The Jewels of Paradise - Hardcover

Donna Leon

3.25

4,134 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0434022276 ISBN 13: 9780434022274

Publisher: William Heinemann, 2012

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Donna Leon has won heaps of critical praise and legions of fans for her bestselling mystery series featuring Commissario Guido Brunetti, one of contemporary crime fictions most beloved characters. With The Jewels of Paradise, Leon takes readers beyond the world of the Venetian Questura in her first stand-alone novel. Caterina Pellegrini is a native Venetian, and like so many of them, shes had to leave home to pursue her career elsewhere, mostly abroad. With a doctorate in baroque opera from Vienna, she lands in Birmingham, England, as a research fellow and assistant professor. Birmingham, however, is no Venice, so when she gets word of a position back home, Caterina jumps at the opportunity. The job is an unusual one. After nearly three centuries, two locked trunks, believed to contain the papers of a once-famous, now largely forgotten baroque composer, have been discovered. The composer was deeply connected in religious and political circles, but he died childless, and now two Venetian men, descendants of his cousins, each claim inheritance. With rumors of a treasure, they arent about to share the possible fortune. Caterina has been hired to attend the opening of the trunks and examine any enclosed papers to discover the testamentary disposition of the composer. But when her research takes her in unexpected directions and a silent man follows her through the streets, she begins to wonder just what secrets these trunks may hold. The Jewels of Paradise is a superb novel, a gripping tale of intrigue, music, history, and greed.

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About the Author:

Donna Leon has lived in Venice for over twenty–five years and previously lived in Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Iran and China, where she worked as a teacher. Her previous novels featuring Commissario Brunetti have all been highly acclaimed.

Review:

Fascinating. her first stand-alone boasts the same sensitivity to human behavior that distinguishes her Guido Brunetti series.” Bill Ott, Booklist

A veteran mystery maven weaves present-day Venice into a 300-year-old puzzle in this engaging stand-alone. [The Jewels of Paradise] packs the charms of Venice into a smart whodunit.” Kirkus Reviews

While it is undeniably strange to be wandering through Venice without the protection of Brunetti’s solid presence, the young heroine of this novel is so winning that readers should find themselves forgiving the Commissario his absence. The Jewels of Paradise is as much a tale about a young woman wising up and learning to fight more effectively for her own happiness as it is a mystery though the centuries-old secrets that those chests contain are also pretty compelling. Commissario Brunetti is allowed to take a vacation once in a while, but only if his replacements are as wry and erudite as Caterina.” Maureen Corrigan, The Washington Post

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