Guido Brunetti Books In Order

Publication Order of Guido Brunetti Books

Publication Order of Guido Brunetti Non-Fiction Books

Guido Brunetti is the protagonist of 23 books in the Guido Brunetti Mystery series written by American author Donna Leon. Leon is hailed as a crafty writer who paints a picture with her words. She has been to many countries in pursuit of her career until she settled in Venice, Italy. The Guido Brunetti Mystery series is set in and around Venice. The character of Guido Brunetti is portrayed as a witty and highly skilled detective. He was first introduced in Death at La Fenice as a police detective who has an aristocratic wife with highly connected parents. Through the life of Commisario Brunetti, author Donna Leon takes us to the alleys and nooks of Venice, a city built not only on water but also on intrigue and danger.

Leon’s sometimes sordid look on life and her opinion of the human state can be read in the thoughts of character Guido Brunetti. Aside from being witty and shrewd in his detective works, he is recognized as someone who sees beyond the beauty and history of his beloved Venice. Leon smartly inserts opinions on corruption and the perils brought by human’s moral fragility. While there has been plenty of authors who visited and write about Venice, this series stands out because the main character is a true-blooded Venetian. This makes Venice as much a character as a setting in all the series’ installments. And while Leon shows us the beauty of the city above waters, she gives us a look beyond the face and through the vanity and evil of some people living in it through the eyes of Guido Brunetti.

Awards and Adaptations
The series has gained Donna Leon many accolades including the Crime Writer’s Association Silver Dagger award in 2000 for the 9th book in series, Friends in High Places. It has also been adapted into a TV series entitled “Donna Leon” and produced by companies Trebitsch Produktion International (TPI) and teamWorx Television & Film in 2000 although the series was in German and filmed in Germany.

Death at La Fenice

The first book, Death at La Fenice, is about the mystery surrounding the death of highly acclaimed German conductor Helmut Wellauer. He was found dead during a performance intermission of La Traviata. Police commissioner Guido Brunetti was called in to solve the case. He found that the musical legend has died a painful death through cyanide poisoning. Brunetti tackled the case albeit working with an unhelpful superior and his equally worthless investigation partners, a situation that brings a dash of humor that can be had throughout the story. The character of Brunetti is an ordinary guy who does an ordinary job and who has a highly connected wife and two teenage kids. The story took on a display of Venice and a display of Guido Brunetti’s detective skills as he figures out whom among the number of suspects has the heavier reasons to commit the murder.

Death in a Strange Country

The second book entitled Death in a Strange Country deepens the character of Guido Brunetti and his family. This second installment in the Guido Brunetti Mystery series is notch up the usual whodunit class of mystery. Here, author Donna Leon creates a well-executed conspiracy. Protagonist Guido Brunetti is investigating the death of American soldier Sgt. Michael Foster. His death appeared to be a clear case of mugging if not for the perfectly struck knife that went through his heart and the obviously planted cocaine in his apartment. These were to Brunetti, clues that are inviting the Italian police to investigate further. Guido’s officious superior is in haste to dismiss the case as mugging in fear that it might affect tourist trade and assigned the detective in a burglary case which turned out to be connected to the death of the American sergeant. This installment of the series leaves the reader with even more despair for the underlying corruption that exists from the tourists-infested streets to the plushest Venetian office. Amidst the corruption, however, we see an Italian police officer, Guido Brunetti, who does his best to remain an honest cop.

Latest release in the series

In the latest installment of the Guido Brunetti Mystery series is entitled By Its Cover. We find an officer Guido Brunetti working on finding a thief who tore pages out of prized book collections in a Venetian research library. Seemingly a tribute to the author’s book collector fans, this story shows the differences between valuing the book for its rarity and valuing it for its content. A parallel is drawn as Guido Brunetti is forced to ask himself on his judgments of people’s appearances. This story still displays the superior crime-solving skills of the protagonist and more of the point of views of the author regarding society, corruption and human nature.

Author’s Commentaries and POV

The Guido Brunetti Mystery series has a total of 23 books. It debuted in 1992 and the latest installment was released earlier this year, 2014. The author’s life itself before the series started is a mystery but what can be clearly seen from the Guido Brunetti series are her unflinching commentaries on the corruption in public offices. A good example can be found in Doctored Evidence released in 2011, where Leon makes a case against the Italian justice system. Leon is not afraid to comment on contemporary issues too as many noted in it’s the latest book in the series.

Although some readers have grown tired of Leon’s commentaries that are sometimes extreme frustration of the corruption and problems of Italian offices, the Guido Brunetti Mystery series have always taken on a fresh revival with every installment she writes. The vibrant and picturesque description of the romantic city of Venice creates a backdrop that often serves like a blank canvass in which the author paints her story. The beauty and history of Venice serves a background that can bring a stark contrast of the crime and evil that lurks in its corners, or as the foreground that hides by camouflage the mysteries around it. With a grounded personality that strives to stay honest amidst the ever growing corruption around him, Guido Brunetti, being a Venetian character, is a person you will surely admire and root on.