Quietly in Their Sleep by Donna Leon

Donna Leon is an author new to me.  I was looking for something light and easy to read and it was coincidental that the book was set in Italy, in Venice. It couldn't be more different from A Thousand Days in Venice, apart from the setting of course, but even that took on a different view.

I was dismayed at first to read so many negative reviews on Amazon (UK) but that turned out to be because it has been republished with a new title, the US title.  Previously it was called "The Death of Faith".  People were understandably annoyed that they had bought what they thought was a new book only to discover they had already read it.

I enjoyed the book.  It is one of a number of books in the series featuring Commissario Guido Brunetti. The characters of Brunetti himself, his colleagues, and of his family were appealing to me.  It is quite a relief to read about a policeman who isn't an alcoholic or has a failing marriage, or any other major problem in his life.

There are a couple of big issues brought into the plot, one of which, paedophile priests, may have been the reason for the re-issue now that it's even more consistently in the news.  The other issue concerns Opus Dei and the power of the Roman Catholic Church.  Both I feel to be rather too deep for this book and sit uncomfortably in an otherwise lighter book.  They aren't really examined or addressed to any extent and I felt that they didn't quite mesh together or with the rest of the plot.

You are constantly aware of the setting in Venice with a strong sense of the city and of Venetian society.

Quietly in Their Sleep is available from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

A Thousand Days in Venice by Marlena de Blasi

Subtitled "An Unexpected Romance", this book does provide you with a highly romantic view of life and of Venice, but then Venice must be one of the most romantic cities in Europe, if not on earth.The story, a true story, is based on what I once would have dismissed as a ridiculously fanciful notion, that of love at first sight. I'm older and wiser now, and I would never now reject such an idea out of hand.  Nevertheless, some of it is hard to swallow.  Really, would you give up your life in St Louis to marry someone after barely a few weeks' acquaintance?

However we aren't here to discuss romantic notions, but Venice and whether we can find ourselves there through reading. We can. Marlena de Blasi has managed to pin down the essence of Venice, the delight and joy of merely being there. Some people may think it over-done: I don't believe they can ever have been to Venice.

You can find A Thousand Days in Venice at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk