DOCTORED EVIDENCE (6 july 2005)
Everybody who has ever visited countries like Romania or Turkey will know about the destructive influence of corruption.
Corruption may not be the theme of Donna Leon's book Doctored Evidence, but throughout its pages we can feel the anger towards this social pest in Italy.
The blurb on the back of the book says:
When a wealthy Venetian woman is found brutally murdered, the prime suspect is her Romanian maid, who has fled the city. As she attempts to leave the country, carrying a considerable sum of money and forged papers, the maid runs into the path of an oncoming train and is killed. Case closed.
But when the old woman's neighbour returns from abroad, it becomes clear that the maid could not have been the killer. Commissario Brunetti decides -- unofficially -- to take the case on himself.
As Brunetti investigates, it becomes clear that the motive for the murder was unlikely to have been Greed, rather than it had its roots in the temptation of Lust. But perhaps Brunetti is thinking of the wrong Deadly Sin altogether...
I must say the theme of the book is quite interesting. And I also like the fact that the story is interwoven with contemplations on the Deadly Sins.
But still I can imagine that a gifted writer like Donna Leon could have told the story more imaginatively.
The beginning of the story is described with great skill and intensity. But while reading the second half I sometimes wondered if the writer wasn't just trying to add more text instead of trying to write a good story.
Still, Donna Leon is sufficiently skilful as a writer to produce an entertaining book. I've read worse.
