From Publishers Weekly
In Leon's fifth Commissario Guido Brunetti mystery, the beating of renowned art historian Dotoressa Brett Lynch draws the contemporary Venetian police detective out of his warm and loving home and into the yearly onslaught of acqua alta, the torrential winter rains. Brett, an American who spearheaded a recent exhibition of Chinese pottery in Venice, lives with her lover, Flavia Petrelli, the reigning diva of La Scala. With his open mind and good sense, Brunetti finds himself more fazed by Flavia's breathtaking talent than by the nontraditional relationship between the two women. Brunetti's deliberate and humane investigation to uncover a motive for Brett's beating takes him to dark, wet corners of Venice and into a sinister web of art theft, fakery and base human desires. While there may be a whiff of stereotype in Brunetti's assumptions about a character of Sicilian heritage, the action builds to a dramatic and deeply satisfying climax. Intricate and intimate descriptions of Venetian life fill these pages and prove that Leon has once again created a high-stakes mystery in which the setting vibrates with as much life as the story itself. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Time Out
An evocative peep into the dark underworld of the beauteous city.

The New York Times Book Review
Leon’s books shimmer in the grace of their setting and are warmed by the charm of their characters.

Book Description
Donna Leon’s growing American fan base is hungry for more of the books from her internationally bestselling series featuring Commissario Guido Brunetti. Now in what many consider one of the finest in the series, Venice braces for the onslaught of acqua alta—the rising waters from torrential rain. But Brunetti has his own problems, beginning with the savage beating of an old friend. When a man’s body is discovered, Brunetti must wade through the chaos to solve one of his deadliest cases. Full of marvelous plot twists, Acqua Alta is a chilling addition to Donna Leon’s addictive series.

About the Author
Donna Leon has taught in Iran, China, and Saudi Arabia.

FROM OUR EDITORS

It is winter in Venice, and the flood waters are rising, fed by relentless, torrential rains. But the onslaught of acqua alta doesn't consume the thoughts of Commissario Guido Brunetti; he is preoccupied instead with the brutal beating of his friend, archaeologist Brett Lynch, outside her small flat. Before long, he connects it to a savage murder, which leads him far beyond merely meteorological matters. A solid police procedural with beguiling local color.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

When Brett Lynch, an American archaeologist, is savagely beaten by two well-dressed men on the doorstep of her Venice flat, few besides Brunetti are outraged. Lynch is, after all, a foreigner and a lesbian to boot. But all Venice is galvanized when, two days later, Dottor Semenzato, a prestigious museum curator, is murdered. Brunetti quickly makes the connection between Lynch's attack and Semenzato's killing - both had worked on a celebrated exhibition of Chinese antiquities. The policeman's investigation opens onto the moral sinkhole in which Venice's upper class clandestinely wallows when he discovers that Semenzato had been peddling artifacts from the Chinese exhibition. Lynch has learned of his misdeeds too and of chicanery in high places half a world away. Even a record-breaking acqua alta will not deter the killers from getting her murder right the second time. Can Brunetti?

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

In Leon's fifth Commissario Guido Brunetti mystery, the beating of renowned art historian Dotoressa Brett Lynch draws the contemporary Venetian police detective out of his warm and loving home and into the yearly onslaught of acqua alta, the torrential winter rains. Brett, an American who spearheaded a recent exhibition of Chinese pottery in Venice, lives with her lover, Flavia Petrelli, the reigning diva of La Scala. With his open mind and good sense, Brunetti finds himself more fazed by Flavia's breathtaking talent than by the nontraditional relationship between the two women. Brunetti's deliberate and humane investigation to uncover a motive for Brett's beating takes him to dark, wet corners of Venice and into a sinister web of art theft, fakery and base human desires. While there may be a whiff of stereotype in Brunetti's assumptions about a character of Sicilian heritage, the action builds to a dramatic and deeply satisfying climax. Intricate and intimate descriptions of Venetian life fill these pages and prove that Leon has once again created a high-stakes mystery in which the setting vibrates with as much life as the story itself. Agent, Susanne Bauknecht at Diogenes (Switzerland). (Sept.) Forecast: Last year's release of Uniform Justice, Leon's first U.S. novel since 1996, to great acclaim heralded a Leon revival in this country. This will help keep the momentum going. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Just back from an archeological expedition to China's Xi'an dig, Brett Lynch is relaxing in the apartment of her lover, La Scala diva Flavia Petrelli, when two men knock at the door, matter-of-factly beat her, and warn her not to keep her appointment with Dottore Semenzato, director of the Palazzo Ducale, until recently the Venetian home of Brett's Xi'an finds. Brett survives her ordeal (two broken ribs, one cracked jaw), but it doesn't matter: A few days later, before she can talk her way out of the hospital, somebody visits the Palazzo Ducale and leaves Semenzato dead. Can Vice-Commissaire Guido Brunetti doubt that it was the same pair of thugs, or that their courtesies cast grave doubt on the authenticity of the Xi'an treasures, and the "accidental" verdict on the death back on the dig of Brett's assistant? And can Brunetti doubt that the power behind this nefarious plot is much-arrested Salvatore La Capra's wealthy collector father?

Sadly, there's not enough doubt to make much ado over, leaving Brunetti's fifth (Death and Judgment, 1995, etc.) the most routine of a generally fine Venetian series.