Settings & Atmosphere - Fiction, Detective Fiction, Travel & Transportation - Fiction, Occupations - Fiction
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Overview
The seductive city of Venice has lured Homer Kelly to a rare books conference, and wife Mary has eagerly come along, camera in tow. Upon arrival they find their Venetian host, Sam Bell, reveling in an examination of holy relics entrusted to him by the new Procurator of Saint Mark's, Lucia Costanza. Sam is convinced they are fraudulent. (He may be surprised.). But soon the Kellys' tranquil getaway turns into a life-and-death adventure, when Lucia's soon-to-be ex-husband is killed and Lucia disappears, branding herself the prime suspect. Bucolic Venice begins to look more and more sinister as Sam's borrowed relics disappear one by one and his motherless little daughter, Ursula, begins to behave in a most unusual way. The plot thickens with the help of Mary's simple snapshots of jade-green canals, the Rialto Bridge, the Piazza San Marco, the ancient Ghetto, and churches, palaces, and squares in every remote corner of the city. Before long she is in danger, pursued across a maze of ancient bridges while the lagoon overflows and floods the streets. In the end there is a miracle - could it possibly be real? - and a treasure is uncovered, painfully recalling the fate of Venetian Jews in World War II.Editorials
Publishers Weekly -
In her 14th Homer Kelly mystery (after The Face on the Wall), Langton's sparkling prose and inimitable wit offer a delectable feast for the discriminating reader. Homer, a policeman-turned-scholar, and his professor wife, Mary, have ventured to Venice to attend a scholarly conference on rare books. Homer is intoxicated by the riches afforded in the Biblioteca Marciana, while Mary prowls the streets of the Italian city, camera in hand. An expatriate English doctor, Richard Henchard, seeking an apartment for his demanding mistress, stumbles upon a cache of golden artifacts. He kills twice to protect his secret, and his path soon intersects Mary's, whom he attempts to seduce. Then one of Mary's myriad photos of Venice reveals the whereabouts of a missing woman, Lucia Costanza, who has allegedly murdered her husband. The dead husband was actually one of Dr. Henchard's victims, and Signora Costanza has gone into hiding until the real murderer is caught. Complicating the search for Costanza and her husband's killer is the annual Venetian flood, the acqua alta, for events come to a head even as the city suffers a particularly severe inundation. With a master hand, Langton develops the various subplots into a sophisticated, elegantly constructed thriller in which justice has its day, true love is rewarded and faith provides the most important answer of all. Line illustrations by the author. Author tour. (June) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.Kirkus Reviews
The Thief Of Venice ( Jun. 21; 256 pp.; 0-670-88210-0): Homer Kelly's 14th case sends the Concord, Mass., professor and his wife and colleague Mary (The Face on the Wall, 1998, etc.) to a rare book conference in Venice, where Mary's tourist photos will reveal a missing woman and lead to a stolen treasure, a modern miracle, and sudden, violent death—all illustrated with an exceptional profusion of Langton's line drawings. (Author tour)Book Details
Published
May 1, 2000
Publisher
New York : Viking, 1999.
Pages
256
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9780140291896