Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
William Heinemann Ltd (2007), Edition: First Edition, 272 pages
Description
When Commissario Brunetti is summoned in the middle of the night to the hospital bed of a pediatrician, he is confronted with more questions than answers. Three men-a young carabiniere captain and two privates from out of town-burst into the doctor's apartment while the family was sleeping, attacked him, and took away his eighteen-month-old boy. What could have motivated an assault by the forces of the state that was so violent it has left the doctor mute? As Brunetti delves into the case, he begins to uncover a story of infertility, desperation, and illegal dealings. Then his colleague, Inspector Vianello, discovers a money-making scam between pharmacists and doctors in the city. Medical records are missing and it appears as if one of the pharmacists is after more than money. What secrets are in the records? And what has been done with them?… (more)
Media reviews
Leon regains her stride and the novel's last fifth is first-rate and masterful.
Not a single murder, but the story would be strong enough without one even without a climactic assault whose only casualty is the characters’ moral certitudes.
User reviews
LibraryThing member Joycepa
At last--Donna Leon is back! In place of whoever wrote [Through a Glass, Darkly] under her name. Not her best in my opinion, but still good. This is not really a mystery per se and the plot is not all that interesting, but it does serve to give Brunetti, Paola, Vianello another chance on a proper
After what I considered her disaster in Through a Glass, Darkly, I bought this book in the admittedly faint hope that Leon would revive from what appeared to be a near-fatal illness (in terms of writing). If this book was as bad as the previous, I was never going to waste my precious book money on her again--and I have every one of ther books. She may not be fully recovered, but she certainly is well on the way!
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stage. Typical Leon wry witticism although somewhat subdued, typical Leon dialogue. Paola is much more like earlier books. Venice itself does not play as important a role as it has in earlier books. Signorina Elettra gets a great scene. The ending is possibly the best part of the book, in its understated commentary on the theme.After what I considered her disaster in Through a Glass, Darkly, I bought this book in the admittedly faint hope that Leon would revive from what appeared to be a near-fatal illness (in terms of writing). If this book was as bad as the previous, I was never going to waste my precious book money on her again--and I have every one of ther books. She may not be fully recovered, but she certainly is well on the way!
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LibraryThing member Mooose
Subtitle could be The Mystery That Wasn't. I always enjoy these books just for the location and feeling I've moved across the globe. This is one of the weaker in the series.
LibraryThing member petaj
Nice section in it illustrating some new truths about research in the age of the internet.
LibraryThing member ZachMontana
Moderately enjoyable continuation of the Commissario Guido Brunnetti series taking place in Venice. Not one of the more compelling mysteries. Addresses the problems of illegal adoptions by parents who can't have children.
LibraryThing member Stromata
I very rarely read 'detective' novels but an impending trip to Venice prompted me to try Donna Leon's series set in the city.
The series revolves around the work of Police Commissario Brunetti, his various side-kicks, his pompous boss and the ingenuous Signorina Elettra.
In Suffer the Little Children
As with the others in this series, Donna Leon paints a vivid and loving picture of Venice; the storylines are fairly engaging however I find the characters in this particular book badly drawn. Perhaps a longer book written at a much slower pace may have made for a more satisfactory read.
However, and perhaps this is my fault for reading four of these books in quick succession, the plots are rather on the thin side; the complexities of real life are missing, people and situations seem at times one-dimensional. Brunetti's personal life appears a little too perfect to ring true - wonderful, if at times amusingly adolescent children; beautiful, intelligent, astute wife who not only cooks exquisite suppers but who is the daughter of a well-heeled, well-connected palazzo-owning Venetian. Even his mother-in-law is perfect!
My main puzzle with these books may seem a little trivial but how are we to believe in a character such as Brunetti who drinks so much alcahol - two or three glasses of wine at lunchtime, the best part of a bottle at supper, followed by glasses of grappa? I am amused he can walk in a straight line, let alone solve crimes!
The series revolves around the work of Police Commissario Brunetti, his various side-kicks, his pompous boss and the ingenuous Signorina Elettra.
In Suffer the Little Children
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a child is removed from his family by the police during the middle of the night and its father is apparently assulted in the raid and is left fighting for his life. That this man is a well respected paediatrician deepens the mystery for Brunetti, for the raid was carried out by the Carabinieri and not the local police. As with the others in this series, Donna Leon paints a vivid and loving picture of Venice; the storylines are fairly engaging however I find the characters in this particular book badly drawn. Perhaps a longer book written at a much slower pace may have made for a more satisfactory read.
However, and perhaps this is my fault for reading four of these books in quick succession, the plots are rather on the thin side; the complexities of real life are missing, people and situations seem at times one-dimensional. Brunetti's personal life appears a little too perfect to ring true - wonderful, if at times amusingly adolescent children; beautiful, intelligent, astute wife who not only cooks exquisite suppers but who is the daughter of a well-heeled, well-connected palazzo-owning Venetian. Even his mother-in-law is perfect!
