Rising to Expectations

Donna Leon’s last few books were disappointingly lackluster and almost felt like they had not been written by her. So it was with great trepidation that we approached The Waters of Eternal Youth, The 25th Guido Brunetti Book, wondering whether we should read it at all. But we are fans and as such we always live in hope as far as our favourite writers are concerned. And this time the hope was justified. Leon seems to be back in full form, almost. Brunetti, his family and colleagues seemed themselves again and of course Venice, with its beauty and problems and food, which largely accounts for the appeal of the books, was ever present. 

Brunetti, Leon’s  food, book and family loving Commissario  of Police has been asked by his mother-in-law’s friend to look into a possible crime committed against her granddaughter fifteen years ago. The girl had fallen into a canal and remained underwater long enough for her brain to be damaged. But her grandmother was convinced that she had been pushed because being an aqua-phobic she would not have voluntarily walked close enough to the water to have fallen in accidentally. Typically, while carrying out the investigation Brunetti’s interactions with those around him, their discussions on life in Venice and the problems faced by the city provide the main focus of the book.

The reader also gets to see Brunetti physically ageing in this book and its not just a matter of his children getting older. He now feels the need to stop at the second landing, while climbing up to his flat, to catch his breath. He needs his reading glasses and is less sure of his footing on a wet street. These little personal insights, not to mention his pleasure in the Paccheri Con Tonno his wife serves him for dinner, make him, as always, a character the reader can easily identify with. Moreover there is the aspect of Brunetti’s moral compass, which, since Donna Leon is back in form, is evident that much more. In a cynical world, it is good to see humanity, at least within the pages of a book.

Brunetti’s colleague, Claudia Griffoni, also has a prominent role in the investigation, with her place in the Questura having developed over the last few books. Her relationship with Brunetti serves to bring a female point of view to the police work ( beyond that of the slightly frightening perfection of Signorina Elettra).

Only a woman while investigating a crime could with such assurance  reason that women don’t use knives to kill and the proof of this lies in the kitchen. 

“The knives are kept in the kitchen, and their husbands pass through there every day, countless times, yet very few of them get stabbed. That’s because women don’t use knives and they don’t stab people.”

We were also interested to learn that Italy has a statute of limitations, even for serious crimes. And that the period continue to run during the course of the trial. So if the trial takes too long and the conviction does not happen within the ten year period from the date of the crime, the accused can walk away free. All the more reason to procrastinate, one would think. Strange are the ways of criminal procedure. 

The Waters of Eternal Youth is a typical Donna Leon mystery in which the mystery is more a backdrop for the development and journey of it’s dramatis personae. As such you forget to look for the red herrings and loopholes in the plot and focus instead on the hard moral questions asked by the characters.