The Past Is Present
The intriguingly titled The Waters of Eternal Youth is Donna Leon’s 25th Commissario Guido Brunettibook. Brunetti is a Venetian inspector, a sharp but laidback cop. These books are unlike other cop thrillers—there are murders, but otherwise no violence. Brunetti is a home loving family man, married to Paola, a Venetian aristocrat and has two smart teenage kids.
In this latest novel, Brunetti is invited to a formal dinner—which he finds tedious—by the Demetriana Lando-Continui. She is active on the city’s cultural scene and involved in projects to save the heritage of Venice. Soon the Commissario is invited again by the Contessa, offered fine Scotch and asked to reopen an old case.
Fifteen years ago, her teenage granddaughter, Manuela, had fallen into a canal late at night. The girl was not just unable to swim, but was terrified of water. An alcoholic pulled her out, but the delay in taking her to hospital caused irreversible brain damage. The man who saved her claimed he saw a man throw her in, but the next day, could not remember anything. The cops filed it as an accidental death and closed the case. The Contessa needs to know what really happened before she dies.
Brunetti manages to cajole his ambitious but dim-witted boss, Vice-Questore Giuseppe Patta, to reopen the case. With the help of Patta’s super smart secretary, Signorina Elettra, he manages to find information from the depths of the internet. His colleague Commissario Claudia Griffoni, feels great pity for the child-like Manuela, who has the mind of a seven-year-old, and offers to help with the case and in the process befriends the young woman.
While Brunetti is trying to make sense of the tragedy that befell Manuella, Donna Leon captures the problems of Venice—from housing shortages to illegal immigrants to preserving the city’s historical sites. Brunetti does his investigations, but luck is on his side too; a change encounter in the street drops the answer into his lap.
Leon’s writes crime novels with a certain elegance and unhurried pace; there are no shootouts or chases over rooftops. The reader is meant to savour the sights and smells (with some imagination) of the city; ‘see’ through her descriptions the great mansions of the old aristocracy, ‘jump’ onto a vaporetto and ‘taste’ the food Paola cooks with love.
The Waters of Eternal Youth
By Donna Leon
Atlantic Monthly Press
Pages: 304
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