My main puzzle with these books may seem a little trivial but how are we to believe in a character such as Brunetti who drinks so much alcahol - two or three glasses of wine at lunchtime, the best part of a bottle at supper, followed by glasses of grappa? I am amused he can walk in a straight line, let alone solve crimes!
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LibraryThing member cameling
A pediatrician and his family are attacked in their home in the middle of the night, and their young son taken from them. The pediatrician is hospitalized after being hit on the head and loses his ability to speak. The fact that the midnight raid and abduction was undertaken by members of the
Is this merely a case of illegal adoptions or something more? Watching Brunetti and his team slowly unwind the many spirals in this mystery is as enjoyable as getting more peeks into his charming family.
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Carabiniere has Commissioner Guido Brunetti stepping into the picture.Is this merely a case of illegal adoptions or something more? Watching Brunetti and his team slowly unwind the many spirals in this mystery is as enjoyable as getting more peeks into his charming family.
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LibraryThing member BjornFr
Disappointing story, series obviously not as good as before
LibraryThing member mojacobs
Another nice episode in the Guido Brunetti series. If you are a first time reader of Leon and you are expecting a thrilling mystery or police procedural, you will be disappointed, but for lovers of the Commissario and his family, this is great stuff. They do drink a lot, though, don't they?”
LibraryThing member Cathyvil
I found the entire book completely pedestrian and the characters unbelievable. Her turns of phrase are awkward. There were portions of the dialog and story that the author repeated herself on the same page. You said it once. Enough. I got it the first time. If I didn't have this odd compulsion to
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finish everything I start I would have put this book down after 10 pages. I wish I did after the utterly unfulfilling ending rent with loose ends. Show Less
LibraryThing member cyderry
This Brunetti installment begins with a late night raid on a home where an apparent illegally adopted child resides. Brunetti's investigation delves into the morality of unwanted children being "sold" for adoption.
Ms Leon takes the reader through the corruption in the medical records arena and
Another enjoyable installment.
Ms Leon takes the reader through the corruption in the medical records arena and
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leaves the reader wondering if the illegal adoptions are really wrong.Another enjoyable installment.
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LibraryThing member memccauley6
All through this book, I couldn’t figure out why I kept reading it. I guess it is because I am very interested in the Italian people and their worldviews. I kept waiting for the exciting beginning to pay off (Midnight raid by corrupt national police. Baby selling.), but all that happened is I
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ended up a bit angry at myself for wasting time. Nothing much happens in the middle 200 or so pages, and the ending concerns the “B” plot, which is never linked to the “A” plot, and neither one is resolved. Show Less
LibraryThing member sianpr
A very ponderous outing for Commissario Brunetti. A bit too much moralising and lacking in action.
LibraryThing member themulhern
The parallels were aggressively pat, but the narrative was still interesting. The antipathy between the carabineri and the regular police force was interesting. Are the carabineri analogous to our state troopers?
LibraryThing member Judiex
Donna Leon’s Commissario Guido Brunetti Venice-centered mysteries are always a delight. Low key, witty, and descriptive with interesting, realistic characters and a glimpse at the frustrating ways of trying to solve crimes while working around the restrictive regulations and the political hack
In SUFFER THE LITTLE CHILDREN, a pediatrician and his wife were asleep when a masked trio burst into their apartment. The doctor managed to pound one of the assailants on his nose but the doctor himself ended up in the hospital with a head injury, unable to speak. The attackers took away his eighteen-month-old son.
It turned out the attackers were Carabinieri, members of an official national military police force. The kidnapping was part of a multi-city raid targeting families that had adopted their children through a private source, lying about the parentage of the babies. The children were placed in orphanages, which really upset Brunetti..
Brunetti and his partner, Inspector Vianello, set out to find out how the doctor was targeted and how the entire adoption program worked. They uncovered a ring that involved pharmacists, doctors and pregnant women willing to sell their babies.
Once again, wealth and position do have advantages in the culture.
There is an interesting section about finding the truth on the internet and changes in birth rates.
It’s wonderful being able to read a novel that doesn’t include unnecessary violence, foul language, or sex scenes. Unfortunately, the chapters are unnecessarily short.
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who heads the department.In SUFFER THE LITTLE CHILDREN, a pediatrician and his wife were asleep when a masked trio burst into their apartment. The doctor managed to pound one of the assailants on his nose but the doctor himself ended up in the hospital with a head injury, unable to speak. The attackers took away his eighteen-month-old son.
It turned out the attackers were Carabinieri, members of an official national military police force. The kidnapping was part of a multi-city raid targeting families that had adopted their children through a private source, lying about the parentage of the babies. The children were placed in orphanages, which really upset Brunetti..
Brunetti and his partner, Inspector Vianello, set out to find out how the doctor was targeted and how the entire adoption program worked. They uncovered a ring that involved pharmacists, doctors and pregnant women willing to sell their babies.
Once again, wealth and position do have advantages in the culture.
There is an interesting section about finding the truth on the internet and changes in birth rates.
