A Question of Belief (Guido Brunetti Series #19) Book

'…deceit does have its uses: without it, and without betrayal, there would be no literature.'

As Venice suffers in a stifling heatwave Commissario Bruetti at the Questura is looking forward to spending the Ferragosto holidays with his family at a cottage high in the Alps, wearing sweaters and the warmth of a log fire at night. (Note: it is easy to forget - if I ever remembered - that the lagoon enclosing Venice and its canals lies at the northern end of the Adriatic, and is closer to Slovenia and Croatia than it is to the rest of Italy).

Before he goes on leave the commissario is confronted with two issues: a senior staffer at the Commune brings him papers from the Tribunale di Venezia that suggest judicial manipulation of cases through documents being mislaid or lodged incomplete, leading to delays which could affect the outcome, attributed to a certain judge and a clerk. Then, his assistant Ispettore Vianello, shares his concerns over the behaviour of his own aunt, a sensible woman now immersing herself in horoscopes and alternate medicine, who is making regular cash withdrawals from the bank which affects the family business. Brunetti agrees to discrete surveillance, and with the assistance of two young police officers, trails her to a house. Then, as Brunetti and Vianello set off on vacation, both are recalled by a murder: that of the clerk, Fontana from the Tribunale, in the courtyard of the apartment building he shares with his widowed mother.

This is the second Guido Brunetti mystery I have read, and am enjoying the series. The tempo is relaxed - excessive violence supplanted by irony - as the capable and honest detectives try their best in the face of a country (and culture) renowned for its chicanery. For the dubious activities or scam perpetrated against Vianello's aunt, Brunetti calls upon his mother-in-law, the delightful la contessa Donnatella.

'Do you have proof that this person is a charlatan?'
'He has a long history of dishonesty.'
'Ah,' she whispered, 'not unlike our own dear leaders.'

With the murder, attention is drawn to the victim's family, the neighbours, and his associates at the Tribunale, with Brunetti reflecting that: The business of the law was not to discover the truth…but imposition of the power of the state upon its citizens.

Ultimately the villain is undone by contradicting evidence and coincidence, but I liked the way it remained unfinished business, as evidence stayed out of reach and the guilty drifted away.