»No one knows the labyrinthine world of Venice or the way favoritism and corruption shape Italian life like Donna Leon’s Brunetti.«

»It’s always a pleasure to meet these carefully crafted characters who are so close to the hearts of Donna Leon’s readers.«

»The grand finale is truly inspired, explosive in every sense of the word and perhaps the best of Leon’s long career.«

»[…] showcasing the emotional depth and intellectual acumen of Commissario Guido Brunetti, a late-night dustup between teenage rival gangs has far-reaching impact. […] With the understated elegance and empathy imbued throughout this internationally acclaimed series, Leon once again examines the confluence of solid police work with issues of redemption and social justice.«

»As usual in Leon’s books, the mystery plays second fiddle to the characters and relationships from whom hints of secret misbehavior gradually coalesce into revelations as sordid and violent as you could wish. Is all this really ‘the stuff of television drama,’ as Brunetti fears? Only of a very high order indeed.«

»Even readers who haven’t visited Venice will feel as if they were right there in the lagoon city.«

»Only in a Donna Leon novel could you find Tacitus (›They make a desert and call it peace‹) and Nancy Sinatra cited on the same page. You never know what she’s going to say next. If her increasingly sardonic wit provides more surprises than the perfectly crafted plot, this only proves what a truly great writer she has become.«

»Where else but Venice would you find a policeman who reads Proust, appreciates the beautiful things in life and cannot work on an empty stomach? . . . Like many of her readers, while I came for the crime, I stayed for the characters and Italian culture.«