It’s wonderful being able to read a novel that doesn’t include unnecessary violence, foul language, or sex scenes. Unfortunately, the chapters are unnecessarily short.
Show Less
LibraryThing member EvaW
Mystery set in Venice.
LibraryThing member danhammang
A big draw for this series is the city of Venice. Commisario Brunetti's love for the city is beautifully evoked. Another is Donna Leon's deft use of contemporary social issues as raw material for her plots. The available material is a deep vein to mine. The third is her skillful portrayal of the
That interior life is primarily through the eyes of Brunetti but shows up in other characters as well. We see the deep love and compassion that can spring from the human heart as well as the breathtaking cruelty, greed and hatred that can manifest from it. There is a long and storied history of novels that spend so much time in the interior life of their protagonists running all the way back to Henry James, the favorite of Brunetti's beloved, Paola.
There are a myriad of other richly developed characters as well, Signorina Electra, Inspectore Vianello, Vice-Questore Patta, Sergeant Scarpa. And that is before the sometimes startling stream of consciousness of the villains that inhabit her novels. She steers clear of the temptation of dwelling too long in the internal landscape that many authors of this genre fall into. Much of hers is within the mind of the speaker as the dialogue unfolds or in Brunetti's musings as he reads the ancient masters. Leon wields her sharp knife and her deep sense of irony in this engaging device.
Don't look for a seamless plot or a neatly tied procedural. But if you enjoy a gifted writer's nuanced insights into the interior life that drives us all written in a storied locale, then you might want to give this series a try. It's one of my favorites.
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interior life of her characters.That interior life is primarily through the eyes of Brunetti but shows up in other characters as well. We see the deep love and compassion that can spring from the human heart as well as the breathtaking cruelty, greed and hatred that can manifest from it. There is a long and storied history of novels that spend so much time in the interior life of their protagonists running all the way back to Henry James, the favorite of Brunetti's beloved, Paola.
There are a myriad of other richly developed characters as well, Signorina Electra, Inspectore Vianello, Vice-Questore Patta, Sergeant Scarpa. And that is before the sometimes startling stream of consciousness of the villains that inhabit her novels. She steers clear of the temptation of dwelling too long in the internal landscape that many authors of this genre fall into. Much of hers is within the mind of the speaker as the dialogue unfolds or in Brunetti's musings as he reads the ancient masters. Leon wields her sharp knife and her deep sense of irony in this engaging device.
Don't look for a seamless plot or a neatly tied procedural. But if you enjoy a gifted writer's nuanced insights into the interior life that drives us all written in a storied locale, then you might want to give this series a try. It's one of my favorites.
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LibraryThing member cbl_tn
Commissario Guido Brunetti is awakened from his sleep to go to the scene of a home invasion that left its victim, a pediatrician, hospitalized and mute. The more Brunetti uncovers about the event and its causes, the less he likes it. Meanwhile, Inspector Vinaello’s months-long investigation to
Leon explores a different social problem in the books in her Brunetti series. This book looks at infertility and black market babies. Brunetti reflects on his love for his children throughout the book, yet the children are largely absent from the novel, appearing only in one brief dinner scene. I enjoy the Brunetti family dynamics and I missed their good-natured banter. Brunetti finally got to the truth, as he usually does, but at a price that I suspect will haunt him.
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fraud involving some of Venice’s pharmacies is coming to a head. These investigative threads become tangled with tragic consequences.Leon explores a different social problem in the books in her Brunetti series. This book looks at infertility and black market babies. Brunetti reflects on his love for his children throughout the book, yet the children are largely absent from the novel, appearing only in one brief dinner scene. I enjoy the Brunetti family dynamics and I missed their good-natured banter. Brunetti finally got to the truth, as he usually does, but at a price that I suspect will haunt him.
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LibraryThing member thornton37814
Brunetti investigates the invasion of a pediatrician's home by another branch of law enforcement. The doctor, who acquired a baby illegally, faces multiple charges, most of which are suddenly dropped. Brunetti's investigation, however, connects with his colleague Inspector Vianello's investigation
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into pharmacy fraud. I missed the normal interaction between Brunetti and his family members in this installment. Their presence in a few scenes leaves the reader hungering for more. I also noted fewer descriptions of meals--both at home and in restaurants. Leon always includes social justice issues in her plots, but her outcomes tend to show how the system works rather than achieving the result true justice demands. Show Less
LibraryThing member ffortsa
This was a tough read. Brunetti is called to the hospital when a doctor is brought in after a raid by the cabinieri. In the process of investigating the incident, Brunetti learns of the practice of 'selling' babies to infertile Italian couples. But that is not the only way laws, human and moral,
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are imposed to do damage. Show Less
LibraryThing member addunn3
Illegal adoptions lead to problems for the parents.
LibraryThing member waldhaus1
An exploration of the abuse of confidence and trust. It begins with an infertile couples attempt to have a child and spirals from there. Brunetti’s continues to investigate human frailties and greed. The Venetian atmosphere is well maintained.
