Donna Leon | TRACE ELEMENTS

When Dottoressa Donato calls the Venetian Questura, reporting that a dying patient at the hospice Fatebenefratelli wants to speak to the police, Commissario Guido Brunetti and his colleague Commissario Claudia Griffoni know there is no time to waste. 'They killed him ... Bad money', are some of the sibylline words the patient Benedetta Tosi still manages to tell her visitors about her recently-deceased husband. Although the dying woman probably can't hear him, Brunetti promises to look into the woman's cryptic accusation. As so often happens, what starts as a private tragedy develops into a larger case and eventually a menace to the Veneto. In Donna Leon's superb new novel, Trace Elements, Brunetti - like the messenger of the gods - does not rest until he and his colleagues unravel the profound and perilous meaning of the dying woman's words. Donna Leon gives us rare insight into the human heart, and, together with her endearing characters, uncovers new and unforgettable facets of the human condition.