The Waters Of Eternal Youth

The twenty-fifth mystery in the New York Times–bestselling series “is cause for celebration. . . . Leon brilliantly exposes the corrupt world of Venice” (Bay Area Reporter). At a fundraising dinner for a Venetian charity, a wealthy and aristocratic patroness asks Brunetti if he will investigate the fifteen-year-old attempted drowning of her granddaughter, which left the girl irreparably brain damaged. Brunetti’s not sure what to do, but out of a mixture of curiosity, pity, and a willingness to fulfill the wishes of a guilt-wracked older woman—who happens to be his mother-in-law’s best friend—he agrees. Brunetti soon finds himself unable to let the case rest, if indeed there is a case. Awash in the haunting story of a woman trapped in a damaged perpetual childhood and the rhythms and concerns of contemporary Venetian life, from historical preservation to housing to new waves of African migrants, The Waters of Eternal Youth is another wonderful addition to this series. “Donna Leon’s Venetian mysteries never disappoint . . . A bittersweet story that makes us appreciate Brunetti’s philosophical take on the indignities, insanities, and cruelties of life.” —The New York Times Book Review “A new Brunetti adventure is always worth celebrating. . . . In a marvelous and moving last scene, we glimpse a moment of almost transcendent beauty that makes us realize again how important this series is to our reading lives.” —Booklist (starred review) “Leon’s latest novel marks the 25th anniversary of her wonderfully atmospheric series. . . . A sweet poignancy flows through Leon’s narrative like the faint smell of chrysanthemums bordering the ancient palazzos.” —Minneapolis Star-Tribune

A New York Times bestseller: The police investigate the death of a veterinarian in Venice, Italy in this “swiftly paced” mystery (The Seattle Times). When the body of man is found in a canal, damaged by the tides, carrying no wallet, and wearing only one shoe, Guido Brunetti has little to work with. No local has filed a missing-person report, and no hotel guests have disappeared. The autopsy shows he had suffered from a rare, disfiguring disease. A shopkeeper tells Brunetti that the man had a kindly way with animals. Finally, the victim is identified as a much-loved veterinarian—and Brunetti’s quest to find the killer will take him on a harrowing journey . . . “All her trademark strengths shine in this swiftly paced, sophisticated tale of greed versus ethics.” —The Seattle Times “Written with such delicacy and emotional force that we can’t help but be reminded of Greek tragedy.” —Booklist, starred review

Nominated for the Edgar Award for Best Novel * Nominated for the ITW Thriller Award for Best Young Adult Novel A BookPage Best Book of the Year * A People Magazine Best Book of Summer* A Parade Best Book of Summer * A Crime Reads Most Anticipated Book of Summer "Powerful...a breathtaking read, with flawed and authentic characters who hit so close to home that at times it is impossible not to root for them." — San Francisco Chronicle A body burns in the high desert hills. A boy walks into a fire station, pale with the shock of discovery. A middle school teacher worries when her colleague is late for work. By day’s end, when the body is identified as local math teacher Adam Merkel, a small Nevada town will be rocked to its core. Adam Merkel left a university professorship in Reno to teach middle school in Lovelock seven months before he died. A quiet, seemingly unremarkable man, he connected with just one of his students: Sal Prentiss, a lonely sixth grader who lives with his uncles on a desolate ranch in the hills. The two outcasts developed a tender, trusting friendship that brought each of them hope in the wake of tragedy. But it is Sal who finds Adam’s body, charred almost beyond recognition, half a mile from his uncles’ compound. Nora Wheaton, the middle school’s social studies teacher, dreamed of a life far from Lovelock only to be dragged back on the eve of her college graduation to care for her disabled father, a man she loves but can’t forgive. She sensed in the new math teacher a kindred spirit--another soul bound to Lovelock by guilt and duty. After Adam’s death, she delves into his past for clues to who killed him and finds a dark history she understands all too well. But the truth about his murder may lie closer to home. For Sal Prentiss’s grief seems heavily shaded with fear, and Nora suspects he knows more than he’s telling about how his favorite teacher died. As she tries to earn the wary boy’s trust, she finds he holds not only the key to Adam’s murder, but an unexpected chance at the life she thought she’d lost. Weaving together the last months of Adam’s life, Nora’s search for answers, and a young boy’s anguished moral reckoning, this unforgettable thriller brings a small American town to vivid life, filled with complex, flawed characters wrestling with the weight of the past, the promise of the future, and the bitter freedom that forgiveness can bring.

A moody mystery set in Italy from the New York Times–bestselling author: “One of the most exquisite and subtle detective series ever.” —The Washington Post Guido Brunetti has to deal every day with crimes big and small, suffocating corruption, and a never-ending influx of tourists. But at least he gets to do it in Venice, one of the most beautiful cities in the world. In this mystery in the bestselling series, the police commissioner’s endurance will truly be tested. During an interrogation of an entitled, arrogant man suspected of giving drugs to a young girl, Brunetti acts rashly, doing something he will quickly come to regret. In the fallout, he realizes that he needs a break. Granted leave from the Questura, he accompanies his wife to a villa on Sant’Erasmo, one of the largest islands in the laguna. There he intends to pass his days rowing, and his nights reading Pliny’s Natural History. That is until the caretaker of the house, a widowed beekeeper, goes missing following a sudden storm, and Brunetti must set aside his leave of absence and understand what happened to a man who had become a friend. From a Silver Dagger Award–winning author, this is a poignant novel featuring Guido Brunetti, “a superb police detective—calm, deliberate, and insightful” (Library Journal).

