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Book Summary and Reviews of About Face by Donna Leon

About Face by Donna Leon

About Face

A Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery, #18

by Donna Leon

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  • Published:
  • Apr 2009, 272 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

Incinerators across the south of Italy are at full capacity, burning who-knows-what and releasing unacceptable levels of dangerous air pollutants, while in Naples, enormous garbage piles grow in the streets. In Venice, with the polluted waters of the canals and a major chemical complex across the lagoon, the issue is never far from the fore.

Environmental concerns become significant in Brunetti’s work when an investigator from the Carabiniere, looking into the illegal hauling of garbage, asks for a favor. But the investigator is not the only one with a special request. His father-in-law needs help and a mysterious woman comes into the picture. Brunetti soon finds himself in the middle of an investigation into murder and corruption more dangerous than anything he’s seen before.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"It's not until a violent climax at the Casino that the two halves of the plot come together, and then the connection is more convincing in metaphorical than literal terms." - Kirkus Reviews.

"Leon flawlessly melds the two plot threads as she parallels her characters' vulnerability with that of Venice." - Publishers Weekly.

"Starred Review. Leon continues to live up to the increasingly high standards set by each novel." - Library Journal.

This information about About Face 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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