Donna Leon - Earthly Remains

Rating: 4/5

Review:
An enjoyable read

This is another very readable and enjoyable Brunetti novel, although perhaps not quite as involving as some others.

There comes a time in every long-running detective series when the protagonist takes a – usually enforced – holiday.  Brunetti has reached that point here, and goes off to an island in the laguna for a couple of weeks rest.  Needless to say, he eventually becomes embroiled in the investigation of a possibly suspicious death, which leads to the possibility of much larger-scale wrongdoing and corruption.

Donna Leon always gives us a classily undemanding read, and this is no exception.  However, as so often with detective-on-holiday novels, removing Brunetti from his natural milieu in Venice with official corruption, his vain, idle and spineless boss and so on does diminish the story somewhat.  We do get excellent descriptions of the life of the islands of the laguna and so on, and Paula is, thank heavens, still just a phone call and a few kilometres away, but Earthly Remains didn't quite have the hugely enjoyable sense of Brunetti in his Venetian element and among his family.

Nonetheless, this is a very enjoyable read.  It may not be a Brunetti classic but you won't be disappointed.

(I received an ARC via Netgalley.)