Leon also tends to comment through the events in her books and the conversations of her characters on themes about which the author feels strongly. The theme of this book is religion, anti-clericalism, the power of the church in Italy, and especially the power of the secret society Opus Dei.

What is one man to do in the face of this power? He can only do his best. And so Brunetti struggles on trying to right as many wrongs as possible and to bring as many malefactors to justice as he can.

Comments

[Les in NE]

I've been meaning to give this series a try for over a year now. One of the regulars at the bookstore I work in told me they're great books. I really must get the first and begin!

[Elaine]

I have read every single one of these and though they sometimes vary in excellence, I love them all!