The New York Times–bestselling series transports us to “Donna Leon’s enticing, troubled and beautiful Venice . . . Her latest mystery is one of her best” (Providence Journal). A New York Times Book Review Best Crime Book of the Year • A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice • A Financial Times Summer Book Pick • A Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine Most Anticipated Mystery of the Year Commissario Guido Brunetti is surprised by the appearance of a friend of his wife’s, fearful that her son is using drugs and hopeful Brunetti can somehow intervene. When the woman’s husband is found unconscious with a serious brain injury at the foot of a bridge in Venice after midnight, Brunetti is drawn to pursue a possible connection to the boy’s behavior. But the truth, as Brunetti has experienced so often, is not straightforward. While Brunetti pursues several false and contradictory leads, he becomes exasperated by the petty bureaucracy that constantly bedevils him and threatens to expose Signorina Elettra, his superior’s secretary. But steadied by the embrace of his own family and by his passion for the classics, he reads Sophocles’s Antigone, and, in its light, considers the terrible consequences to which the actions of a tender heart can lead. “It’s the living, bleeding humanity of the characters that makes Donna Leon’s police procedurals so engaging. . . . Tagging along after this sleuth is a wonderful way to see Venice like a native.” ―The New York Times Book Review “[A] droll and intelligent series.” ―The Wall Street Journal “[A] richly rewarding series . . . from a master of character-rich crime fiction.” ―Booklist

A conductor succumbs to cyanide at the famed Venice opera house, in the first mystery in the New York Times–bestselling, award-winning series. During intermission at the famed La Fenice opera house in Venice, Italy, a notoriously difficult and widely disliked German conductor is poisoned—and suspects abound. Guido Brunetti, a native Venetian, sets out to unravel the mystery behind the high-profile murder. To do so, he calls on his knowledge of Venice, its culture, and its dirty politics. Along the way, he finds the crime may have roots going back decades—and that revenge, corruption, and even Italian cuisine may play a role. “One of the most exquisite and subtle detective series ever.” —The Washington Post “A brilliant writer . . . an immensely likable police detective who takes every murder to heart.” —The New York Times Book Review

“A smart and stylish fast-paced case of intrigue and corruption” in the Venetian-set, New York Times–bestselling mystery series (Los Angeles Times). After a wealthy elderly woman is found brutally murdered in her Venetian apartment, the police suspect her maid, who has disappeared and is heading for her native Romania. But when it becomes clear the maid could not have had time to kill the old woman before catching her train, Guido Brunetti decides—unofficially—to take on the case himself. As his wife reads about the seven deadly sins, Brunetti realizes that this is probably not a crime motivated by greed—rather, the motive may have more to do with the temptations of lust. But perhaps Brunetti is following a false trail and thinking of the wrong sin altogether . . . “The detective’s humane police work is disarming, and his ambles through the city are a delight; but it is this peculiar insistence on turning every case into a morality tale that gives Leon’s fiction its subtlety and substance and makes us follow Brunetti wherever we must—even into the sea.” —The New York Times Book Review “Holds together as an elegant puzzle, as a character study and as a story of an officer’s need to reclaim truth in all its complexities from those who want to find easy answers to life’s, and death’s, perplexing mysteries.” —The Washington Post Book World “A compelling and intricate series of events as convoluted and intricate as the canals of Venice itself . . . Another expert mystery.” —The Baltimore Sun

Commissario Brunetti delves into the shadows of a Venetian family’s past in this “gripping intellectual mystery” in the New York Times–bestselling series (Publishers Weekly). In A Noble Radiance, a new landowner is summoned urgently to his house not far from Venice when workmen accidentally unearth a macabre grave. The human corpse is badly decomposed, but a ring found nearby proves to be a clue that reopens an infamous case of kidnapping involving one of Venice’s most aristocratic families. Only Commissario Brunetti can unravel the clues and find his way into both the hearts of patrician Venice and that of a family grieving for their abducted son. “Goes a long way to confirming Donna Leon’s claim to have taken literary possession of Venice . . . A Noble Radiance gives the reader a delightful foretaste of the summer holidays to come, but it also offers much more than that.” —The Independent on Sunday “The marvel of this book is that almost every detail on every page forms part of a succession of clues, planted with exquisite precision, to unraveling the mystery.” —The Sunday Times “Brunetti emerges as an intelligent, somewhat world-weary individual who believes in his cause if not the system itself. In short, he’s the ideal protagonist for this culturally rich mystery.” —Publishers Weekly “In her detective novels with Commissario Brunetti, Donna Leon can paralyze the reader with a joyful suspense, lost in the environs of Venice and hopelessly in love with her central character and his wife.” —Mail on Sunday