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    Trace Elements
    Trace Elements
    Trace Elements
    Audiobook10 hours

    Trace Elements

    Written by Donna Leon

    Narrated by David Colacci

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    A woman’s cryptic dying words in a Venetian hospice lead Guido Brunetti to uncover a threat to the entire
    region in Donna Leon’s haunting twenty-ninth Brunetti novel

    When Dottoressa Donato calls the Questura to report that a dying patient at the hospice Fatebenefratelli wants
    to speak to the police, Commissario Guido Brunetti and his colleague Claudia Griffoni waste no time in responding.

    “They killed him. It was bad money. I told him no,” Benedetta Toso gasps the words about her recently deceased
    husband, Vittorio Fadalto. Even though he is not sure she can hear him, Brunetti softly promises he and Griffoni will
    look into what initially appears to be a private family tragedy. They discover that Fadalto worked in the field collecting
    samples of contamination for a company that measures the cleanliness of Venice’s water supply and that he had died
    in a mysterious motorcycle accident.

    Distracted briefly by Vice-Questore Patta’s obsession with youth crime in Venice, Brunetti is bolstered once more
    by the remarkable research skills of Patta’s secretary, Signorina Elettra Zorzi. Piecing together the tangled threads, in
    time Brunetti comes to realize the perilous meaning in the woman’s accusation and the threat it reveals to the health
    of the entire region. But justice in this case proves to be ambiguous, as Brunetti is reminded it can be when, seeking
    solace, he reads Aeschylus’s classic play, The Eumenides.

    As she has done so often through her memorable characters and storytelling skill, Donna Leon once again engages
    our sensibilities as to the differences between guilt and responsibility.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateMar 3, 2020
    ISBN9781980069706

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    Reviews for Trace Elements

