Ah! What a beautiful city Venice is, with its canals and majestic buildings! But now, Donna Leon persists in leading us into the depths of the Serenissima, where greed and cruelty are rampant.
Fortunately, the American author always injects a slight touch of humor and a lot of tenderness into her detective novels. Ephemeral masksthe latest investigation by its favorite character, Commissioner Guido Brunetti, is no exception.
This time, strangers abandon two American students, seriously injured, on the quay of a Venetian hospital. The police quickly find the young men in question, but several details intrigue Commissioner Brunetti. He decides to make an in-depth investigation to discover little by little a sordid traffic.
As always, Donna Leon builds her plot perfectly well and creates complex characters, shaped by often difficult life experiences. Thus, Commissioner Brunetti can trust the local head of the Guardia Costiera, the captain Ignazio Alaimo, from Naples? Are the boys who abandoned the female students before leaving really heartless?
The author continues to draw a merciless portrait of the darkest aspects of Venice. It leads the readers in hard neighborhoods, located away from the tourist circuits.
But like Donna Leon’s earlier novels, Ephemeral masks full of humanity. Guido Brunetti, a family man, cannot help but feel a certain paternal feeling towards young people who find themselves involved in matters beyond their control and who experience feelings that they struggle to understand. Donna Leon’s novel leaves a slightly bittersweet, but essentially moving impression.
Ephemeral masks
Donna Leon
Calmann-Lévy Black
338 pages