As a Venetian police inspector, Guido Brunetti was called upon to investigate all manner of crimes, but when his mother-in-law’s best friend asked for a favor, Brunetti needed to find a gentle way to decline.

After all, the incident happened fifteen years ago, was probably not a crime, and was just not Brunetti’s problem. But the elderly lady needed closure, needed to know what really happened before she died.

Her teenage granddaughter had fallen into a canal and would have drowned if a drunk had not pulled her out. Unfortunately, brain damage left the girl a perpetual child, sweet and innocent, always a child.  The incident had been called an accident, but the grandmother wondered . . . was she pushed, or could she have jumped? And so, Brunetti began to look into things.

I love these books. I love the descriptions of wonderful food, of lovely Venice, of the everyday life of the Brunetti family. The solving of crimes is incidental, but is always quite interesting. I highly recommend Donna Leon.

eGalley review                  Publication date 3.8.16