The Girl of His Dreams

One rainy morning Commissario Brunetti and Ispettore Vianello respond to an emergency call reporting a body floating near some steps on the Grand Canal. Reaching down to pull it out, Brunetti's wrist is caught by the silkiness of golden hair, and he sees a small foot - together he and Vianello lift a dead girl from the water. ‘The seventeenth title in an excellent, unflagging series . . The Girl of His Dreams marks an evolution, even a quiet revolution, in Leon''s storytelling. ’ Times Literary Supplement''In The Girl of His Dreams, Donna Leon is writing at her fluent best. '' The IndependentA priest recently returned from years of missionary work has made a personal request of Commissario Guido Brunetti—but the police detective suspects the man’s motives. A new, American-style Protestant sect has begun to meet in Venice, and it’s possible the priest is merely apprehensive of the competition. But the preacher could also be fleecing his growing flock, so Brunetti and Inspector Vianello, along with their wives, decide to go undercover. In the midst of the investigation, though, the body of a Gypsy child washes up in a canal—and Brunetti finds himself haunted by both the crime and the girl . . ‘An artful examination of family ties as well as a clear-eyed survey of the pros and cons of political correctness’ Evening Standard