LibraryThing member chirikosan
Thank goodness this read is over. If this had been an ebook, I would not have finished it. Buuut... I bought a copy of this book at a used bookstore so I had to get my money's worth.
I really expected an exciting story of illegal adoptions with the first chapter luring you in the plot from the
And up to a certain point, the first chapter did sort of start with a good dose of action you'd expect from a thriller detective story. The problem is... well... after we see Detective Guido Brunetti ruffles his feathers and tries not to punch to Carabineri special forces for police brutality amid a potentially illegal raid, the story sort of fizzles into tedium.
One of the problems of the plot is the fact pretty much everything pertaining to Dr. Gustavo Pedrolli's arrest is: "not in Guido's Jurisdiction". He is only supposed to investigate an assault that left a man with pretty severe neurological damage due to an inept rookie special force cop named Maravatti. Guido doesn't have access to the kid's possibly forged birth certificate (and the plot conveniently makes him give up because the Venice birth registry office is on strike even though the kid was supposed to be adopted in Verona so this plot hole should have been a non issue anyways). He never interviews the kid's biological mother. No heated meetings with a higher up in Internal Affairs for police brutality in what is supposed to be his jurisdiction. Um... I guess the only bit of real detective work he did within his realms of possibility is discovering some pharmacies hacked into the public healthcare system to program PCP consults for dead people but apparently nobody abused the system to either get drugs or embezzle money. And if either crime did occur, the book sort of ignores them because, well... I dunno either.
Guido's boss Patti never really tells him to drop the assault case, but there really isn't any reason why he continues investigating the child ring because it "is not his jurisdiction." Quite frankly, outside of discovering the medical record hacking fraud, the only real police work he did in the whole book is enter a pharmacy that suffered a nasty break in, let a clerk tamper with the crime scene that is covered with bloodied glass shards in the floor (doesn't anyone watch CSI?), and somehow a mysterious super smart computer guy we never meet manages to salvage 99% of the computer hard drive in time for the rather unexciting finale. The book doesn't give us an exact year where it is supposed to take place, but it mentions flat computer screens now exist, so it has to happen after 2005. Even then, computer hard drives are quite brittle and I would be hard pressed to believe one that was damaged so badly by a clumsy burglar was salvageable. Heck, isn't Venice supposed to be surrounded by canals everywhere? If the crook had just dumped the computer into the water, well, I guess nobody would have found out about the ending, which is a bit of a non issue anyways. Yeah, these plot holes sure were not very well thought out.
Now, after I have finished venting about the story, I have noticed other problems of the book that I wish to address. I have never read previous books from this author. The good news is that it looks like this is an episodic series so reading prior books is pretty much optional. The bad news (for me) is that I do not know if Guido was supposed to have some sort of character development in prior books.
Here are some excerpts that made my eyes roll real hard:
"Brunetti's eye was drawn to a pair of sleek, tanned female thighs which presented themselves to the beholder, proof of the ease which cellulite could be banished in a single week." WTF?
There's more!
"He saw a group of tourists approach and judged them to be Eastern Europeans, even before he gave the decision any conscious thought. He studied them as they walked past him: sallow complexions; blond hair, either natural or assisted in that direction; cheap shoes, one remove from cardboard; plastic jackets that had been dyed and treated in an unsuccessful attempt to make them resemble leather. Brunetti had always felt a regard for these tourists because they looked at things. Probably too poor to buy most of what they saw, they still gazed about them with respect an awe and unbridled delight. With their cheap clothes and their bad haircuts and their packed lunches, who knew what it cost them to come here?"
I know Venice is an expensive touristy city and all, but the book really feels aged when it comes to well, not viewing Eastern European visitors as half starved savages. This particular scene is from Guido's POV. Isn't he supposed to be the good guy?
"He's in La Paz (Bolivia). Ordinarily, the name of the city would have caused Brunetti to joke and ask if her father were there to arrange a deal in cocaine, but the mounting evidence that many, if not most, of the calls made on telefonini were intercepted and recorded dissuaded him from doing so."
Yes, Guido sure thinks every rich tourist visiting a city in Latin America is only there to get drugs when that same person would have zero difficulty getting it in Italy in the first place. But how nice of him to view Latin America in such a way!
"Paola had again observed, months ago, that he should spend a day counting the times he saw tits and ass. And here he found himself contemplating evidence, though, strangely enough, he was comforted by the sight of all that lovely flesh."
CRIIIIINGE!!!!
I won't even delve much into detail the nonsensical scene early in the book where a coffee shop Guido and another detective visit constantly when an African migrant gets all jittery the moment he sees the two cops. Umm... the guy has a fully valid legal work permit. Like... why would he go all psycho if the cops would have zero grounds to deport him in the first place?
