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Donna Leon | Doctored Evidence | English Title: Doctored Evidence<br>Novel, 336 Pages

Novel, Hardcover
336 Pages
Published in June 2005

ISBN 978-3-257-06474-2

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Donna Leon
Doctored Evidence

Published by Diogenes as Beweise, daß es böse ist

When Maria Grazia Battestini, as wealthy as she is bad-tempered, is discovered brutally murdered in her apartment, there are no friends or family who come to mourn her. Her housekeeper, who has disappeared, rapidly becomes the prime murder suspect; she is arrested while trying to return to Romania, and in her attempt to escape custody is hit by a train. She had been carrying a large sum of money and false papers – an open-and-shut case for Tenente Scarpa, who is standing in for Brunetti during the latter’s vacation. His superior, Patta, is also pleased that the case can be filed away so promptly. Brunetti, however, is not so sure. Having returned from Ireland, he begins an unrelenting search for the true perpetrators of the crime. But no matter how he puts the pieces of the puzzle together, they refuse to form a complete picture. Until Paola reminds him of the Bible and the seven deadly sins, which have today all but been forgotten. With the help of Vianello and Elettra, and ignoring all of the rash conclusions which have been previously drawn, he unearths the secret motives that led to the old lady’s death.

QuotesShow all

»Leon’s talent for sketching Venice with equal measures of affection and exasperation is undimmed, and Brunetti and his serious, thoughtful wife Paola remain subtle and pleasing creations.«Sunday Times

»Like all the others, this 13th instalment of the Brunetti series 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.«Washington Post

»Leon evokes the real Venice, not the place of romantic novels or glitzy travel guides, but the gritty, inbred city of dishonest politicians and hamlet-like neighbourhoods filled with gossip.«Publishers Weekly

»Fans of Leon will not be disappointed... She has crafted yet another expert mystery.«The Baltimore Sun

»The virtues of Leon's writing are all on display in ›Doctored Evidence‹... Leon has a wonderful feeling for the social complexities of Venice, where corruption is as old and deep and treacherous as the canals... Like all the best detective fiction, ›Doctored Evidence‹ not only solves a mystery, but also anatomises the setting in which the crime occurred.«Daily Mail

»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

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