St. Peter's Basilica, Rome

I have Longitude books to thank for this discovery, and you can browse the whole collection of these mysteries at their site. If you don’t already get their newsletter, I highly recommend it for outstanding travel books.

Aurelio Zen mysteries by Michael Dibdin  air on PBS, Sunday evenings July 17-31.

• Tour Sardinia with Vendetta.
• Tour Rome with Cabal.
• Tour Venice  (correction) Perugia with Ratking.

The brooding Middelmarch (BBC) actor, Rufus Sewell, plays the detective. (You may have seen him in the TV version of Pillars of the Earth.)

Rialto Bridge, Venice

These pictures are my property. If you wish to use them, please inquire at vmb@atravelerslibrary.com

Before we went to Italy I read nearly all of the Donna Leon mysteries set in Venice, and I read a couple of a series about an art appraiser by Ian Pears,  which I did not like as much, but you may like those, too. Have you read any of the Aurelio Zen mysteries? I have not, but am really looking forward to this series on Public Broadcasting.

A reader has corrected the erroneous destination I listed  for Ratking. Which calls into question my use of the Venice picture. Dibdin, did however, write a book set in Venice–Dead Lagoon,and . My apologies to everyone for getting that wrong. It was incorrect in some promotional materials and I did not check it. Shame on me.

This content is a post from: A Traveler's Library To comment on this post or search for related information, click on the link to A Traveler's Library. We'll leave a light on for you.

©2012 A Traveler's Library. All Rights Reserved.

Destination: Venice

Gondola Traffic Jam in Venice, Italy Photo by VMB

Books: Any mystery byDonna Leon

Donna Leon has made a career out of killing off many people in just one city. But with all the romance and mystery of Venice, Italy, why not?

Unlike the many writers who have plumbed the rich history of Venice, Donna Leon goes after the gritty underbelly of today’s Italy. Grubbing around in police works and political corruption she exposes plenty of things that the tourist board will not be telling you about. I gobbled the books  down like potato chips before, during and after my Italian trip.

In 2008 the yearly high tides in Venice reached exceptionally high marks, making Leon’s 1996 (reprinted in 2005)  Acqua Alta , timely all over again. Leon’s  police procedural mysteries (16 so far) about the personable family man, Comissario Brunetti, come across as a love letter to Venice. But not a love letter from a smitten teen. Her books strike me as a mature kind of love letter that says I know all your warts and I love you still.

When I went to Venice, the romantic decay all seemed just a little too seedy. And the city that once built an empire on commerce, now trades in made-in-China copies of Venetian masks. Talk about tacky souvenirs–I thought that if I saw one more pair of men’s underwear sporting a bit of David’s anatomy (that’s David by Michelangelo)—I would jump in a canal.

Leon (and Brunetti) also led me to hidden treasures of Venice, and explained the little cultural secrets that sometimes elude a tourist.I went on a Comissario Brunetti alert, recognizing street and plaza names and remembering the crime that took place in a particular canal. The British fan site for the author emphasizes the way that place dominates her novels with a wonderful graphic map

You may want to start with her latest book,  The Girl of His Dreams , but once you add Leon to your travel library, I’ll bet you can’t read just one.

Thrillers from Baldacci in Washington D.C. , mysteries from Donna Leon in Venice.  Why does this kind of book make such a satisfactory travel read?  And what other mystery writers have you read that add spice to your travel? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

* NOTE: In 2011 the number of mysteries has climbed to 20 and you can also buy  Brunetti’s Cookbook. Thank goodness. I’ve been drooling over those pages in the novels where his wife whips up a wonderful dinner for the family.

This content is a post from: A Traveler's Library To comment on this post or search for related information, click on the link to A Traveler's Library. We'll leave a light on for you.

©2012 A Traveler's Library. All Rights Reserved.