That scene made me notice yet another issue I felt with this book: if this book had been written by a rookie author today, it would have had an insanely low chance of getting trad published. Like, outside of the jittery migrant worker that doesn't even say a word in the whole book and an Indian or Pakistani taxi driver that scuttles through the city real fast, pretty much 100% of the characters of the book are fair white characters with the majority having blond hair and green eyes. If you are searching for even the smallest modicum of diversity in supporting characters, this book seems to be stuck in the 1950's. Now, I have never been to Venice, but I would assume 15 years ago you would see a more sizeable migrant community. The weird thing is that what really motivated me to finish this book was to see if I was lucky enough to spot more of these cringey passages. And yes, a minor character which is a spoiler is very ableist. *shudder*
Like, I could accept Guido liked using his right hand reading Playboy in his spare time, but he is neither doing that, his wife spend 90% of her scenes in the book feeding him food and wine without showing any windows of her personality (except that autumn makes her bitchy for no reason whatsoever). Guido was not even supposed to continue researching the baby ring because "it isn't his jurisdiction", so what was the motivator? Oh yes, he is supposed to love kids.
The weird thing is that in the two scenes he interacts with his 2 kids, it's like... they seem like Christmas tree decorations that say something fun they did at school and he isn't even paying attention to them. The kids could be zapped by a laserbeam and chances are Guido wouldn't care. I even assumed he was in a childless marriage the vast majority of the book.
So in a nutshell, I have no idea how in the hell this plot hole ridden book managed to get a trad publication. To add salt into the wound, I swear the final 3 chapters read like a caffeinated first draft that was written 4 hours before the deadline and published without any corrections. This book is quite solid proof that a trad book is definitely not superior to a self published novel.
I really expected an exciting story of illegal adoptions with the first chapter luring you in the plot from the
Show More
hinted kidnapping of a pediatrician who is in the hospital due to life threatening injuries.And up to a certain point, the first chapter did sort of start with a good dose of action you'd expect from a thriller detective story. The problem is... well... after we see Detective Guido Brunetti ruffles his feathers and tries not to punch to Carabineri special forces for police brutality amid a potentially illegal raid, the story sort of fizzles into tedium.
Guido's boss Patti never really tells him to drop the assault case, but there really isn't any reason why he continues investigating the child ring because it "is not his jurisdiction." Quite frankly, outside of discovering the medical record hacking fraud, the only real police work he did in the whole book is enter a pharmacy that suffered a nasty break in, let a clerk tamper with the crime scene that is covered with bloodied glass shards in the floor (doesn't anyone watch CSI?), and somehow a mysterious super smart computer guy we never meet manages to salvage 99% of the computer hard drive in time for the rather unexciting finale. The book doesn't give us an exact year where it is supposed to take place, but it mentions flat computer screens now exist, so it has to happen after 2005. Even then, computer hard drives are quite brittle and I would be hard pressed to believe one that was damaged so badly by a clumsy burglar was salvageable. Heck, isn't Venice supposed to be surrounded by canals everywhere? If the crook had just dumped the computer into the water, well, I guess nobody would have found out about the ending, which is a bit of a non issue anyways. Yeah, these plot holes sure were not very well thought out.
Now, after I have finished venting about the story, I have noticed other problems of the book that I wish to address. I have never read previous books from this author. The good news is that it looks like this is an episodic series so reading prior books is pretty much optional. The bad news (for me) is that I do not know if Guido was supposed to have some sort of character development in prior books.
Here are some excerpts that made my eyes roll real hard:
"Brunetti's eye was drawn to a pair of sleek, tanned female thighs which presented themselves to the beholder, proof of the ease which cellulite could be banished in a single week." WTF?
There's more!
"He saw a group of tourists approach and judged them to be Eastern Europeans, even before he gave the decision any conscious thought. He studied them as they walked past him: sallow complexions; blond hair, either natural or assisted in that direction; cheap shoes, one remove from cardboard; plastic jackets that had been dyed and treated in an unsuccessful attempt to make them resemble leather. Brunetti had always felt a regard for these tourists because they looked at things. Probably too poor to buy most of what they saw, they still gazed about them with respect an awe and unbridled delight. With their cheap clothes and their bad haircuts and their packed lunches, who knew what it cost them to come here?"
I know Venice is an expensive touristy city and all, but the book really feels aged when it comes to well, not viewing Eastern European visitors as half starved savages. This particular scene is from Guido's POV. Isn't he supposed to be the good guy?
"He's in La Paz (Bolivia). Ordinarily, the name of the city would have caused Brunetti to joke and ask if her father were there to arrange a deal in cocaine, but the mounting evidence that many, if not most, of the calls made on telefonini were intercepted and recorded dissuaded him from doing so."
Yes, Guido sure thinks every rich tourist visiting a city in Latin America is only there to get drugs when that same person would have zero difficulty getting it in Italy in the first place. But how nice of him to view Latin America in such a way!
"Paola had again observed, months ago, that he should spend a day counting the times he saw tits and ass. And here he found himself contemplating evidence, though, strangely enough, he was comforted by the sight of all that lovely flesh."
CRIIIIINGE!!!!
