For lovers of Venice and/or Brunetti: My Venice by Donna Leon

The many thousands of readers who love Donna Leon’s Guido Brunetti mysteries love them for multiple reasons, the least of which is probably their plots. Not that there is anything wrong with those plots, but it is the side dishes surrounding the plots that entrance us, especially the character of the cynical yet sensitive Brunetti and the way he interacts with his family. So it is with the essays in this collection of Leon’s brief nonfiction writings. Whether she is musing about Venice, expressing not only an appealing crankiness about garbage or Bermuda shorts–wearing tourists but also an unassailable love of the human interaction that the city’s car-free status makes possible; or about her love for classical music; or her mixed reactions to America; or her thoughts on men, she never fails to explore the periphery of her topic, deepening her theme and giving it context and nuance. A favorite? How about “With Barbara Vine,” in which two celebrated mystery writers chat about their favorite ways of doing somebody in (“Oh, I love a good push down the step”)? –Bill Ott