Trace Elements
Author: Donna Leon
(Mystery, 278 pages, 2020)
Commissario Guido Brunetti and his co-worker, Claudia Griffoni are called to a hospice to hear the words of a dying young woman. The patient, Benedetta Toso, says that her husband, Vittorio Fadalto, took “bad money” from someone to pay for her care. And then Fadalto dies in a motorcycle accident soon after. Was it just an accident? Did Fadalto, an exhausted and grieving husband, simply fall asleep while driving? Or was it something else? Was he helped off of the road? Fadalto worked at a water testing company. He collected samples of water from sensors out in the fields, water that makes its way to Venice. This company is charged with keeping Venice’s drinking water safe. Brunetti and Griffoni meet with other workers at the company Spattuto Acqua, including the Director of Human Resources and the Lab Director and even the café workers. Fadalto was a conscientious worker, but he was judgemental of others and quick to point out if they did something wrong. Brunetti, with the help of Secretary (and cyber sleuth) Signorina Elettra Zorzi look into the company’s records. And what they find is very disturbing. And now Brunetti and Griffoni must find out the truth, and what can be done about it.
A richly detailed sense of place and fully-defined characters make this newest in Donna Leon’s series a treat. We are given insight into Brunetti’s work and family life and wonder how he will deal with this moral dilemma, how to do the right thing?
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Robbin Bailey
