Overview
In this third novel in the acclaimed series featuring the suavely determined Venice police commissario Guido Brunetti, Donna Leon once again leads readers into the delights and dangers of a Venice only natives know, with the help of the city's bestloved sleuth - and unwitting hero. On a steamy, fetid August morning - the sort that the Adriatic coast is infamous for - a male corpse in female clothing turns up outside a slaughterhouse. At first, Brunetti draws the obvious conclusion, that the corpse is that of a transvestite prostitute killed by one of his johns. When the victim is identified as the sober-sided director of the Banca di Verona, Brunetti realizes that he won't be taking his much-needed vacation after all. He turns up a link between the bank and the powerful Lega della Moralita, and when two people connected to the case die violently, Brunetti fears he may be the third but redoubles his efforts to uncover exactly what the Lega's goals are. In Dressed for Death, Guido Brunetti faces his most potent foe yet, one with ties to the highest echelons of finance, the government, even the Church. While the tension mounts, we are treated to crystalline glimpses of Venice - at its best and worst - as seen through the singularly discerning gaze of Brunetti, devoted family man, bemused civil servant, and thoroughly irresistible sleuth.A body in the bank earns a different kind of interest. Respectable Venetians hardly notice the murder of a transvestite prostitue until the body is identified as the staid director of the Banca di Verona. While tongues wag over the scandal, only Guido Brunetti, the suave and sharp-eyed commisario of police, suspects foul play.
Synopsis
Donna Leon's Commissario Guido Brunetti series grows more popular in America with the publication of every new novel. In this installment, Brunetti's hopes of a refreshing family holiday in the mountains are once again dashed when a gruesome discovery is made in Marghera—a body so badly beaten the face is completely unrecognizable. Brunetti searches Venice for someone who can identify the corpse, but he is met with a wall of silence. Then he receives a telephone call from a contact who promises some tantalizing information. And before the night is out, Brunetti is confronting yet another appalling, and apparently senseless, death.
Publishers Weekly
The third in Leon's richly evocative mysteries set in Venice and starring police Commissario Guido Brunetti reveals several flaws in Brunetti's character--some endearing, some disquieting, all intriguing. A man's body is found near a place popular with prostitutes. His legs and chest are shaved; his shoes are red, high-heeled and brand new. But what initially looks like the violent death of a transvestite whore may be a different sort of murder ineptly disguised: the victim is middle-aged, his body has been inexpertly shaved and his face is battered beyond recognition. In a tougher story than the previous Death at La Fenice, the Commissario's sensitivity is challenged by his dealings with demimonde creatures to whom he has not previously given much thought. A coincidence directs him, perhaps too easily, toward a villain who is soon covering tracks with more killing; lawyers, laundered money--and sodomy--also figure in the case's resolution. While struggling with his prejudices, Brunetti must hide his glee as the wife of his hated superior makes a highly visible departure into the arms of a famed pornographer. Venice takes on a deep noir tint in Leon's latest well-crafted work. (June)