Download or read book Death and Judgment written by Donna Leon and published by Grove/Atlantic, Inc.. This book was released on 2014-01-14 with total page 365 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Venice’s Commissario Brunetti takes on his “most difficult and politically sensitive case to date” in the gripping New York Times–bestselling series (Booklist). In Death and Judgment, a truck crashes and spills its dangerous cargo on a treacherous road in the Italian Dolomite mountains. Meanwhile, in Santa Lucia, a prominent international lawyer is found dead aboard an intercity train. Suspecting a connection between the two tragedies, Brunetti digs deep for an answer, stumbling upon a seedy Venetian bar that holds the key to a crime network that reaches far beyond the laguna. But it will take another violent death in Venice before Brunetti and his colleagues begin to understand what is really going on. “No one is more graceful and accomplished than Leon.” —The Washington Post “The sophisticated but still moral Brunetti, with his love of food and his loving family, proves a worthy custodian of timeless values and verities.” —The Wall Street Journal “[Brunetti’s] humane police work is disarming, and his ambles through the city are a delight.” —The New York Times Book Review “The heady atmosphere of Venice and a galaxy of fully realized characters enrich this intriguing and finally horrifying tale.” —Publishers Weekly “The first of Leon’s books to knit together all her strengths: endearing detective, jaundiced social pathology, and a paranoid eye for plotting on a grand scale.” —Kirkus Reviews

Download or read book Acqua Alta written by Donna Leon and published by Grove/Atlantic, Inc.. This book was released on 2009-01-27 with total page 335 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A dramatic and deeply satisfying climax . . . a high-stakes mystery in which the setting vibrates with as much life as the story itself.” —Publishers Weekly As Venice braces for a winter tempest, intrepid Italian sleuth Commissario Guido Brunetti finds out that an archaeologist and old friend has been savagely beaten at the palazzo home of opera singer Flavia Petrelli. Then, as the floodwaters rise, the corpse of a museum director is discovered—and Brunetti must wade through the chaotic city to solve his deadliest case yet. “An evocative peep into the dark underworld of the beauteous city.” —Time Out London “A superb police detective.” —Library Journal Also published under the title Death in High Water

Download or read book A Venetian Reckoning written by Donna Leon and published by . This book was released on 1995 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When a truck crashes on one of the treacherous hair-pin bends in the Italian Dolomites, even Commissario Guido Brunetti of the Venice Questura is appalled when he learns of its terrible cargo.

Download or read book Quietly in Their Sleep written by Donna Leon and published by Grove/Atlantic, Inc.. This book was released on 2009-02-24 with total page 359 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A nun has left her convent after a series of suspicious deaths: “Leon’s novels are always a pleasure.” —The Washington Post In Venice, Italy, Commissario Guido Brunetti comes to the aid of a young Catholic sister, who has left her convent after five of her nursing home patients died unexpectedly. In the course of his inquiries, Brunetti encounters an unusual cast of characters, but discovers nothing that seems criminal. The police detective must determine whether the nun is simply creating a smoke screen to justify abandoning her vocation—or if she has stumbled onto something very real and very sinister that places her own life in imminent danger. “Leon’s books shimmer in the grace of their setting and are warmed by the charm of their characters.” —The New York Times Book Review Also published under the title The Death of Faith

Download or read book The Golden Egg written by Donna Leon and published by Grove/Atlantic, Inc.. This book was released on 2013-04-02 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A New York Times bestseller: “Brunetti amply displays the keen intelligence and wry humor that has endeared this series to so many.” —Publishers Weekly Commissario Brunetti’s latest assignment is to look into a minor shop-keeping violation committed by the mayor’s future daughter-in-law. Brunetti has no interest in helping his boss amass political favors, but has little choice but to comply. Then Brunetti’s wife comes to him with a request of her own. The sweet, simple-minded man who worked at their dry cleaner has just died of a sleeping pill overdose, and Paola loathes the idea that he lived and died without anyone noticing him, or helping him. Brunetti begins to investigate and is surprised when he finds nothing on the man: no birth certificate, no passport, no driver’s license, no credit cards. As far as the Italian government is concerned, he never existed. Stranger still, the dead man’s mother refuses to speak to the police. And as secrets unravel, Brunetti begins to suspect that an aristocratic family might be somehow connected to the mystery . . . “Leon’s success . . . is testament to the heartening fact that character counts in crime fiction.” —Booklist, starred review