I won't even delve much into detail the nonsensical scene early in the book where a coffee shop Guido and another detective visit constantly when an African migrant gets all jittery the moment he sees the two cops. Umm... the guy has a fully valid legal work permit. Like... why would he go all psycho if the cops would have zero grounds to deport him in the first place?
That scene made me notice yet another issue I felt with this book: if this book had been written by a rookie author today, it would have had an insanely low chance of getting trad published. Like, outside of the jittery migrant worker that doesn't even say a word in the whole book and an Indian or Pakistani taxi driver that scuttles through the city real fast, pretty much 100% of the characters of the book are fair white characters with the majority having blond hair and green eyes. If you are searching for even the smallest modicum of diversity in supporting characters, this book seems to be stuck in the 1950's. Now, I have never been to Venice, but I would assume 15 years ago you would see a more sizeable migrant community. The weird thing is that what really motivated me to finish this book was to see if I was lucky enough to spot more of these cringey passages. And yes, a minor character which is a spoiler is very ableist. *shudder*
Like, I could accept Guido liked using his right hand reading Playboy in his spare time, but he is neither doing that, his wife spend 90% of her scenes in the book feeding him food and wine without showing any windows of her personality (except that autumn makes her bitchy for no reason whatsoever). Guido was not even supposed to continue researching the baby ring because "it isn't his jurisdiction", so what was the motivator? Oh yes, he is supposed to love kids.
The weird thing is that in the two scenes he interacts with his 2 kids, it's like... they seem like Christmas tree decorations that say something fun they did at school and he isn't even paying attention to them. The kids could be zapped by a laserbeam and chances are Guido wouldn't care. I even assumed he was in a childless marriage the vast majority of the book.
So in a nutshell, I have no idea how in the hell this plot hole ridden book managed to get a trad publication. To add salt into the wound, I swear the final 3 chapters read like a caffeinated first draft that was written 4 hours before the deadline and published without any corrections. This book is quite solid proof that a trad book is definitely not superior to a self published novel.
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LibraryThing member witchyrichy
I have continued with the Donna Leon series and continue to enjoy them. Suffer the Little Children concerns illegal adoption with the usual twists and turns. The ending of this one was particularly well-crafted and different from other books in the series. I think that willingness to change up the
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plot with each book keeps the series fresh. Show Less
LibraryThing member chirikosan
Thank goodness this read is over. If this had been an ebook, I would not have finished it. Buuut... I bought a copy of this book at a used bookstore so I had to get my money's worth.
I really expected an exciting story of illegal adoptions with the first chapter luring you in the plot from the
And up to a certain point, the first chapter did sort of start with a good dose of action you'd expect from a thriller detective story. The problem is... well... after we see Detective Guido Brunetti ruffles his feathers and tries not to punch to Carabineri special forces for police brutality amid a potentially illegal raid, the story sort of fizzles into tedium.
One of the problems of the plot is the fact pretty much everything pertaining to Dr. Gustavo Pedrolli's arrest is: "not in Guido's Jurisdiction". He is only supposed to investigate an assault that left a man with pretty severe neurological damage due to an inept rookie special force cop named Maravatti. Guido doesn't have access to the kid's possibly forged birth certificate (and the plot conveniently makes him give up because the Venice birth registry office is on strike even though the kid was supposed to be adopted in Verona so this plot hole should have been a non issue anyways). He never interviews the kid's biological mother. No heated meetings with a higher up in Internal Affairs for police brutality in what is supposed to be his jurisdiction. Um... I guess the only bit of real detective work he did within his realms of possibility is discovering some pharmacies hacked into the public healthcare system to program PCP consults for dead people but apparently nobody abused the system to either get drugs or embezzle money. And if either crime did occur, the book sort of ignores them because, well... I dunno either.
Guido's boss Patti never really tells him to drop the assault case, but there really isn't any reason why he continues investigating the child ring because it "is not his jurisdiction." Quite frankly, outside of discovering the medical record hacking fraud, the only real police work he did in the whole book is enter a pharmacy that suffered a nasty break in, let a clerk tamper with the crime scene that is covered with bloodied glass shards in the floor (doesn't anyone watch CSI?), and somehow a mysterious super smart computer guy we never meet manages to salvage 99% of the computer hard drive in time for the rather unexciting finale. The book doesn't give us an exact year where it is supposed to take place, but it mentions flat computer screens now exist, so it has to happen after 2005. Even then, computer hard drives are quite brittle and I would be hard pressed to believe one that was damaged so badly by a clumsy burglar was salvageable. Heck, isn't Venice supposed to be surrounded by canals everywhere? If the crook had just dumped the computer into the water, well, I guess nobody would have found out about the ending, which is a bit of a non issue anyways. Yeah, these plot holes sure were not very well thought out.
Now, after I have finished venting about the story, I have noticed other problems of the book that I wish to address. I have never read previous books from this author. The good news is that it looks like this is an episodic series so reading prior books is pretty much optional. The bad news (for me) is that I do not know if Guido was supposed to have some sort of character development in prior books.
