Fatal Remedies

Publisher and industry reviews

UK Kirkus review

Crime writers try very hard to make their detectives quirky and lovable; it never seems to work on me. But Leon's Commissario Guido Brunetti has me helplessly in thrall, even though his only quirks - through the eight novels - are a taste for ancient history and getting home for lunch. It began when someone told me the books have luscious descriptions of Venice (they do) and page-turning plots (ditto); but it is the soft-eyed Brunetti who holds me. I like the way he looks forward to his wife Paola's lovingly described cooking (do not attempt these stories without a stock of fresh Parmesan) and the glimpses of his life as a citizen and parent in the melancholy, crumbling city. I like his feud with his boss, his chaste flirtations with Signorina Elettra in the outer office, and the way he plods through calle and campo, a humble figure at war with wickedness. In Fatal Remedies Brunetti's feminist wife Paola has been breaking windows, causing her husband moral and professional problems; thence intrigue in Venice, corruption on the Veneto, a sickening international trade and a whiff of Mafia. Just add Parmesan. Love it. Review by LIBBY PURVES Editor's note: Libby Purves is the author of More Lives Than One. (Kirkus UK)