Download or read book A Question of Belief written by Donna Leon and published by Grove/Atlantic, Inc.. This book was released on 2010-04-20 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Masterful . . . Brunetti allows readers to share his belief that decency and honesty can, for a little while, stave off the angst of the modern world.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review With his hometown of Venice, Italy, beset by hordes of tourists and baking under a glaring sun, Guido Brunetti’s greatest wish is to go to the mountains with his family, where he can sleep under a down comforter and catch up on his reading. But before he can go on vacation, a folder with court records has landed on his desk, brought by an old friend. It appears that cases at the local court—hardly known as a model of efficiency—are being delayed to the benefit of one of the parties. A creative new trick for corrupting the system, perhaps, but what can Brunetti do about it? But just when it looks like Brunetti will be able to get away, a shocking, violent crime forces him to stay in the simmering city, in this atmospheric mystery in the New York Times–bestselling series. “Leon creates such a rich sense of place that reading often feels like a slow vaporetto ride through the swelteringly humid canals of Venice, past splendid bridges and palazzi with time out for tramezzini and rich Italian coffee.” —The Boston Globe

Download or read book The Anonymous Venetian written by Donna Leon and published by Pan. This book was released on 2002-01-05 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Commissario Brunetti's hopes of a refreshing family holiday in the mountains are once again dashed when a gruesome discovery is made in Marghera - a body so badly beaten the face is unrecognizable. Brunetti searches Venice for someone who can identify the dead man. But he is met with a wall of silence. Then he receives a telephone call from a contact who promises some tantalizing information. And before the night is out Brunetti is confronting yet another appalling and apparently senseless death...

Download or read book Drawing Conclusions written by Donna Leon and published by Grove/Atlantic, Inc.. This book was released on 2011-04-05 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A brilliant writer . . . an immensely likable police detective who takes every murder to heart.” —Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review Late one night, Guido Brunetti is called away from dinner to investigate the death of a widow in her modest apartment. Though there are some signs of a struggle, the medical examiner rules that she died of a heart attack. It seems there is nothing for Brunetti to investigate. But he can’t shake the feeling that something or someone may have triggered her heart attack, that perhaps the woman was threatened. Conversations with the woman’s son, her upstairs neighbor, and the nun in charge of the old age home where she volunteered do little to satisfy Brunetti’s nagging curiosity. And with the help of Inspector Vianello and the ever-resourceful Signorina Elettra, he intends to get to the truth. “One of her best . . . She has become a must-read for all those who favor character-driven crime stories.” —Booklist, starred review “[A] wickedly entertaining series.” —Publishers Weekly

Download or read book The Girl of His Dreams written by Donna Leon and published by Random House. This book was released on 2008 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A girl's body is found floating in one of Venice's canals. But no one has reported a missing child or the theft of the gold jewellery that she carries. So Commissario Brunetti is drawn into a search not only for the cause of her death but also her identity, her family, and for the secrets that people will keep in order to protect their children.

Download or read book The Orphan s Song written by Lauren Kate and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2021-09-07 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The historical adult debut novel by # 1 New York Times bestselling author Lauren Kate, The Orphan's Song is a breathtaking story of passion, heartbreak, and betrayal, and a celebration of the enduring nature and transformative power of love. "A tangled knot of betrayal and love, lies and redemption. Marvelous." --Fiona Davis, author of The Address A song brought them together. A secret will tear them apart. When Violetta and Mino meet, one finds true love and the other denies it. Both orphans at the Hospital of the Incurables in Venice, an orphanage and music conservatory, they meet and make music together clandestinely until Violetta is selected for the Incurables' renowned chorus. In order to join she signs an oath never to sing beyond the church doors, effectively sequestering herself for life. Mino flees, heartbroken. Too late, Violetta realizes what she has lost. In rebellion she begins a dangerous and forbidden nightlife, unknowingly drawing closer to Mino as he searches Venice for his long-lost mother. Mino and Violetta must each journey through passion, heartache, and betrayal before a dangerous secret reunites them, leading to a shocking and final confrontation.