    4/5

    135 ratings19 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I love Donna Leon’s Inspector Brunetti series. She draws a realistic portrait of Venice as a city and of her characters. In this story, however, I was not quite convinced about the character who is found to have killed Vittorio Fadalto. Many times in Leon’s books, although the mystery is solved by Brunetti, justice is not served and perpetrators escape punishment. This time, one criminal is arrested while another goes free. Leon’s plots often deal with corruption and greed.
    • 4/5
      A slow boiling pot-boiler that elevates to a satisfying conclusion.
    • 5/5
      The good people in this story were stuck in a position with no good choices and devastating outcomes. The rotten people go on getting away with business as usual. Bruneti had two choices at the end and chose the one most likely to be prosecuted by a corrupt justice system.
    • 3/5
      Venice’s Commissario Brunetti and his colleague, Commissario Griffoni, are called to the bedside of a dying woman. They see the tragedy in the situation, as the woman’s husband has recently died in a motorbike accident, and their two school-aged daughters will soon be orphans. The dying woman is worried about “bad money”. But what does she mean by that? The husband’s death seemed accidental. Is it possible that he was murdered?Leon weaves environmental concerns into the plots of many of her novels, and this one is no exception. At this point in the series, I feel like Leon has overused the water pollution theme, and consequently the novel feels as stagnant as the water. I had a long and unexpected interruption to my listening time, so it took me several weeks to finish the audio version. It seemed like it was never going to end.
    • 4/5
      A dying woman asks Brunetti and Griffoni to investigate her husband's death. She mutters something about "bad money," but doesn't say much more. The death, ruled accidental at the time, does show signs of being suspicious as they learn about the man and begin an informal investigation. The woman's final words puzzle the investigators who must make sense of them. Leon's novels often deal with environmental topics, and this one is no exception. While this is not Leon's best in the series, it is solid, especially for a novel so late in a series. I listened to the audiobook read by the very capable David Colacci.
    • 4/5
      Murder mysteries typically either start slow and then gradually pick up speed as they approach the end or begin with a bang and then slow down in the middle before gaining speed again as the climax approaches. Donna Leon does something unusual. Her novels usually maintain the same leisurely pace throughout. yet are successful just the same.“Trace Elements” (2020) is no exception.A dying woman asks Commissario Guido Brunetti of the Venice police, or the Questura, to investigate the death of her husband, Vittorio Fadalto, in an apparent traffic accident. She also says something about some mysterious money. It's hardly enough to even officially open an investigation, but Brunetti begins poking around anyway.Fadalto worked as a water inspector, one of those responsible for making sure the drinking water of Venice is safe, containing no more than trace elements of impurities. Is there a motive for murder in there somewhere?Brunetti, usually accompanied by Claudia Griffoni, proceeds slowly. Most heroes in detective novels seem to work nonstop, hardly ever pausing to eat or sleep. Yet Brunetti seems to work a short day, conducting just two or three brief interviews before taking the rest of the day off to spend with his family. He uses his time off profitably, however, thinking about his current case.Even when Brunetti draws near to the solution to the mystery, Leon hardly alters her pace. This may sound dull, yet it never is. Whether Brunetti is talking with a suspect or with his own wife over dinner, the author manages to hold her readers glued to the page.
    • 4/5
      Brunetti investigates a possible murder of an environmental investigator based on a few words from his dying wife.
    • 3/5
      A thoroughly improbable murder mystery, and a plodding and aimless investigation until the last 30 pages.
    • 4/5
      A dying woman asks the doctors in the hospice where she is spending her last days to call the police for her - she has a secret she does not want to die with. So Guido Brunetti and Claudia Griffoni go to talk to her but by the time finally have a conversation, all the woman can do is to give them a few utterances - "bad money" and "they killed him". None of them is actionable but the two detectives are intrigued so they decide to try to find out what is going on. That's how the 29th novel in the Commissario Brunetti series starts. Before long a body shows up (ruled to be an accident initially) and the two detectives start connecting the dots. The husband of Benedetta Toso, the sick woman, had died a few weeks earlier in a motorcycle accident. But the more the police digs, the more things do not add up. And then the story ties to the water supply of Venice - and its control. Knowing the title of the novel, you know where this novel is heading - the man who died was taking probes from water, looking for contaminants. So for the reader it becomes a question of following Brunetti and Griffoni until they realize the connection and find a way to explore it and find a killer. While the murder and the water contamination are the main stories, the story of the corruption of the Venice police is also there - from the story of the two Rom girls to the final decision that Brunetti needs to make. Patta is his usual self-protecting self, we learn a bit more about Claudia Griffoni than before and we get to see Venice in the middle of a hot summer when everyone tries to escape the city - except for the tourists. The novels in the series, especially the later ones, had been getting into grey areas often. Brunetti has his own code of behavior that sometimes does not match the laws exactly as existing - and this novel pushes that even more than usual. And he starts exploring his own reactions to people who are not originally from the area. While the topic is interesting, I do wonder if this self-examination is caused by the times we live in and if Leon felt like she had to go there so she does get accused of not doing it. Brunetti had always had his opinions but they had never been expressed as strongly as they were here when he finally started to explore his own thinking. It is a decent addition to the series but it is not my favorite novel - I like the dynamics of Griffoni being paired with Brunetti more often than not and the topics it allows to explore in the Italian culture and society but sometimes it seems to be way too much in your face - both because she is a woman and Neapolitan - she is treated more like a slogan and not a real woman. But then it may be needed. Off to the next book now.
