| Title | : | Doctored Evidence (Commissario Brunetti, #13) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0871139189 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780871139184 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 245 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 2004 |
| Awards | : | Gumshoe Award Best European Crime Novel (2005) |
Doctored Evidence (Commissario Brunetti, #13) Reviews
-
I’m a big fan of the Commissario Brunetti series. But this one was a little dull for my taste. While they would never be called fast paced, this one seemed to take forever to get going. And there wasn’t as much of the sly humor I’ve come to expect.
An old woman is found murdered in her apartment. The police immediately suspect her caretaker, who dies while trying to escape them. But additional facts come to light which makes Brunetti suspect she was not the murderer. Brunetti considers possible culprits, all with a different potential motive. Meanwhile, Paula is reading a book on the seven deadly sins, which colors Brunetti’s thoughts on the case.
Fingers crossed this is a monetary blip and the next book will soon return to the fun I associate with this series. That said, this is an easy listen. -
Doctored Evidence, 13th novel in Donna Leon's Commissario Brunetti Series deals with the investigation into the brutal murder of a unpopular elderly woman. Suspicion falls upon her maid, who has vanished. When the maid is killed fleeing from the police, Brunetti takes a closer look to home....the old woman's son.
We get a look into the police work in more detail and we also we see a lot more of Brunetti's relationship with his co-workers. The politics and the underhand methods that are used to undermine the work the good cops are doing in seeing the bad guys brought to justice.
Brunetti's relationship with Paola, his wife, continues to amaze me....I enjoy their interaction.....“There’s a chapter here,” she said, pointing at the page she’d been reading, “on the Seven Deadly Sins.”
…(B)y thinking eschatologically,’ he said: ‘Death. Judgement. Heaven. Hell.’
‘You don’t really believe in any of that, do you?’ asked an astonished Paola.
‘There are times when it would be nice,’ he said…
I enjoyed this one...but not one of my favorite in this series. -
This is possibly one of the most boring Brunetti books yet, but I'm upping it a star because of the neat tie-in with the title at the end. Donna Leon dropped the mic on that one and walked away, brushing her shoulders off. Some things I enjoyed in this installment:
- Signora Gismondi! I would read her diary. The idea that she met her lover in London before coming home to her Venetian apartment to cook a pasta with garlic and eggplant fills me with envy.
- Vianello and Brunetti go out for lunch and the restaurants are closed because it's too hot, so they sulk because their wives have made pasta and they've missed it. Direct quote: "They returned to the Questura, oppressed by the still-growing heat and their mutual resentment at having had to lunch on sandwiches." #venetianproblems
- Patta appeared only once, but I appreciated Brunetti's reflections on training a new southerner to head the department.
- The entire Questura auguring the sky to see if the weather is nice enough for the department meeting to be cancelled was a great image.
This list is not nearly long enough, which is probably because I found the Seven Deadly Sins theme not particularly palatable. Brunetti Hulks out a couple too many times in this book. I'm also here for the Vianello/Brunetti bromance, so when that is threatened I am immediately suspicious.
Also, aside from the great scene where Signora Gismondi cooks, there is not enough food in this book. Paola only cooks a couple of times, and the other times she's letting Brunetti know the meals that he's missing out on. (What about the meals that I'M missing out on, Leon??) -
The first half gave some excellent characterizations for the murder victim and her home health worker. And also some intense incite into Scarpa's mode of thinking and sycophant habits.
But the banking minutia, the habits of the relatives of the deceased, and all their subsequent money trailing associations- that all was BELOW the 3 star level. Not only boring, but when Guido returned home now and again, there was Paola discussion that, to me, verged on obnoxious. And not just for Paola's input either. Such elitist opinions about how much money is "enough" to save! Or what greed is? But it was more than that, both of them seemed like pills for what they experience, hold, own etc.
At times in this one with the corruption levels and the assumptions of crooked job bids taken as a given, I found that the judgmental quality of the Brunetti's (all of them) became off-putting by comparison. And especially upon deciding what English ideas are vile or noble- or sounding like one while being the other. And at the same time venting cynicism themselves.
At times I feel that Donna Leon gets all her own politico venting and spewing in regardless of the story line. In this one, she sure it.