Here are some excerpts that made my eyes roll real hard:
"Brunetti's eye was drawn to a pair of sleek, tanned female thighs which presented themselves to the beholder, proof of the ease which cellulite could be banished in a single week." WTF?
There's more!
"He saw a group of tourists approach and judged them to be Eastern Europeans, even before he gave the decision any conscious thought. He studied them as they walked past him: sallow complexions; blond hair, either natural or assisted in that direction; cheap shoes, one remove from cardboard; plastic jackets that had been dyed and treated in an unsuccessful attempt to make them resemble leather. Brunetti had always felt a regard for these tourists because they looked at things. Probably too poor to buy most of what they saw, they still gazed about them with respect an awe and unbridled delight. With their cheap clothes and their bad haircuts and their packed lunches, who knew what it cost them to come here?"
I know Venice is an expensive touristy city and all, but the book really feels aged when it comes to well, not viewing Eastern European visitors as half starved savages. This particular scene is from Guido's POV. Isn't he supposed to be the good guy?
"He's in La Paz (Bolivia). Ordinarily, the name of the city would have caused Brunetti to joke and ask if her father were there to arrange a deal in cocaine, but the mounting evidence that many, if not most, of the calls made on telefonini were intercepted and recorded dissuaded him from doing so."
Yes, Guido sure thinks every rich tourist visiting a city in Latin America is only there to get drugs when that same person would have zero difficulty getting it in Italy in the first place. But how nice of him to view Latin America in such a way!
"Paola had again observed, months ago, that he should spend a day counting the times he saw tits and ass. And here he found himself contemplating evidence, though, strangely enough, he was comforted by the sight of all that lovely flesh."
CRIIIIINGE!!!!
I won't even delve much into detail the nonsensical scene early in the book where a coffee shop Guido and another detective visit constantly when an African migrant gets all jittery the moment he sees the two cops. Umm... the guy has a fully valid legal work permit. Like... why would he go all psycho if the cops would have zero grounds to deport him in the first place?
That scene made me notice yet another issue I felt with this book: if this book had been written by a rookie author today, it would have had an insanely low chance of getting trad published. Like, outside of the jittery migrant worker that doesn't even say a word in the whole book and an Indian or Pakistani taxi driver that scuttles through the city real fast, pretty much 100% of the characters of the book are fair white characters with the majority having blond hair and green eyes. If you are searching for even the smallest modicum of diversity in supporting characters, this book seems to be stuck in the 1950's. Now, I have never been to Venice, but I would assume 15 years ago you would see a more sizeable migrant community. The weird thing is that what really motivated me to finish this book was to see if I was lucky enough to spot more of these cringey passages. And yes, a minor character which is a spoiler is very ableist. *shudder*
Like, I could accept Guido liked using his right hand reading Playboy in his spare time, but he is neither doing that, his wife spend 90% of her scenes in the book feeding him food and wine without showing any windows of her personality (except that autumn makes her bitchy for no reason whatsoever). Guido was not even supposed to continue researching the baby ring because "it isn't his jurisdiction", so what was the motivator? Oh yes, he is supposed to love kids.
The weird thing is that in the two scenes he interacts with his 2 kids, it's like... they seem like Christmas tree decorations that say something fun they did at school and he isn't even paying attention to them. The kids could be zapped by a laserbeam and chances are Guido wouldn't care. I even assumed he was in a childless marriage the vast majority of the book.
So in a nutshell, I have no idea how in the hell this plot hole ridden book managed to get a trad publication. To add salt into the wound, I swear the final 3 chapters read like a caffeinated first draft that was written 4 hours before the deadline and published without any corrections. This book is quite solid proof that a trad book is definitely not superior to a self published novel.
I really expected an exciting story of illegal adoptions with the first chapter luring you in the plot from the
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hinted kidnapping of a pediatrician who is in the hospital due to life threatening injuries.And up to a certain point, the first chapter did sort of start with a good dose of action you'd expect from a thriller detective story. The problem is... well... after we see Detective Guido Brunetti ruffles his feathers and tries not to punch to Carabineri special forces for police brutality amid a potentially illegal raid, the story sort of fizzles into tedium.
Guido's boss Patti never really tells him to drop the assault case, but there really isn't any reason why he continues investigating the child ring because it "is not his jurisdiction." Quite frankly, outside of discovering the medical record hacking fraud, the only real police work he did in the whole book is enter a pharmacy that suffered a nasty break in, let a clerk tamper with the crime scene that is covered with bloodied glass shards in the floor (doesn't anyone watch CSI?), and somehow a mysterious super smart computer guy we never meet manages to salvage 99% of the computer hard drive in time for the rather unexciting finale. The book doesn't give us an exact year where it is supposed to take place, but it mentions flat computer screens now exist, so it has to happen after 2005. Even then, computer hard drives are quite brittle and I would be hard pressed to believe one that was damaged so badly by a clumsy burglar was salvageable. Heck, isn't Venice supposed to be surrounded by canals everywhere? If the crook had just dumped the computer into the water, well, I guess nobody would have found out about the ending, which is a bit of a non issue anyways. Yeah, these plot holes sure were not very well thought out.