Download or read book Beastly Things written by Donna Leon and published by Grove/Atlantic, Inc.. This book was released on 2012-04-03 with total page 221 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A New York Times bestseller: The police investigate the death of a veterinarian in Venice, Italy in this “swiftly paced” mystery (The Seattle Times). When the body of man is found in a canal, damaged by the tides, carrying no wallet, and wearing only one shoe, Guido Brunetti has little to work with. No local has filed a missing-person report, and no hotel guests have disappeared. The autopsy shows he had suffered from a rare, disfiguring disease. A shopkeeper tells Brunetti that the man had a kindly way with animals. Finally, the victim is identified as a much-loved veterinarian—and Brunetti’s quest to find the killer will take him on a harrowing journey . . . “All her trademark strengths shine in this swiftly paced, sophisticated tale of greed versus ethics.” —The Seattle Times “Written with such delicacy and emotional force that we can’t help but be reminded of Greek tragedy.” —Booklist, starred review

Download or read book Under a Venice Moon written by Margaret Cameron and published by Hachette Australia. This book was released on 2022-02-23 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Life isn't a sort of practice run, something you can afford to play around with. They don't offer second and third chances to get it right. Use it better. Live it fuller. A week in Venice ignites Margaret Cameron's interest in the private city behind the tourist facade and the obscure tales from its history. Tantalised by stories of this lesser-known Venice she returns the following August for a month-long stay, determined to uncover the Venice of the Venetians. Stepping out from her comfort zone, Margaret finds that friendships - unexpected and spontaneous - blossom within palazzi walls and she makes a discovery: life can lead you along rewarding paths, if you let it. As each day passes, her time in Venice becomes more than just an interlude; soon, the city feels like home. Could she leave her satisfying life in Perth and start anew in Venice? The question becomes urgent when romance waits where she least expected to find it . . .

Download or read book The Lies of Locke Lamora written by Scott Lynch and published by Del Rey. This book was released on 2024-08-27 with total page 641 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fantasy meets crime caper in the first book of a landmark, enduringly popular epic series about a roguish group of conmen, which George R. R. Martin has called “fresh, original, and engrossing . . . gorgeously realized.” An orphan’s life is harsh—and often short—in the mysterious island city of Camorr. But young Locke Lamora dodges relentless danger, becoming a thief under the tutelage of a gifted con artist. As leader of the band of light-fingered brothers known as the Gentlemen Bastards, Locke is soon infamous, fooling even the underworld’s most feared ruler. But in the shadows lurks someone still more ambitious and deadly. Faced with a bloody coup that threatens to destroy everyone and everything that holds meaning in his mercenary life, Locke vows to beat the enemy at his own brutal game—or die trying.

Download or read book In the Company of the Courtesan written by Sarah Dunant and published by Random House. This book was released on 2006-04-11 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: My lady, Fiammetta Bianchini, was plucking her eyebrows and biting color into her lips when the unthinkable happened and the Holy Roman Emperor’s army blew a hole in the wall of God’s eternal city, letting in a flood of half-starved, half-crazed troops bent on pillage and punishment. Thus begins In the Company of the Courtesan, Sarah Dunant’s epic novel of life in Renaissance Italy. Escaping the sack of Rome in 1527, with their stomachs churning on the jewels they have swallowed, the courtesan Fiammetta and her dwarf companion, Bucino, head for Venice, the shimmering city born out of water to become a miracle of east-west trade: rich and rancid, pious and profitable, beautiful and squalid. With a mix of courage and cunning they infiltrate Venetian society. Together they make the perfect partnership: the sharp-tongued, sharp-witted dwarf, and his vibrant mistress, trained from birth to charm, entertain, and satisfy men who have the money to support her. Yet as their fortunes rise, this perfect partnership comes under threat, from the searing passion of a lover who wants more than his allotted nights to the attentions of an admiring Turk in search of human novelties for his sultan’s court. But Fiammetta and Bucino’s greatest challenge comes from a young crippled woman, a blind healer who insinuates herself into their lives and hearts with devastating consequences for them all. A story of desire and deception, sin and religion, loyalty and friendship, In the Company of the Courtesan paints a portrait of one of the world’s greatest cities at its most potent moment in history: It is a picture that remains vivid long after the final page.

