In this, Leon’s 33rd Guido Brunetti Venice-based novel, we see, once again, the declining quality of the work of an aging writer compelled to turn out an annual version to meet some need—money, ego, contract???

Sadly disappointed, I’m forced to conclude that Leon, like the Harlan Cobren book I read earlier this month, has definitely not aged well.  She is 82 years old and while still capable of stitching together a well-told story, this was far from her peak performance.  Commissarios Brunetti and Griffoni become entangled in a complicated series of events stemming from ‘baby gangs’, groups of teen agers engaged in brawling and burglary in various locations throughout Venice.  We encounter our old favorites, Signora Elena still capable of hacking into any data base, Brunetti’s boss, Patta who is much more human in this volume, and Paola, Brunetti’s wife, but they’re all in service to a weak and boring plot,

Two independent story lines are woven together, another sign of a single plot too weak to carry a book.  It turns out that the secondary plot line, the beating and trashing of valuable antique statues owned by the head of the police lab is the more interesting and rich stories than the main plot line.

With this volume, like the Cobren, I’m bringing the curtain down on Ms. Leon’s work.  She has given me many pleasurable hours wandering the calles and pontes of Venice, but I believe that it’s time for her and Brunetti to retire.