The Golden Egg (Brunetti 22)

"The introspective Brunetti, a man with a healthy sense of the absurd and a sharp eye for the fading grandeur of the city’s architecture, makes for good company as he negotiates the perilous labyrinth of Venetian police office politics. Deceptively languid in its pace and a masterclass in mood, The Golden Egg … is a meticulously crafted example of how even the most apparently innocuous of crimes can reveal a trove of history."

"[T]his is a much darker version of Brunetti-land than the earlier novels.The character of the deaf mutes seems to serve as an allegory of the political landscape of Italy - the public silenced and ignored, whilst those in power continue the ancient Italian tradition of fiddle-playing." The Lady "Donna Leon is better than ever.Superb." WI Life "The familiar characters and Venetian location are described with remarkable freshness and, as always, the edifying result is both amusing and thought-provoking" Sunday Telegraph "If there's a writer for whom the law of diminishing returns has been revoked, it's Donna Leon. The doyenne of Italian crime fiction, whose stamina in returning time and again to her Venetian beat is matched only by her curiosity, she has proved herself, in the space of 22 titles, not only an able detective novelist, but the author of something more substantial.It is one of the joys of Leon's work that she can take readers into the sinister heart of Italy, and yet, in the person of Brunetti and his companions, convince us that not all is lost." Herald "The introspective Brunetti, a man with a healthy sense of the absurd and a sharp eye for the fading grandeur of the city's architecture, makes for good company as he negotiates the perilous labyrinth of Venetian police office politics. Deceptively languid in its pace and a masterclass in mood, The Golden Egg . is a meticulously crafted example of how even the most apparently innocuous of crimes can reveal a trove of history." Irish Times