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Book Summary and Reviews of Suffer the Little Children by Donna Leon

Suffer the Little Children by Donna Leon

Suffer the Little Children

A Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery

by Donna Leon

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  • Published:
  • Apr 2007, 320 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

When Commissario Brunetti is summoned in the middle of the night to the hospital bed of a senior pediatrician, he is confronted with more questions than answers. Three men -- a young Carabiniere captain and two privates from out of town -- have burst into the doctor's apartment in the middle of the night, attacked him and taken away his eighteenth-month old baby boy. What could have motivated an assault by the forces of the state so violent it has left the doctor mute? Who would have authorized such an alarming operation? At the same time, Brunetti’s colleague Inspector Vianello discovers a money-making scam between pharmacists and doctors in the city. But it appears as if one of the pharmacists is after more than money.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"The Brunetti series isn't about crime as much as it is about more subtle human failings, and there are plenty of those here." - Booklist.

"Brunetti and his wife, Paola, separately take delight in the wonders of their city; little wonder that their readers will, too." - Library Journal.

"Not a single murder, but the story would be strong enough without one even without a climactic assault whose only casualty is the characters' moral certitudes." - Kirkus.

This information about Suffer the Little Children was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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Author Information

Donna Leon Author Biography

Photo: Regine Mosiman

Donna Leon is the author of the international best-selling novels featuring Commissario Guido Brunetti, all of which have been critically acclaimed. The winner of the CWA Macallan Silver Dagger for Fiction, among other awards, Leon has lived in Venice for about thirty years.


Commissario Guido Brunetti series order to 2017

  1. Death at la Fenice, 1992
  2. Death in a Strange Country, 1993
  3. Dressed for Death, 1994, first published as The Anonymous Venetian
  4. A Ventian Reckoning, 1995, first published as Death and Judgement
  5. Acqua Alta, 1996, first published as Death in High Water
  6. Quietly in Their Sleep, 1997, first published as Death of Faith
  7. A Noble Radiance, 1998
  8. Fatal Remedies, 1999
  9. Friends in High Places, 2000
  10. A Sea of Troubles, 2001
  11. Wilful Behaviour, 2002
  12. ...

... Full Biography
Link to Donna Leon's Website

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