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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN num: 9780143035633
ISBN number: 0143035630
Label: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 352
Printing Date: May 03, 2005
Publishing house: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Release Date: May 03, 2005
Sale Popularity Level: 67117
Studio: Penguin (Non-Classics)
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As Donna Leon’s many fans have come to expect, beloved Commissario Guido Brunetti once again finds himself pursuing a puzzling case his fellow policemen would rather leave closed. After a wealthy elderly woman is found brutally murdered in her apartment, the authorities suspect her maid. But when the maid meets an untimely end trying to escape from border police, and it appears that the money she carried may not have been stolen, Commissario Guido Brunetti decides—unofficially—to take the case on himself. Filled with Leon’s signature plot twists, Doctored Evidence is a terrific novel of suspense that is sure to delight loyal fans as well as attract new ones.
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Rated by buyers -
Early in Doctored Evidence, Commissario Guido Brunetti asks his wife, Paola, about a book she is reading . . . a text on religion that has been assigned to their daughter, Chiara. They muse about the seven deadly sins and speculate about whether or not anyone takes those sins seriously any more. During his case, Brunetti assumes that only certain sins can be motive enough for murder. Is he right?
As the story opens, Signora Battestini has been bludgeoned to death by someone strong. She's an old lady who never leaves her apartment, but nothing has been taken. A missing housekeeper seems worth tracking down by Lieutenant Scarpa, one of Vice-Questore Patta's enforcers. In the process of arresting her, a terrible accident takes place. Scarpa and Patta are satisfied that the housekeeper is the killer, and the case goes dormant. Brunetti is away on vacation at the time.
All might have stayed that way, but a neighbor comes to report that the housekeeper is probably innocent. Scarpa tries to get rid of the neighbor, but Brunetti ends up involved. From there, the real investigation begins.
One of the most interesting parts of this story is when Dona Leon fills in some background by Signorina Elletra Zorzi and her seemingly magical ability to acess records that shouldn't be available to her. You'll be astonished by the contrast between her personal scruples and her unscrupulous methods for gaining police information.
Brunetti also gets caught with his hand in the cookie jar after doing some illegal searching. How will he handle the potential for exposure and discipline?
The mystery in this book is pretty good. It will be some time before you'll be able to figure out who the murderer is and the motive. The ultimate explanation was credible and added to the pedestrian tone of dealing with the minor and major annoyances of life:
How should you persuade the neighbors to make less noise at night?
How can an exploited housekeeper with questionable papers protect herself from exploitation?
How should a threat to respectability be met?
How can endless official delays be overcome?
Take a ride on the #1 Vaporetto if it's not crowded and enjoy the sights and sounds of Venice (I wouldn't dare suggest you try to enjoy the odors of Venice).
Rated by buyers -
Reminiscent of Durrell's "sense of place," Leon's writing evokes Venice and its people with strong characterization, an obvious love of its food, weather, bureaucratic wrangles and rich dialogue. The plot is secondary to these thoroughly enjoyable features. There are two or three scenes where the Commissario interviews players in the evolving murder plot which are so carefully detailed that the reader feels he is seeing a movie. One does not have to worry about cardboard characters and implausible plots; Leon is a fine writer and a joy to read. "We'll always have Venice," by reading Donna Leon.
Rated by buyers 
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Few people in Venice trust the cops who tend to be dense, crooked, and conniving. One exception is the compassionate, clever, and honest Commissario Guido Brunetti, Donna Leon's series detective. Venice is a city that thrives on gossip, corruption and petty politics. Brunetti calls Italy a loony bin.
A cranky, nasty old lady is found murdered in her apartment. Her maid is suspected because she takes flight and later while running from the police is killed under a rushing train. Case closed by his colleagues--but not by Brunetti who finds a witness to disprove the maid's guilt. The detective not only has to solve the case but fight off a superior and underlings looking for a quick solution.
This is not Donna Leon writing at the top of her form. It's a listless story that is a fairly long slog plodding to an ending that's a let-down. The story's pace is one that only a turtle would love. But I still like the series and especially Guido .
Nine Lives Too Many
The Daemon in Our Dreams
The Rice Queen Spy
Clawed Back from the Dead
Rated by buyers 
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Commissario Brunetti, truly one of only a handful of Venice's finest, solves the murder of an elderly, hateful harridan using his intelligence, humor, skill, and humanity. Follow him through the monumental buildings, calle, and offices of this most intriguing of cities, without once motoring down the Grand Canal. And learn something about the Venetian psyche in the bargain. Nearly as good as being there, but be forewarned, do not read Donna Leon while hungry. Luigi Brunetti eats very well.
Rated by buyers -
Maria Grazia Battestini was an old women about whom nothing good could be said, not even by the most generous of souls. Whoever had killed her must have taken her completely by surprise.
Battestini maid an illegal Romanian woman was missing and currently the prime suspect, the police were hot in pursuit. Located at the central station trying to leave the country the maid is killed in a fatal train accident. only suspect dead, case closed.
Commissario Brunetti has just return from his vacation. His very first day back on the job he encounters Signora Gismondi who also had just returned from a vacation in London. Signora Gismondi was Maria Battestini neighbour and had learned of her death on her return. Signora Gismondi also knew the Romanian maid, and is rather forthcoming with some relevant information. Brunetti intrigued - unofficially - investigates. The motive looks like greed or was he looking at the wrong deadly sin.
Doctored Evidence is the thirteenth novel in the Brunetti series and for me my first. This book does not disappoint as murder has been set off against the backdrop of Venice. Donna Leon the author lives in Venice you can clearly see from the writing that she enjoys living there, the story flows really well and beautifully pieced together. Commissario Brunetti is a character you warm to straight away but also for me in this book, Brunetti's source of information Signorina Elettra is a great character, a women who uses her contacts and connections, which seem just as corrupt, Elettra mind is as sharp as a razor. When reading murder mysteries I always try to put a face to the characters in Signoriana Elettra case an Italian actress by the name of Claudia Gerini came to mind. A face for Commissario Brunetti I will have to investigate more, that's going to be a tough one. Donna Leon has written a whole Brunetti series of whodunit, so I will be backtracking to the beginning and with thirteen left to read through, my mind will be occupied for quite a while.
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