Donna Leon involves Commissario Guido Brunetti in current murder in the back corners of Venice and student activities from the violent political terrorist 1990's in So Shall You Reap. University ties, books, real estate and even an aged pet of the deceased that ended up with the nun's next door to the palazzo where the murdered Buddhist East Asian had been sheltering as a servant. What a small world. Brunetti met the victim when he knocked on the door of the palazzo to discover if it was for sale. Typical Venetian twists and turns. Enjoy.

This long running series features Guido Brunetti, a senior police officer in Venice. He is a Commissario, a rank he has held since Donna Leon first introduced him thirty-two books ago. One of the appeals of this series is that Brunetti is ageless as he walks about his beloved Venice, pausing to consider the architecture of churches and bridges. As always, reading Leon is a mental vacation. But there is a dark side to Venice as well, and when Brunetti investigates the brutal stabbing of an undocumented immigrant, he revisits the past of several suspects and witnesses, all connected to violent political movements of the past. As Brunetti peels back the layers of this case, with the help of Leon's superior cast of secondary characters, we learn about the social and political forces that led to this terrible crime. As always, highly recommended.

Like many a Donna Leon book, this one is light on plot. But like many a Donna Leon book, that doesn't matter. Her prose is lush, almost more a meditation than a story. Her descriptions are evocative and luminous. And importantly, she exhibits a masterful sensitivity for character development, such that each human component of the story, however fleeting, feels fully realized. Especially Brunetti, Leon's detective, is given such depth that readers could happily spend chapters experiencing his inner monologue as he wrestles with everything from unraveling the mystery at hand to determining what is right and good in a constantly shifting moral landscape. Leon's themes often touch on "big" issues: religion, climate change, and now, LGBTQ+ rights and extremism. Yes, there's a mystery, but part of the joy of reading this book is experiencing Leon, through Brunetti and her other characters, chew on what it means to normalize love, in all its forms, what it means to be an outsider, and how social upheaval changes us.

In addition to the rich host of human characters we meet along this meandering path, Leon treats Venice itself as a living, breathing organism. The success of this choice is perhaps one of Leon's finest achievements. In some stories, a focus on the setting and surroundings can outpace character development, leaving the reader with limp, two-dimensional inhabitants of a rich landscape. However, Leon manages to balance the two in a way that they feed off of and buttress each other. The city's shadows and sighs make the characters' activities more complex and nuanced.

You will not walk away from this book with a sense of tidy closure, as one does with many mysteries. You may not even remember all that well what happened, when pressed. But you will walk away from this book feeling as though you spent time in a very distinct place with some fascinating people thinking about some very important things. You will walk away fuller, more thoughtful, perhaps even wiser. And that is why readers keep picking up Donna Leon's books time and again.

Fans of Guido Brunetti, et al, will be disappponted in the 32nd installment of the popular series, So Shall You Reap It is, unfortunately, boring, and doesn’t generate the interest that most of the novels in the series does. Brunetti is called late at night to a citizen sighting of a body in the canal, which turns out to be the body of a Sri Lankan man who Brunetti saw the day before when he inquired about whether a property was for sale. As he is investigating the murder, he searches the garden house of the deceased and finds an interesting scrapbook full of pamphlets and leftist propaganda from many years ago. Some of the information is connected to the unsolved murder of a university professor, and as he uncovers clues, he finds that the new murder and the old are possibly connected.

While Leon captures the ambiance of Venice and the laid-back lifestyle of Brunetti, the story doesn’t grab like the previous novels. It is lackluster and it seems that Leon is losing steam. Brunetti isn’t as well-developed in this novel, and those who haven’t read the previous novels will find that he doesn’t have the drive or ambition he has exhibited previously. There are dozens of references to ancient writers as Brunetti has always been interested in, but even for a literature major, the references seem flat, just like this novel.