Download or read book Sweet Reckoning written by Wendy Higgins and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2014-04-29 with total page 343 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fans of Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments series will be drawn to Wendy Higgins's sexy, thrilling Sweet Evil series. In Sweet Reckoning, the time has come for Anna, daughter of a guardian angel and a fallen one, to accept her fate as the chosen one. She is destined to rid the earth of demons once and for all. But as Anna and her Nephilim allies prepare for the evil brewing, the powerful Dukes use Anna's love for bad boy Kaidan Rowe against her, and her strength is put to the ultimate test. How far will the two of them go to keep each other alive? Will love conquer all in the final battle between good and evil?

Download or read book Venetian Gothic written by Philip Gwynne Jones and published by Constable. This book was released on 2020-04-02 with total page 231 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'A riveting story of deception and corruption' Daily Mail 'A must for all Italy lovers' David Hewson Even the most beautiful city on earth has a dark side . . . It is November 2nd, 2017. All Souls Day. On the Day of the Dead, the citizens of Venice make their way to the cemetery island of San Michele to pay their respects to the departed. When an empty coffin is unearthed in the English section of the graveyard, a day of quiet reflection for Nathan Sutherland becomes a journey into the dark past of a noble Venetian family. A British journalist, investigating the events of forty years previously, disappears. A young tourist - with an unhealthy interest in Venice's abandoned islands - is found drowned in the icy lagoon. A terrible secret is about to be brought to light, and a deadly reckoning awaits on Venice's Isle of the Dead. Praise for Philip Gwynne Jones 'I devoured all Philip's novels and felt transported to Venice with a new intimacy' Val McDermid 'An unputdownable thriller' Gregory Dowling 'Pure pleasure' Literary Review 'Clever and great fun' The Times 'An irresistible concoction of crime and culture' Daily Mail 'Superb - always gripping, beautifully constructed and vivid' Stephen Glover 'Sinister and shimmering . . . as haunting and darkly elegant as Venice itself' L. S. Hilton, bestselling author of Maestra 'Gwynne Jones' entertaining take on his beloved Venice is as delightful as a Spritz by the Rialto - a must for all Italy lovers' David Hewson 'It is no surprise to find that Philip Gwynne Jones lives in Venice... art and architecture interweave into a story that builds to an almost surreal climax' Daily Mail 'The Venetian setting is vividly described' Literary Review 'Un-put-downable . . . If you love Venice, you'll love this because you'll be transported there in an instant. If you've not been to Venice, read this book and then go' Reader reviewer, 5 stars

Download or read book Candide written by By Voltaire and published by BookRix. This book was released on 2019-06-10 with total page 169 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Candide is a French satire by Voltaire, a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment. It begins with a young man, Candide, who is living a sheltered life in an Edenic paradise and being indoctrinated with Leibnizian optimism (or simply Optimism) by his mentor, Pangloss. The work describes the abrupt cessation of this lifestyle, followed by Candide's slow, painful disillusionment as he witnesses and experiences great hardships in the world. Voltaire concludes with Candide, if not rejecting optimism outright, advocating a deeply practical precept, "we must cultivate our garden", in lieu of the Leibnizian mantra of Pangloss, "all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds". Candide is characterized by its sarcastic tone, as well as by its erratic, fantastical and fast-moving plot. A picaresque novel it parodies many adventure and romance clichés, the struggles of which are caricatured in a tone that is mordantly matter-of-fact. Still, the events discussed are often based on historical happenings, such as the Seven Years' War and the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. As philosophers of Voltaire's day contended with the problem of evil, so too does Candide in this short novel, albeit more directly and humorously. Voltaire ridicules religion, theologians, governments, armies, philosophies, and philosophers through allegory; most conspicuously, he assaults Leibniz and his optimism. As expected by Voltaire, Candide has enjoyed both great success and great scandal. Immediately after its secretive publication, the book was widely banned because it contained religious blasphemy, political sedition and intellectual hostility hidden under a thin veil of naïveté. However, with its sharp wit and insightful portrayal of the human condition, the novel has since inspired many later authors and artists to mimic and adapt it. Today, Candide is recognized as Voltaire's magnum opus and is often listed as part of the Western canon; it is arguably taught more than any other work of French literature. It was listed as one of The 100 Most Influential Books Ever Written.