A Good Mystery

I don’t usually blog about my lighter reading–but here’s one just so you know I don’t always do only serious stuff.

So Shall You Reap by Donna Leon

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is one of the better books in this series. All the pieces end up being part of the solution. (Sometimes Leon inserts side issues that remain side issues.) The family relations, especially parent/child, are interesting, Guido’s awe over Venice architecture kept to a minimum. (Some of the past volumes have erred with too much, sounding like tourist brochures.) I did read the series in order, thus have been watching the family dynamics, the young ones’ development, Guido’s evolving attitudes, and enjoy them as much as the whodunnit aspect of the novels. These have managed not to become soap operas in their repetition.

The whodunnit was convincing, clear enough for me to anticipate some, but not all, of the ending. Electra was away at a conference, so I thought maybe here would be a novel without the expected deus ex machina of her computer skills; however, she returned early and her skills did bring everything into focus. Still it wasn’t as dominant as it sometimes is. Altogether a satisfying read.

If you want to read these, I do re comment you read them in order. They start with Death at La Fenice.



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