Unto Us a Son Is Given by Donna Leon

Unto Us a Son Is Given: A Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery by Donna Leon --- 259 pages

This is the 28th book in Donna Leon's Guido Brunetti series, set in Venice, and it is another winner in a series of winners.  Among all of its other excellencies, it is so evocative of Venice that it's the next best thing to being there.  As one reviewer observed, the city itself is a major "character" in these books.

To briefly summarize the plot, I am going to paraphrase from Google Books: Count Falier urges his Venetian son-in-law Brunetti to investigate, and  intervene in, a close friend's plan to adopt a much younger man as his son. Count Falier's friend, a wealthy retired art dealer from Spain, Gonzalo Rodrâiguez de Tejada, is infatuated with the younger man, an Italian with a a title but no visible means of support for the lavish lifestyle he favors.  Under Italy's arcane inheritance laws the adoption would make the Count heir to Gonzalo's entire fortune, a prospect Gonzalo's friends (and his family in Spain) find appalling.

For his part, Brunetti wonders why the old man, a close family friend, godfather to Brunetti's wife and "Tio Gonzalo" to Brunetti's own children, can't be allowed his pleasure in peace. And yet, he finds the situation disquieting. A few weeks later, Gonzalo unexpectedly, and literally, drops dead on the street. A hitherto unknown friend from years before arrives in Venice to arrange a memorial service.

Berta Dodson avers that Gonzalo saved her life when Pinochet took power in Chile, by getting her out of the country before she could be arrested. When Berta is found strangled in her hotel room, Brunetti discovers that she had heard of Gonzalo's plans and sent him an e-mail just before he died, declaring "We are the only ones who know you cannot do this," referring to the adoption. Now with a murder to solve, Brunetti reluctantly untangles the long-hidden mystery in Gonzalo's life that ultimately led to Berta's death -- a resolution that brings him far more pain than satisfaction.

Click HERE to read the review in Publishers Weekly.

Click HERE to read the review in Kirkus Reviews.

Click HERE to read the review from Criminal Element.com

Miss Julia Inherits a Mess by Ann B. Ross

Miss Julia Inherits a Mess by Ann B. Ross --- 308 pages

The 17th book in the cozy mystery series with the emphasis on the cozy rather than the mystery.

When Miss Mattie Freeman breaks her hip in a fall in her apartment and winds up in the hospital, Miss Julia is stunned to discover that Mattie, with no known living relatives, has given Miss Julia power of attorney to handle her affairs. Julia’s sense of duty requires her to accept responsibility for an elderly woman she never considered more than an acquaintance. But when Mattie dies of her injuries, Julia learns she also designated Miss Julia as the executor of her estate.  Miss Mattie's will goes on to leave a number of charitable bequests, but as Miss Julia soon finds out, there's not enough money left to fulfill them, unless she can find other assets hidden in Mattie's jumbled and overstuffed apartment.

Click HERE to read the review from Publishers Weekly.

Click HERE to read the review from Kirkus Reviews.

Click HERE to read the review from the author's local newspaper, the Wilmington NC Star News.