READ: Death at La Fenice: a Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery by Donna Leon

The first in the Guido Brunetti series of procedural mysteries takes place in the world-famous Venetian opera house La Fenice. A renown conductor, (a caricature of Herbert von Karajan) is found dead in his dressing room just before the third act of Verdi’s opera La Traviata is about to begin. The cast of possible suspects includes the (of course, temperamental) prima donna, her wealthy American female lover, the disgruntled tenor and the Luchino Visconti-esque designer/director. Everyone has means, a good motive and ample opportunity.

Brunetti is a memorable and endearing character whose family and life at home are as important to him as solving the terrible crimes that plague modern-day Venice. American author Donna Leon is extremely popular in Europe and should be better known in the US. Her latest book in the series, About Face, published in 2009, is the 18^th title in the series.