A Review by Carolyn Dews

‘About Face’ is the first of the Brunetti series I have read although it is the most recent published in paperback.

I decided to read it after  a recipe book  called ‘A Taste of Venice : At Table with Brunetti’ arrived in the Bookshop.  My curiosity  was piqued.  Many customers also seemed to be buying Donna Leon’s books or ordering them.

I loved the character of Commissario Brunetti.  He seems to be a normal family man with a love of home-cooked meals (thus the recipe book).  There are family arguments and a never ending flow of crime. He doesn’t seem to be an alcoholic or depressed which is a refreshing change to the usual police characters.

The book begins with a dinner party given by his parents-in-law where he meets Franca Marinello, the wife of a prosperous Venetian businessman.  His wife suggests he is a little too charmed by her love of Virgil and Cicero but he is also shocked by her appearance!

Brunetti then receives a visit from Carabinieri Maggior Filippo Guarino from the nearby city of Marghera.  He wants information on the owner of a trucking company who was found murdered in his office. Guarino seems to be paranoid and after emailing a photo to Brunetti he is murdered himself.

That’s how the start of the plot pans out. I thoroughly enjoyed ‘About Face’ and have now bought the first in the Brunetti series.