In the end, the perp was along a completely different alley. One as pompous as some of the Brunetti's conversations.
This one has next to no humor. And a dead pet. Not one I would recommend. -
In this installment, Commissario Brunetti investigates a case Lt. Scarpa dismissed based on circumstantial evidence. The old woman who was a nuisance to her neighbors because she listened to her television at a loud volume was assaulted and murdered. Money from her bank accounts disappeared almost instantaneously. His wife, reading their daughter's textbook, makes a remark about the seven deadly sins which guides his investigation. Suspects abound, but he identifies the person responsible for the crime, clearing the reputation of an immigrant woman. I listened to David Colacci's excellent audio narration. I enjoyed turning over Guido's wife's remark in my own head as well.
-
I haven't visited Venice and the Brunetti family for a while, so let's hop a vaporetto and check out what the good Commissario Brunetti is up to.
Well, it seems he's up to the same old thing - fighting the good fight (usually a losing fight) against the endemic corruption in Venetian and Italian society. This is the thirteenth in Donna Leon's popular series and it was published in 2004, so we are slowly getting closer to the current day.
The case that is drawing Brunetti's attention this time around is the brutal murder of an old woman in her apartment. The murder had happened a few weeks before and had been quickly "solved" by the odious Lieutenant Scarpa. It was determined that the woman's Romanian carer had killed her and then she herself had been killed when struck by a train while fleeing police. Brunetti's fatuous superior, Patta, is, of course, delighted with the quick result.
Then a neighbor who has been out of the country contacts the police to provide an alibi for the Romanian. She knows that she could not possibly have killed her employer. Scarpa is not happy and doesn't want to hear it, so he passes her off to Brunetti. Brunetti listens to her story and believes her. He decides to investigate but will have to do it on the sly since Patta considers the case closed.
He soon learns that the woman was universally despised and there are any number of people who might have wanted to kill her. As he and Vianello and Signorina Elettra dig into the background and finances of the victim, searching for a possible motive, they find several bank accounts with a substantial sum of money. Money is always a good motive, but Brunetti suspects something more personal and keeps digging.
While he digs, of course, he still goes home for lunch and dinner each day, prepared by his gourmet cook wife, Paola, and enjoys his meals with her and their son and daughter, now teenagers. The family's interactions around the dinner table are always some of the best moments of these books. His conversations with his wife keep him grounded and give him and the reader a lot to think about - in this case, it's the Seven Deadly Sins!
Maybe the deadliest sin of all is pride and the fear of being shamed. It's the cause of much misery in the world.
The play on words behind the title of the book becomes clear near the end and brings a smile. Clever plotting and a quick and undemanding read. -
Not for me. The attitude towards women and the lackluster twists really disappointed me.
-
Reading this book in the series, one could experience shock after shock. I absolutely loved this book.
Signorina Elettra ***gasp*** made a MISTAKE!...turns out it occurred some years before.
The lawyer's dog died - I HATED that. Closest DL has come to gratuitous violence in any of her books in the series - because in my view the horrible death of the beautiful golden retriever did not have a thing to do with moving the plot.
Brunetti & Viannello were close to having a fight...which ended a few pages later with some American slang and a guffaw.
Brunetti forgot everything he learned on a particular point of police procedure.
The Dutch couple was quite gullible.
Brunetti fell and hurt himself on the third Madonna, the key to the mystery.
Brunetti finally cracked, while discussing the case with Scarpa. "Brunetti's face was suffused with blood and rage." Not a common occurence.
The arrest of the perp was surprisingly quick and easy, but still strangely satisfying.
Not a surprise: Brunetti had read The March of Folly and could quote from it.
Finally, an unsurprising case of life imitating art, although only slightly: 3 years after publication of Doctored Evidence, Karl-Theodor Maria Nikolaus Johann Jacob Philipp Franz Joseph Sylvester Buhl-Freiherr von und zu Guttenberg turned in his infamous Thesis to the University of Bayreuth, Bavaria, Germany. Four years later, in 2011, his Doctorate was revoked after a plagiarism investigation and he resigned his high post at the German Defense Ministry. -
"Um amigo seu inglês observara, certa ocasião, que viver ali era como viver num loony bin. Brunetti não fazia ideia do que era um loony bin, nem onde ficava, mas isso não o impedira de acreditar que o amigo estava certo. Com o tempo, pôde comprovar que era uma descrição precisa de Itália."