This is not one of Leon’s best, and fans will wonder if Leon is losing steam. There is nothing mysterious, thrilling, or suspenseful about this novel. Paola’s Italian dishes still sound wonderful and it would be much more fun to find a cookbook with her recipes for the dishes that she feeds her family. This one is disappointing.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

It is a mystery to me how Donna Leon keeps writing wonderful books. I suspect it is because she loves her characters, gives them wonderful dialogue, and she, and we, are always learning something new about them. I say this because, even though I've read every single book she has written, it is Brunetti's family that stays with me. It is his friendship and working relationships with Inspectors Vianello, Commissario Grifoni, and Signora Elettra that I talk about when I tell people about a Donna Leon book.

From living in Venice for twenty-five years, she has an amazing understanding of the Italians and Italian politics. Her knowledge informs almost every sentence of what these good police can do and how they think when they need to plan out something or discuss, in the case of this book, the murder of a Sri Lankan.

We are privy to Brunetti's thinking and philosophizing as he makes his way through the mystery of "who done it."
Brunetti is a careful man, he thinks through his actions and he is always learning about himself and the world in general. If I had a list of all the books he has read during these thirty-two books, I suspect I'd have a Course in Western Civilization.

If it sounds like very little actually happens in this book, that is partly true. The pleasure is getting to know the characters. They solve their murder but it's a whimper not a big band ending. Fine by me.

In the latest Brunetti mystery, Guido’s investigation into the murder of a man from Sri Lanka, leads him to look into terrorist activities in Italy in the 1980s. Always a good read.

Guidio must find a body to match a hand found in the canal. And them comes the process of finding out who it is and who murdered him. AS always the mystery continues until his team uncovers the many mysteries of Venice.

t is hard to believe that this is the 32nd book about Guido Brunetti. Donna Leon s going strong in her 80s. Personally, I would like this series to continue forever.

Leon has created one of the most human, humane and likeable of detectives. I admire Brunetti for the man that he is; he is an honest Commissario, and a good husband, father, coworker and friend.

Regular readers of the series will enjoy watching Guido troll through his bookshelves. What to keep in the space that he shares with Paola? Books also feature into the plot when a Sri Lankan man is murdered. He had an eclectic collection including titles on Italy’s political unrest in the 80s.

Regular readers will also enjoy finding out something new about Alvise, one of the police officers. Leon shows here that she can grow her characters. I very much enjoyed getting to know Alvise better.

And, for regulars, there is the mouthwatering food. Readers have shared many a good meal with Brunetti, Paola and their two children.

One last thing for the series aficionados…it takes a while for Elettra to be present. What conference has she gone to? Will she come back and do what she always does best?

Those who have never read a novel by this author are in for a treat. Just think of the backlist! Know that it is possible to read this novel as a standalone.

What led to the murder? How does this connect with a palazzo where someone Guido knew years ago lives? Will justice be served?

I highly recommend this book and series. Bravo, Donna Leon.

Publishers Weekly notes, “As usual, the rich backdrop of Venice complements the well-designed plot. Leon shows no signs of losing steam.” So true!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic Books for this title. All opinions are my own.

I’ve been enjoying the Commissario Brunetti series and listening/reading them - totally out of order - and not missing a beat. They can definitely be read as standalones. In Donna Leon’s latest book, once again we’re in Venice and Guido Brunetti is presented with a challenging situation - an undocumented Sri Lankan, who Brunetti met briefly, is found murdered. The man had been living in a small house on the grounds of a palazzo owned by a professor, whose wife Brunetti happens to know. Well, this is Venice after all! Clues from the murdered man’s residence include a range of books - on Buddhism, the Tamil Tigers, Italian terrorists from the 1980s. Is there a link? If you’re looking for a fast-paced, heart-pounding adventure mystery, the Commissario Brunetti books are not for you. Donna Leon’s books unfold like an onion, layer by layer, thoughtfully, compassionately, humorously, but with little wiggle room for the perpetrator. But I think this one was a tad slower and less exciting than some of the others. Donna Leon is so insightful and has a keen window into the psyche of people - she understands motives, thoughts, and feelings. This is what makes her books so enjoyable - it’s not just the cases to be solved, it’s how they are resolved that is so satisfying. While these books are mysteries, what makes them even more enjoyable is the social, cultural, and political backdrop that the author lays out for us - the good and the bad. I felt this book didn’t do as much justice to the author’s talent and skills as much as some of her other books. But I still enjoyed it and love all the great characters, especially of course, the warm and intelligent Commissario Guido Brunetti! I’ve rated this a 3.5 rounded up to 4. Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