    • 3/5
      Inspector Guido Brunetti is again tasked with what seems to be the impossible - find out why a dying woman's claim that her husband was killed for "bad money" with no other clues or facts to help. Besides having to take baby steps to each clue, all of Venice has to deal with unseasonable heat. Where does Guido begin and will it take him to the right conclusion.It amazes me that this series can have such great characters while also addressing social/environmental issues without seeming stuffing and boring. This time however, it seems that there wasn't enough character interaction for me.
    • 4/5
      A call from a doctor at a hospice facility in Venice brought Commissarios Guido Brunetti and Claudia Griffoni to the side of a dying woman. She recently had been transferred there from another facility because she and her husband could no longer could afford it. The mother of two daughters, one twelve and one fourteen, she had been fighting cancer for a few years. Now spread throughout her body, she was painfully coming very close to the end of her life. To make matters worse, her husband had been killed in a motorcycle accident two weeks previously. When the hospice doctor asked if she wanted to see a priest, she said she wanted to talk to the police. Because of the medication and her physical situation, it was very difficult for her to speak lucidly for any length of time. But she did manage to say, “They killed him. It was bad money. I told him no.”A day later, as she died, Brunetti, said he would follow through. Even though she didn’t hear him, he felt obligated to keep his promise.Her husband had worked for a company that analyzed the purity of the water that would be used for homes and businesses. His job was to find evidence of any contaminates and report them. Following the death, to which there were no witnesses, Brunetti went to the company to discover what, if anything, he had found that might have lead to “bad money.” As is true for all of Donna Leon’s books in the series, it is well-written and paints a wonderful picture of life and work in Venice. Example: “The white surface of the stone worked in consort with the sun, flashing back in to their faces the same sunlight that hammered down on their backs.”Brunetti is a realist, working with what should be done vs what can be done. The results are not always what we would like them to be.I was saddened to read about the doctor and Brunetti giving CPR to the patient. She was within days of dying. She had lost a lot of weight. She was in extreme pain. CPR under those conditions can cause broken bones and puncture the lungs. Why subject her to more torture? (I realize that some people and religions believe in doing everything to preserve life regardless of the situation but it seemed cruel under these circumstances.)I really disliked the extreme fat shaming near the beginning of the book. The woman was morbidly obese but it doesn’t have to be mentioned several times on each of several pages. Her weight did not play a role in the story line. I dropped one star because of this.I also think it’s time for his teenage son and daughter, who is concerned about the environment and class privilege, to do more work around the house, such as washing dishes. Both parents are employed.The Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery series are always a pleasure.
    • 3/5
      This was the last in a long line of Brunetti novels from Donna Leon - and the very first that I have read although I have two in the series sitting on my bookshelf, as yet unread.I was drawn to this police procedural as it was set in Italy, particularly Venice, for which I have some affinity for. There are two cases for Brunetti to deal with - quite apart from the oppressive heat and hoards of tourists - the issue of two pick-pocketing Roma girls, and a rather strange deathbed confession that involves a death and "bad money".Whilst wonderfully descriptive, the pace was rather slow moving - something to do with the heat perhaps - though does finally pick up as the pieces are moved into place.Not having read any in the series did not detract from my reading, though for the sake of character development and continuity, I would suggest following this series from the beginning. As I already have a couple, I may invest in the whole series myself.
    • 5/5
      A continuing got of Venice and the Veneto. It struggles with a human dilemma brought about by the death of a young woman from cancer. The puzzle is complex and Tangled enough to leave the reader guessing - perhaps the author as well until the final working out.
    • 4/5
      Commissario Guido Brunetti is suffering through a stifling hot July in Venice Italy when he finds himself investigating the suspicious death of a water distribution system worker. The man died in a . motorcycle crash that could be a freak accident, a suicide or a deliberate killing. The situation is made more tragic by the subsequent death of the man's wife, from terminal cancer, leaving their two teenage daughters behind as orphans. Brunetti's task is to determine what happened.Brunetti, ably assisted by his talented colleagues Commissario Claudia Griffoni and Ispettore Vianello, investigates the man's last several days before his death. He draws upon the talents of Signorina Ellettra, nominally his superior's secretary, who has developed into a world class computer hacker. The signorina is able to produce the information Brunetti needs to fill in the gaps left from his interviews with the principal players in the story. Ultimately, Brunetti faces a choice between capturing a killer or arresting a corrupt scientist. Once made, this choice brings the story to an abrupt and thought-provoking conclusion. The question may linger