O décimo terceiro livro da série do Comissário Guido Brunetti começa com a descoberta de um corpo brutalmente assassinado de uma idosa antipática detestável. Avarenta, rabugenta e sempre mal-humorada, a vitima era um tormento para todos os seus vizinhos, pois tinha a televisão no volume máximo, durante todo o dia e toda a noite.
O caso é rapidamente resolvido e é quando Brunetti chega das suas férias, que aparece uma nova testemunha, obrigando à reabertura da investigação. Numa batalha com o seu colega e rival tenente Scarpa, o comissário emprega todas as suas forças e conhecimentos para alcançar a verdade. Mas quem tem inimigos, também tem aliados e Brunetti tem a ajuda do fiel inspetor Vianello e da Signorina Elettra, a secretária da Questura que não tem medo de infringir as regras para descobrir a informação necessária. Entre as suas muitas qualidades, destacam-se os seus dotes de hacker profissional, que continuam a surpreender o comissário e as quais já não dispensa.
Para Brunetti a justiça não tem contornos definidos e é pintada com várias tonalidades distintas. Porém, neste mistério italiano que nos leva a passear pela bela cidade de Veneza, o comissário está mais impaciente e respondão!
Em "Provas Manipuladas" temos o prazer de reencontrar Patta, o chefe convencido e impertinente do comissário, bem como a sua família, que já tão bem conhecemos. Paola, a mulher de Brunetti, continua tão bonita e inteligente como anteriormente, e nesta história a sua leitura de mesinha de cabeceira proporciona uma discussão curiosa e interessante sobre os sete pecados mortais e o seu impacto cada vez menor na sociedade atual. Como sempre, os dotes culinários de Paola são evidenciados, com descrições fabulosas de pratos italianos, que nos deixam com água na boca.
Donna Leon criou um conjunto de personagens único, com personalidade fortes e opiniões distintas e é através delas que nos dá a conhecer a cidade de Veneza e os venezianos, com tudo o que têm de bom e de mau. Neste livro é abordado o preconceito em relação aos imigrantes e aos homossexuais. Também se estende ao mundo das finanças e da política, ainda que superficialmente.
Acima de tudo, Donna Leon é uma autora que se preocupa com os detalhes e evidencia tanto os seus mistérios, como as suas personagens. Ler a série do Brunetti é como estar em casa, onde as pessoas nos são familiares e o ambiente que nos rodeia nos faz sentir seguros e confortáveis.
"Quando era criança, tinham-lhe ensinado que o paraíso era um mundo sem pecado, mas este admirável mundo que tinha perdido o sentido do pecado, onde ele se encontrava, não era nenhum paraíso." -
After the raging disappointment that was
Through a Glass Darkly, I'm tempted to give this book a higher rating than it deserves based just on how much better it was. So I'll settle for three stars, which in my mind translates to "pretty good, I guess."
The truth is I'm getting a little bored with Commissario Brunetti. So many little things are starting to grate at me: the way he lovingly describes every article of clothing and jewelry his smokin' colleague Signorina Elettra is wearing every damn day, his constant mind-bitching whenever he's so busy he can't go home for lunch and spend an hour eating a fabulous home-cooked meal (honestly, he has to eat lunch in a restaurant once and will not shut up about how he has to lower himself to sandwiches), and of course Leon's half-assed attempts to connect every crime to some classical work of art. This time it's the Seven Deadly Sins, and I won't even bother to explain the connection because it barely works and is kind of stupid.
Now we're really getting into the nitpicking, but this part just drove me crazy so I'm going to quote it. So Brunetti is thinking about Signorina Elettra and how it annoys him that she wasn't in the office once when he needed her. The following passage is recorded exactly as it appears in the book, with nothing omitted.
"That in turn provoked a flash of shame at the moment's rage he'd felt at her absence. Like Otello, he had a lieutenant who could corrupt his best feelings.
As though forewarned that today she was to play Desdemona, Signorina Elettra wore a loose dress of gossamer white linen, her hair hanging loose down her back."