A new installment of Donna Leon’s long-running Commisssario Guido Brunetti series always promises lush depictions of Venetian scenery, delicious food eaten, coffee breaks taken, books read, etc., while incidentally a crime gets solved. The current novel introduces a real estate element—how social networking (the in-person kind) helps facilitate transactions in a close-knit community. By chance, a Sri Lankan immigrant found dead in a canal turns out to have lived in a palazzo that was the subject of recent discreet inquiries by Guido Brunetti on behalf of a family friend and prospective buyer. From here the case leads into reminiscences about the youthful and naive political activities of Guido’s college friends. As always, the case feels secondary. The details about interpersonal relationships and cultural background are enjoyable but make for a leisurely pace—too leisurely, if you are used to more standard police procedurals. If you expect this at the outset you will be able to enjoy the novel for what it is without wishing for faster action.

Thanks to Netgalley and Grove Atlantic for a digital advance review copy.

‘So Shall You Reap’ grabs one’s interest straight away. Like Brunetti, we are just settling in with an old friend, reacquainting ourselves & getting comfortable, when there is an unexpected interruption... and off we go! One of the great pleasures about reading Donna Leon’s books is that they are so ‘slice-of-life’ – well, maybe not our lives, which is why we like them so much. But enough detail – of just the right kind – is given for us to feel a part of the scene.
Is this really the 32nd book in this series?!? It doesn’t seem possible, yet none of them are ‘clones’ : the writer is still able to come up with fresh plots every time. I appreciate that they are teaching me about life in Italy, in the past as well as the present, & from an ‘insider’ point-of-view. Each book extends my Italian vocabulary as well, so whilst each & every storyline may not be quite my ‘thing’ I can still feel I am learning. Thankyou, Donna Leon, & long may the series continue! 4 1/2 stars

I honestly do not know why I keep doing in, keep choosing Donna Leon's books to read. I guess I am still hoping for the joy of the first books in the series... However, I am sorely disappointed, once again.
This book felt like the author had a list of current hot-topics and virtue signals and kept ticking them of while writing this book.
So Shall You Reap lost all the interest, depth but it gained very busy language that is so hard to comprehend, I had to re-read some passages numerous times. And Brunetti lost his appeal...
Very disappointing

Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC of this book, in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I've read every book in this series, and always grab the newest one as soon as possible. Over the 32 books, it's been fascinating to watch the development of the characters and the plot. In the last few books, we've been seeing more of an atmosphere that Brunetti is getting older (although we never really get a solid indication of his age), and getting a lot more philosophical about life.

A minor subplot here is Brunetti's finding that Alvise is gay, and his attempt to make sure that this is not held against him in the department. That, however, is a very minor subplot, and the main story involves the murder of a Sri Lankan who is living in Venice. While searching the cottage where he lived, Brunetti finds information about 4 Venetian men (including the one who owns the estate where the cottage was located) who were involved in political activities, possibly terrorism, in the 1980s..While investigating the possible connection to the murder, Brunetti revisits that time period in his own life.

It's fascinating to see him revisit his own beliefs and activities as a young man, as well as hearing about Vianello's activities at that time. They muse about how their beliefs have modified, and also think about the actions that young people may take, which can lead to unanticipated consequences.

All of this ties together in the resolution of the crime, which is not terribly surprising, but is satisfying. All in all, I enjoyed this very much, and I am eager to see where the series goes next.

