Friends In High Places

Description

Detective novel writer Donna Leon's ninth book in the bestselling Commissario Brunetti crime series sees her Venetian hero drawn into an underworld of drugs and loan sharking. 'Leon's best so far ... I don't think I could really understand a crime fan who didn't love Donna Leon.' Scotland on Sunday Winner of the Crime Writers Association Macallan Silver Dagger Award for Fiction __________________________________ When Commissario Guido Brunetti is visited by a young bureaucrat investigating the lack of official approval for the building of his apartment years earlier, his first reaction, like any other Venetian, is to think of whom he knows who might bring pressure to bear on the relevant government department. But when the bureaucrat rings Brunetti at work, clearly scared, and is then found dead after a fall from scaffolding, something is obviously going on that has implications greater than the fate of Brunetti's apartment ...

Donna Leon was named by The Times as one of the 50 Greatest Crime Writers. She is an award-winning crime novelist, celebrated for the bestselling Brunetti series. Donna has lived in Venice for thirty years and previously lived in Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Iran and China, where she worked as a teacher. Donna's books have been translated into 35 languages and have been published around the world. Her previous novels featuring Commissario Brunetti have all been highly acclaimed; including Friends in High Places, which won the CWA Macallan Silver Dagger for Fiction, Fatal Remedies, Doctored Evidence, A Sea of Troubles and Beastly Things.

Leon's best so far ... I don't think I could really understand a crime fan who didn't love Donna Leon * Scotland on Sunday * Leon tells the story as if she loves Venice as much as her detective does, warts and all. The plot and subplots unfold elegantly; beauty and the beast march hand in hand, and the result is rich entertainment. * Sunday Times * All Donna Leon's novels are excellent in their evocation of place, while in Brunetti she has created a character who becomes more real in each book ... However, Friends in High Places is by far the best, and marks a quantum leap forward * Evening Standard * Leon is a skilful plotter ... Brunetti is a nicely shaded creation, a moral man who is also all too human. Friends in High Places is a splendid read, clever and provoking * The Observer * Friends in High Places [is an] elegant police procedural set in beautifully imagined Venice * Sunday Times *