Now, after I have finished venting about the story, I have noticed other problems of the book that I wish to address. I have never read previous books from this author. The good news is that it looks like this is an episodic series so reading prior books is pretty much optional. The bad news (for me) is that I do not know if Guido was supposed to have some sort of character development in prior books.
Here are some excerpts that made my eyes roll real hard:
"Brunetti's eye was drawn to a pair of sleek, tanned female thighs which presented themselves to the beholder, proof of the ease which cellulite could be banished in a single week." WTF?
There's more!
"He saw a group of tourists approach and judged them to be Eastern Europeans, even before he gave the decision any conscious thought. He studied them as they walked past him: sallow complexions; blond hair, either natural or assisted in that direction; cheap shoes, one remove from cardboard; plastic jackets that had been dyed and treated in an unsuccessful attempt to make them resemble leather. Brunetti had always felt a regard for these tourists because they looked at things. Probably too poor to buy most of what they saw, they still gazed about them with respect an awe and unbridled delight. With their cheap clothes and their bad haircuts and their packed lunches, who knew what it cost them to come here?"
I know Venice is an expensive touristy city and all, but the book really feels aged when it comes to well, not viewing Eastern European visitors as half starved savages. This particular scene is from Guido's POV. Isn't he supposed to be the good guy?
"He's in La Paz (Bolivia). Ordinarily, the name of the city would have caused Brunetti to joke and ask if her father were there to arrange a deal in cocaine, but the mounting evidence that many, if not most, of the calls made on telefonini were intercepted and recorded dissuaded him from doing so."
Yes, Guido sure thinks every rich tourist visiting a city in Latin America is only there to get drugs when that same person would have zero difficulty getting it in Italy in the first place. But how nice of him to view Latin America in such a way!
"Paola had again observed, months ago, that he should spend a day counting the times he saw tits and ass. And here he found himself contemplating evidence, though, strangely enough, he was comforted by the sight of all that lovely flesh."
CRIIIIINGE!!!!
I won't even delve much into detail the nonsensical scene early in the book where a coffee shop Guido and another detective visit constantly when an African migrant gets all jittery the moment he sees the two cops. Umm... the guy has a fully valid legal work permit. Like... why would he go all psycho if the cops would have zero grounds to deport him in the first place?
That scene made me notice yet another issue I felt with this book: if this book had been written by a rookie author today, it would have had an insanely low chance of getting trad published. Like, outside of the jittery migrant worker that doesn't even say a word in the whole book and an Indian or Pakistani taxi driver that scuttles through the city real fast, pretty much 100% of the characters of the book are fair white characters with the majority having blond hair and green eyes. If you are searching for even the smallest modicum of diversity in supporting characters, this book seems to be stuck in the 1950's. Now, I have never been to Venice, but I would assume 15 years ago you would see a more sizeable migrant community. The weird thing is that what really motivated me to finish this book was to see if I was lucky enough to spot more of these cringey passages. And yes, a minor character which is a spoiler is very ableist. *shudder*
Like, I could accept Guido liked using his right hand reading Playboy in his spare time, but he is neither doing that, his wife spend 90% of her scenes in the book feeding him food and wine without showing any windows of her personality (except that autumn makes her bitchy for no reason whatsoever). Guido was not even supposed to continue researching the baby ring because "it isn't his jurisdiction", so what was the motivator? Oh yes, he is supposed to love kids.
The weird thing is that in the two scenes he interacts with his 2 kids, it's like... they seem like Christmas tree decorations that say something fun they did at school and he isn't even paying attention to them. The kids could be zapped by a laserbeam and chances are Guido wouldn't care. I even assumed he was in a childless marriage the vast majority of the book.
So in a nutshell, I have no idea how in the hell this plot hole ridden book managed to get a trad publication. To add salt into the wound, I swear the final 3 chapters read like a caffeinated first draft that was written 4 hours before the deadline and published without any corrections. This book is quite solid proof that a trad book is definitely not superior to a self published novel.
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LibraryThing member diana.hauser
Suffer the Little Children is written by Donna Leon. The title is Book #16 of the Commissario Guido Brunetti series.
Every title in this series seems to be a ‘morality play’ Cases are solved (usually) but there is rarely justice.
I don’t know how he copes. He is a very moralistic man and the
The plot is complicated, suspenseful, sad and set in the glorious city of Venice “seething with small-town vice.”
A highly recommended title and series. ****
Every title in this series seems to be a ‘morality play’ Cases are solved (usually) but there is rarely justice.
I don’t know how he copes. He is a very moralistic man and the
Show More
constant and commonplace criminality of Venice must drag him down to the depths of his understanding.The plot is complicated, suspenseful, sad and set in the glorious city of Venice “seething with small-town vice.”
A highly recommended title and series. ****
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Subjects
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2007
Physical description
272 p.; 5.71 inches
ISBN
043401625X / 9780434016259
Similar in this library
DDC/MDS
| 813.54 |