But...Leon, you just said she was Cassio, not Desdemona. Or I am reading something wrong? Either way, it's lazy narration and it annoyed me a lot more than it should have. -
The murder of an old woman takes place when Brunetti is away on holiday with his family in Ireland and so the case is handled by Lieutenant Scarpa. It appears to be an open-and-set case with the Romanian maid seen as guilty due to her precipitous escape home. But when a neigbour of the dead woman returns from a trip to a language course in London, and presents new evidence, Brunetti secretly reopens the case.
The case is set against the backdrop of Brunetti's wife Paola reading their daughter's religious studies book and Brunetti explores the motives in relation to the 7 deadly sins: pride, lust, greed, sloth, gluttony, jealousy and wrath and how in this modern age they are not considered as deadly as before.
We get to see a bit more of Lieutenant Scarpa in this book and see that he is really a nasty piece of work. Brunetti has to go toe to toe with him and may have to pay the consequences in the future. -
One of Leon's unforgettable beginnings - "She was an old cow and he hated her." - proceeds to an equally terse and memorable conclusion. Along the way, the Scarpa intrigue becomes a confrontation, and Brunetti examines the Seven Deadly Sins in the light of modern justice. A repulsive victim, a mediocre "victim," not to mention several examples of true virtue, including a Romanian caregiver and a golden retriever. One of Leon's best.
-
Another Venetian mystery from Donna Leon, with its usual share of corruption, delicious food, and problematic policemen. As ever, Leon is exceptional at conveying a sense of place, especially given the small geographic area that is Venice. I liked the red herrings, and didn't guess the culprit until the end, which is what I want from a mystery novel.
-
Meh...
Not up to the level of several other Leone books. -
Only this summer did I chance upon Donna Leon's Commissario Brunetti books and have devoured four in the last two weeks. These have charm and warmth, uncommon qualities in 'tec stories, yet are anything but precious. The visit to a corner-cutting slaughterhouse in
Beastly Things is fierce. An important element of each book is the home life of the Commissario and his family. He's a lucky man. The title of
Doctored Evidence is an ambiguous clue to motive for murder in a country where the appellation "Dottore" or "Dotoressa" is freely offered as a generic term of respect without regard to academic qualifications. Off today to the well-stocked public library to score another two in the series.
P.S. If you like the Inspector Ghote novels of HRF Keating, set in Mumbai, you will like these set in Venice. Brunetti is as far removed from Ghote in education, social status and place in the police hierarchy as Venice is from Mumbai, but both are lovable to their respective wives (only one each) and to readers. Ghote is more scrupulous, to the point of imperiling his career. "You're the one," an apprehended pickpocket tells him in
Bats Fly Up for Inspector Ghote "who never falsifies the evidence." Brunetti, by contrast, searches without a warrant by picking the lock and relies on a colleague to gather intelligence on the 'net by deceptive and frankly illegal means. They are both men of honor. -
This one really failed to grab my attention and I found it quite boring.
-
Donna Leon is the perfect author for serial addicts. She has created a great set of characters; sets her books in a wonderful city (Venice) for the readers to explore; and gives a moderate dose of philosophy or morality for us to ponder. I love her! Perhaps the only reason I have given this book three stars, not four, is that I've read three or four of her mysteries now and have high expectations---I know she'll be good, so I am not gob-smacked by how wonderful the books are.
If any readers recall the series of "business" mysteries by Emma Lathen (featuring a bank executive as detective) they will be familiar with the notion of an extraordinary secretary who has the not-so-subtle knack of making her superior look less capable than she. Leon's books feature the excellent Signorina Elettra who is impossibly chic, tremendously capable, and always brings a smile to my face. She is critical to the solution of all the murders and equally important to the pleasurable camaraderie of the police staff.
Enough of this---I have two more Donna Leon mysteries to read this weekend. -
I enjoy reading about the Brunetti family, to hear about Raffi and Chiara and the banter between Paola and Guido. I envy their kids sometimes about what food Paola cooks for them. Half of the time I think about diving into traditional Italian cooking and the other half of the time my stomach grumbles angrily and wants to be fed. I have not gotten myself one of the meals Paolo cooks though.
