TTourists take note
Crime stories originated with Yank author Edgar Alan Poe writing The Murders In The Rue Morgue in the middle of the 19th century. Set in Paris, he realised that it wasn’t enough to give credit to the entire French police force to solve it and named an inspector as the protagonist.
Worldwide scriveners have followed suit ever since. Regardless of the venue, it’s the form. Variations are a change in the hero’s gender. Or private eye instead of police detective. Private lives and personalities differ. Yet single or married, boozers or gluttons, they are intrepid in hunting down the perp.
Scribes develop their own style, some more pleasing than others. Plots are limited and it is all they can do not to plagiarise. Imaginations might appear to be infinite, but aren’t. A word to publishers — 11- or 12-point fonts are preferable to 9- and 10-point.
Of the several crime thriller authors setting their stories in Italy, Donna Leon gets highest marks. Her 27 books to date have been well-received. She used to call Venice home. It is also the base for her literary creation Polizia Commissario Guido Brunetti.
Wed to a contessa’s daughter, Paola, for a quarter century, their two children are now leading their own lives. On his staff is Griffini, a computer whizz. In her spare time, she hacks those at the Ministry of the Interior. The author enjoys criticising Venice. The Waters Of Eternal Youth is filled with the city’s shortcomings.
There are more plausible plots. At 15, Manuela was pulled out of a canal half-drowned. Though recovered from her ordeal, her mind remains at that age. Even though 15 years have since passed and she’s physically a woman. Doctors and psychiatrists can’t explain it. Can Brunetti?
Lots of interviews ensue of those still living who remember her then. They recall that she liked to ride and the stablehand was infatuated with her. In the penultimate chapter, the commissario methodically breaks down the alibi. A compulsive page-turner.
The Venice Chamber of Commerce doubtless doesn’t approve of Donna Leon’s criticisms of the city she claims to love, but she tells it as it is. The place needs a complete overhaul.