This is a series that continues to be one of my favorites. Commissario Guido Brunetti is a wonderful character, a man we have seen grow in his job, seen interacting with family and friends and we look forward to catching up with him in each new mystery. I'm never disappointed.
Venice is more than a location to showcase his cases. She is a living, breathing character and each book transports me back to the times I have spent there. Donna Leon has a way with words and setting scenes that is pitch perfect. For example, instead of going on trying to show how well Guido and his two fellow officers get along, she shows the reader. Guido, Vianello and Griffoni are walking three abreast, conversing about local crime. "Hearing his question, Griffoni, who has been walking on the right side, closest to the buildings, changed places to walk between the two men, the better to hear what Vianello, who was walking near the water, had to say" They are in perfect harmony and they make a great investigative team. This time they are faced with a body found in a canal. The man was an immigrant from Sri Lanka and Guido had spoken with him only the day before. When they search his residence - the guest house of a palazzo - they find books that paint a puzzling picture of his interests and politics. Without official documentation at hand Guido turns to local gossip, the man's friends and lots of old fashioned foot work.
The puzzle is very satisfying, there is a good balance of humor and seriousness, light and dark - both in tone and in weather and I very much enjoyed my armchair visit to one of my favorite cities.
My thanks to the publisher Atlantic Monthly Press and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

So Shall You Reap is the thirty-second book in Donna Leon’s Commissario. Brunetti series and the reader is once again treated to all of the charm that Venice has to offer. In the late evening Brunetti receives a call regarding a possible body in one of the canals. The victim is Inesh Kavinda, a Sri Lankan immigrant who is living in the guest house behind a palazzo. The palazzo is owned by a university professor and his wife, a woman that Brunetti has previously met. She had found Inesh mugged in front of their home eight years ago and offered him a home in exchange for some maintenance. On Inesh’s shelves Brunetti finds books on Buddhism as well as those on Italy’s political problems of the 1980s. They take him back to his own days at the university when students fought for change. There is also a scrapbook filled with articles reflecting the ideas and threats of the time. Brunetti is sure that the scrapbook is tied to the murder. The articles were all written under assumed names. If he can discover the actual names of the authors, it may reveal the connection.

Commissario Brunetti is joined by his associates Claudia Griffoni and Inspettore Vianello. They have a comfortable working relationship and their mutual respect is evident. Brunetti is also a devoted husband and father. Scenes around a dinner table with his family evoke a feeling of comfort. Brunetti finally ties Inesh’s death to an unsolved crime from those earlier years, but it is Sara, Inesh’s dog, who points him to the solution. Fans of Louise Penny will fall in love with Commissario Brunetti and his Venice. I would like to thank NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for providing this book for my review.

I’ve been a fan of this series for years now. Although not every book has been a five star read, most of them have been great. This is the 32nd book in the series and I am happy to say it’s one of the best!

Brunetti has to investigate the murder of a Sri Lankan man whom he casually met the day before while doing a favor for his father-in-law. In doing so, he is forced to reflect on his student days –when his political thoughts were a certainty– and on how we conduct our lives after idealism ends.

4 stars!! And I will absolutely continue with this awesome series!

On a cold November evening, Guido Brunetti and Paola are up late when a call from his colleague Ispettore Vianello arrives, alerting the Commissario that a hand has been seen in one of Venice's canals. The body is soon found, and Brunetti is assigned to investigate the murder of an undocumented Sri Lankan immigrant. As the investigation expands, Brunetti, Vianello, Commissario Griffoni, and Signorina Elettra each assemble pieces of a puzzle-random information about real estate and land use, books, university friendships-that appear to have little in common. Until Brunetti stumbles over something that transports him back to his own student days, causing him to reflect on lost ideals and the errors of youth, on Italian politics and history, and on the accidents that sometimes lead to revelation.
Another engrossing read in this long running series & I thoroughly enjoyed it. This is a well written book which saunters rather than runs, which made me able to appreciate the prose, descriptions & characters. As this book deals with events from a few decades ago, details about Brunetti as a student are revealed. An enthralling read, which I thoroughly enjoyed
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read

This is another great story about Venice, and policeman Bruno Brunetti and his his colleagues Vianello and Griffoni. Brunetti is a great character - a compassionate police man and good husband and father. He and Vianello rescue Alvise from. Being arrested at a march for gay rights. When Bruno’s wife Paola tells him the son of a friend of wants to buy the palazzo belonging to a university professor, he remembers that his friend Louigi’s daughter Gloria is married to Molin. Brunetti goes to the palazzo. A Sri Lanken who answers says the palazzo is not for sale.