The mystery can easily become a side kick, though I think looking at it this way is strange. The character development is the best part of Leon's books.
When I finished the book I remembered vaguely that I watched the series on TV ages (years) ago.
I thought it was tragic that we think about the Rom or Roma or Gypsies in such a negative way and the more they and their lifestyle was thematised in the book, I got sadder and angrier. (...)
While thinking about I suppose that I got stuck with a certain image in my head. Something that was totally disconnected from the book itself. -
Maria Grazia Battestini is a greedy and selfish old lady who is generally disliked by her neighbours and by the succession of poor immigrant women who are paid to care for her. When she is murdered, suspicion falls on her latest carer, a Romanian woman called Flori, who is arrested with a false passport and a large sum of money as she tries to leave the country. As Flori tries to escape, she falls under a train and is killed. However, when Commissario Brunetti receives information that casts doubt on Flori’s guilt, he begins his own investigation.
As always, Donna Leon’s focus is not primarily on the plot, although this plot does introduce a variety of suspects with potential motives and intriguing connections to the dead woman. Alongside this, Leon examines various aspects of corruption in Italian society and links them to the seven deadly sins. There are also interesting developments in the working relationship of Signorina Elettra and Ispettore Vianello, and a satisfying encounter between Brunetti and the slimy Scarpa. -
An old woman beaten to death in her home, her maid is on the run, and all is not what it seems. Another intriguing Brunetti mystery where he has to manipulate his political foe to go beyond what appears to the truth to actually finding the truth.
An old, bitter, nasty woman is found beaten in her home; so many suspects as it appears she was hated by everyone who came into her path. I don't know Italian laws, but I always chuckle when Brunetti casually does something that would appear to be, shall we say, not entirely really legal. Breaking into the old ladies home to go through her stuff, utilizing hackers to find information (although to fair, the hackers do work for the police) - but he always finds his killer.
I love his relationship with his wife and kids and as always, the description of the food he eats makes me so incredibly hungry. Never disappointed with a Brunetti murder. -
An elderly woman, apparently universally despised, has been found murdered in her apartment. The prime suspect, her housekeeper, dies while fleeing from police officers seeking to arrest her. Case closed? Not quite. A neighbour contacts the police to defend the housekeeper, and Brunetti alone is willing to believe her, agreeing to dig deeper into the case.
An entertaining read as always, but did we really need to bring those vile stereotypes about gay people in here? Not a fan of the fact that there were apparently zero consequences for the bitch who poisoned the dog either. -
I accidentally jumped ahead with this novel but I highly enjoyed it and plan to read the rest of the series. In fact, I am not doing my "assigned reading" and instead grabbing up these to read:)
-
Thirteen books in and still really enjoying this series. Looking forward to the next one.
-
Enjoyable as always. Brunetti has learned that you can't always stick to the rules if you want to see results.
-
Italy’s bureaucracy hurts in this book. As does the obstinate of antagonist Scapa. Not only does Brunetti have to solve the crime, he has to do so while fighting the system. Brunetti has his allies, who are loyal and helpful, and he has his antagonist, who obfuscate and thwart his progress.
There is always a convenient contact, previously unknown person, or (sometimes) a complete stranger appearing and helping Brunetti find the threads he can pull on and explore to solve the crime. In this rendition it is a concerned Venetian who comes forward. I think this convenience is just a bit too convenient in some of Leon’s books. -
4 stars - Dutch hardcover
This is probably my favorite of Donna Leon's Brunetti mysteries. The story had me hooked at the first sentence and kept me gripped all the way. While I always enjoy the descriptions of Paola's culinary creations, they often distract from the main plot. Here they were more limited, and the mealtime discussions actually helped to further the plotline.
And by the way, as I will continue to state in any future reviews, Signorina Elletra Is absolutely adorable and a wonderful foil for the often dour Commisario. -
Another entertaining mystery in the Commissario Brunetti series. This time, an elderly woman who is hated by pretty much everyone who came into contact with her is murdered. There appears to be an obvious suspect, who dies before being arrested, so the case appears to be resolved. But Commissario Brunetti, as usual, isn't buying it, and he, along with his faithful team, figures out the real murderer and why.
