IN THE ABSENCE OF DIVINE JUSTICE:

REVIEW: of Blood from a Stone by Donna Leon (LUCY ATKINS, Times of London)

In Blood from a Stone, Donna Leon’s 14th Commissario Brunetti novel, the thoughtful and charming detective is on top form. Once again he strolls lovingly through Venice, while villains (including those in charge of the criminal justice system) crumble around him. And once again he remains dignified in the face of systemic corruption and the power-mongering of his seniors. [...]

Although never truly compelling, the plot is solid enough. The novel’s real appeal, however, lies in the small print of Brunetti’s life: his utterly normal family, his liking for pastries, the exquisite lunches cooked by his wife Paola, his dislike of Christmas shopping. As he moves through the city, “keeping his voice moderate”, stopping for the occasional espresso, admiring a piece of architecture or greeting a friend, his nicely balanced world — against an unsavoury backdrop of greed and power — is cumulatively engrossing. In this domestic detail, Leon roots the power of the ordinary, moral individual. Consequently, as Brunetti quietly undermines his seniors, there is a comforting sense that truth will triumph, even if the victory can only ever be a moral one.

No neocon portrays Europe in any worse light than does Ms Leon in her fiction.

Posted by Orrin Judd at April 2, 2005 8:41 AM