A Commissario Brunetti novel by Donna Leon
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| Uniform Justice is Leon's 12th Brunetti mystery |
Brunetti and his officers are investigating the death
of a young military cadet who is found hanged in the barracks of an elite
military academy in Venice.
Although Brunetti and his wife, Paola, have never had
much sympathy for the Italian armed forces, the Commissario cannot help but
feel sorry for the young man, who is close in age to his own son, and he also has some sympathy for his parents.
But he is irritated by the arrogant, high-handed
attitude of the boy’s teachers and fellow students at the academy and the
apparent unwillingness of the boy’s family to open up to him.
He is not prepared to just accept that the boy’s death
is suicide without investigating the circumstances thoroughly and he eventually
uncovers the truth, unpalatable though it is found to be.
I would not want to put anyone off from reading
Uniform Justice, particularly if you are reading Donna Leon’s Brunetti novels
in order, but it is the bleakest of her books that I have read so far.
However, it is always a pleasure to read the author’s descriptions of Venice, which is now her adopted home city, and I look forward to moving on to read the next novel in the series.
