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Blood From A Stone

by Donna Leon

Blood From A Stone is another of the Donna Leon murder mysteries featuring Commissario Guido Brunetti, and as in all of them, it pictures Brunetti coming up against the forces of Italian governmental corruption. Also, as in all of Ms. Leon's mysteries, the Italian city of Venice is described so well that you feel you've been there even if you haven't! There's even a map of the city to guide you inside the front and back covers, with the most important places in the story highlighted. In addition, Donna Leon uses phrases from Italian and the local dialect. Ms. Leon has lived in Venice for a number of years (even though she was born in this country) and it shows.

Two men, one tall, one shorter, go into the Campo San Stefano where black African illegal immigrants have spread their wares on sheets after the surrounding shops have closed. The two men shoot one of the Africans with silencers on their pistols, and what with the noise from the tourists and the music from hopeful students, they immediately are able to fade into the crowd before anyone notices that the black man is dead.

Commissario Brunetti arrives on the scene after Venetian police, called from home, and finding the dead man at about the same time as the medical doctor comes to inspect the corpse. The vu compra as the black immigrants were known, seemed to increase in number over the years, but the carabinierei (Italian police) did little to enforce the immigration laws since the African's did no actual harm. The shooting of this single man had 'professional' written all over it, but Brunetti doesn't know why he was singled out for extinction.

Inspection of the dead man's living space ultimately reveals a cache of precious stones – millions of dollars worth – enough to buy arms, is that's what they were hidden for. But then Brunetti's superior, Vice Questore Giuseppe Patta, tells Brunetti to lay off – higher forces are interceding and will take over the case. Brunetti hasn't told Patta about the stones. And Brunetti's curiosity forbids him to forget the case; so he proceeds to delve into it secretly.

When the case is finally closed, the two men Brunetti had gotten to know as friends of the dead man are also dead, and the whole affair is conveniently blamed on terrorism (whether or not that was the actual reason).

Donna Leon continues to provide enthralling tales about the city of canals, adeptly warping the story of Brunetti's private life in with the woof of the murder investigation – all the while describing Venice in accurate detail, including the food and the language, which is a unique dialect (although regular Italian is easily understood). Ms. Leon has once more written about an honest man's avoidance of corruption in Blood From A Stone, this time about the little-known African Muslim immigrants. And even though most of her novels end unsatisfactorily for the murder-mystery fan, I can recommend her work as an eye-opening, plus engaging read!

Alan Paul Curtis

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