After dinner, Vianello calls to to tell Brunetti that a body has been found in the canal. When the body is pulled out, Brunetti immediately recognizes him as the Shi Lanken. He had defense wounds on his hands, blood stains on his clothing, and puncture wounds on his body. Later a witness says he saw someone push a man off the bridge.

Gradually Brunetti gets clues. He knew Molin, Rubini, and Nesi were friends who were in university when he was, and that they were all in a class with Professor Loreti just before he disappeared after going out to meet someone after dinner for a drink. When Brunetti asks Elettra to find the films on the street cameras, the case can be closed.

Of course, Brunetti always solves his case; this time he solves a cold case as well.

So Shall You Reap is the thirty-second book in the Commissario Brunetti series by award-winning American-born author, Donna Leon. Another visit to Guido Brunetti’s Venice, and it’s a good one! While there are plenty of day-to-day tasks and issues keeping Commissario Guido Brunetti busy, it’s the vicious stabbing murder of an undocumented Sri Lankan servant that draws his attention from them.

What is unsettling is that Guido spoke to the man only the day before his death, while trying to do his father-in-law a favour. Those who know Inesh Kavinda well pronounce him a good, kind man, so Guido is puzzled to find “the books he’d seen on the shelves: they were morally at odds with the man described to him” on topics like the Tamil Tigers and the Italian terrorists of the 1980s.

Guido patiently talks to the man’s employer and the neighbours, but he is still mystified as to why someone would want to kill him. By the time Guido has gathered a number of apparently-unrelated names that he feels are somehow connected to the murder, Signorina Elettra Zorzi has returned from a cybersecurity conference with a handy website address that may just help to tie it all together.

Against a background of a Sardinian pecorino tasting, a respected colleague’s imminent retirement, a call from Genova about a Venetian stalker, the relocation of a walnut door and frame at the Questura, baby gangs progressing from looting and vandalism to violence on the vulnerable, the tedium of personnel assessments, and an art thief taking a different career direction, the true facts of the mystery gradually unfold.

As well, a certain incident in Treviso causes Guido and Lorenzo realise how little they know about the personal lives of those they work with every day; Guido narrowly escapes a cobra-like attack from Paola about sensitivity; and he wishes for a Roman augur to help him deal with Vice-Questore Patta. One thing that will endear Guido to the reader is his ready acceptance that he does not know it all, that others might know better: he is willing to learn and seems utterly devoid of arrogance.

Leon’s descriptive prose is delightful: “Bocchese was at his desk, along with the detritus of days, if not years. Papers, reports, surveys, drawings lay across his desk like leaves in October. There was no order, no plan, only apparent chaos, anti-design, mess. Yet Bocchese, by some system he nursed in his bosom and revealed to no one, could find in that clutter, with the accuracy of a heron spearing a fish, any paper requested of him.” Leon manages to convey her setting with consummate ease. This is another excellent dose of Italian crime fiction.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Grove Atlantic

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley.

This is the latest and, in my opinion, one of the best Donna Leon novels with Commissario Brunetti as the main character. As always, the city of Venice plays a major role in the police procedural. The attention to detail in the local settings and navigation on the canals makes you feel that you are there. I particularly enjoy the emphasis on Brunetti's relationships with his family and his colleagues. The reader feels that he knows all of them personally.

In this episode, there are three sub-plots. One of the police officers is arrested at a gay-rights parade and we watch how his fellow officers react. The second story revolves around an art thief who has recently been released from prison. Rumor has it that he is "back in business." The most upsetting case begins when a hand is seen above the waters of a canal. The hand is attached to a body and this murder is the principle mystery needing closure by Brunetti and his crew.

As ever, I look forward to future novels in this great series.