in a reader's mind about what choice would be made if they were in Brunetti's shoes.The story-telling is classic Brunetti. Drawing on his high level of native intelligence and his Venetian life experience he guides the investigation through the facade put up by various players. He knows when to speak the local dialect, Veneziano, instead of Italian. More important, he knows to whom to speak. The casual ease of his manoeuvres carries the story along smoothly. Venice with all its charms and faults stands squarely in the background providing plenty of interesting atmosphere. Brunetti discusses and comments upon such serious subjects as Venice's air quality and the influx of Chinese tourists with wry humour, without dismissing their importance. A curious side story about Rom pickpockets is left unresolved, despite the apparent involvement of Brunetti's nemesis, Lieutenant Scarpa. More to come?This is an enjoyable story worthy of being at the top of anyone's "to be read" list. The plot is not a complex one but is sufficiently interesting to entertain readers. It's the latest addition to a long running series which naturally has an extensive backstory. Despite that it can be read as a standalone, or as an introduction to other books in the series. My thanks to Grove Atlantic and Netgalley for providing an advance reading copy of the book. The comments about it are my own. I appreciate the opportunity to review the book.
    • 4/5
      Another good book in the Comissario Guido Brunetti series. Although its bad deeds that bring the reader back to Venice, readers are rewarded not only in good storytelling but as armchair tourists. Like Brunetti I, too, wonder why people visit Venice in August. A woman’s dying words “Bad money” told to Brunetti and Griffoni in a Venice hospice, leads them beyond the city in the search for the meaning. What disappointed me in this book was the lack of interaction within Brunetti’s family. In the past, I have always enjoyed this look at a Venice family. But like in other books, Leon makes the point that Venice is overcome with tourists.
    • 3/5
      It was so hot in Venice that ice cream wouldn’t scoop, cubes wouldn’t ice. The Commissario likens the heat to a concentration camp death march. Sooo, the big takeaway is that IT IS HOT IN VENICE IN THE SUMMER! And the repetition of that thought was a complete distraction. What happens when a permissible level of pollution is exceeded? There is too much sidetracking before the very important issue of trace elements and criminal behavior is explored and the notion of environmental crimes mentioned. The lead-in was convoluted and did not serve the story.As in other novels written by Leon I found the ending lacking, but this ending was also very troubling. The rhetoric swirling in the Comissario’s mind looked to validate the age old means/ends, snake swallowing its tail circle. How to decide “which crime to punish, which to ignore, do you choose the greater criminal or go for the better odds, who to punish and to what degree”?! Thank you NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for a copy.
    • 4/5
      A quandary for Brunetti!Two seemingly simple cases that had no connection. A couple of Roma girls have pick pocketed the wife of a powerful person who wants them out of Venice in case further enquiries open up something they don't want exposed. A dying woman who has something to confess to the police.As investigations unfold, both cases are a minefield of complexities for Commissari Guido Brunetti and Claudia Griffoni. As always they are ably assisted by the highly efficient Signorina Elettra, whose computer skills allow them into places that they normally couldn't access.One case involves a question of the health of the planet. Both cases speak to what the powerful are able to get away with. Brunetti is faced with conflicting choices.As Brunetti summarizes his reflections and the questions the situation demands we are reminded of his love of mythologies of the past,"His thoughts turned to the Eumenides and the characters’ desperate search for an understanding of justice based on something other than vengeance.""Brunetti was both accuser and accused. He had to decide which crime to punish, which to ignore, and choose the greater criminal, or the better odds."As always a complex, yet rewarding read. Leon's underlying themes of the environment, politics, graft and corruption, bubble away, rising to the surface throughout. It took me sometime to understand the title. I was as confused as Brunetti--until we both weren't!A Grove Atlantic ARC via NetGalley
    • 5/5
      law-enforcement, murder-investigation, Venice, eco-awareness, international-crime-and-mystery, family*****Comissario Brunetti is more introspective than some, and that is what drives him to investigate an apparent fatal vehicle accident at the request of a young woman as she lay dying in hospice. Brunetti works in Venice where the traffic is as crazy as any big city with busses, police transport, multinational tourists, and pickpockets despite being at sea level and depending upon the canals. It's summer and the heat is abominable between the thermometer and the sunshine reflecting off the water, but the dress code must be maintained. I'm purposely not recapping the story and trying to avoid spoilers, but I sat up too late reading it, so that should tell a thing or two. The story is as convoluted and timely as reading Euronews or any major newspaper and, like the news, leaves some personal issues unfinished (just like the only other one I had the chance to read). Excellent!I requested and received a free ebook copy from Grove Atlantic/Atlantic Monthly Press via NetGalley. Thank you!
    • 3/5
      There's something fishy about the Venetian water system and a young woman on her deathbed feels the need to bring it to Commissario Brunetti's attention.Overall, I found Leon's 29th installment a pretty good mystery with a few red herrings thrown in to keep readers on their toes. Jaded? Brunetti? Yeah, seems the years have shown him some all to true facts about the judicial system and acts, for him, accordingly.The conclusion, in my opinion, was rather lackluster but, still, who doesn't enjoy a trip through the streets and canals of Venice with Brunetti and company.Thank you NetGalley, Leon and her publishers for granting me approval to read this ARC.