In the 29th Comissario Guido Brunetti mystery from CWA Macallan Silver Dagger winner Leon, Brunetti receives a call from Dottoressa Donato announcing that a patient on her deathbed wishes to speak with him. The dying woman can barely utter the words "They killed him….Bad money," but this information leads Brunetti to a bigger case that threatens the entire Veneto. Adding to the two million copies of Leon's books sold in North America alone.

Venice Commisario of Police Guido Brunetti and his partner Claudia Griffoni are called to the bedside of a dying woman as this latest outing (after Unto Us a Son Is Given) begins. When they arrive at the hospice, the patient is only able to tell them that her late husband, who supposedly died in a motorcycle accident, was killed over "bad money." She dies before she can tell them more. They investigate and learn the husband had worked at a company that monitored water quality in the area and was noted for his rectitude. Braving the summer heat, the detectives keep digging in an effort to find out what money the wife was talking about and if—and why—someone might have wanted her husband dead. The heat and blinding sunlight reflecting off the buildings and water become characters, too, in Leon's well-crafted, atmospheric mystery. VERDICT Fans of the series will enjoy this new adventure. [See Prepub Alert, 8/19/19.]—Dan Forrest, Western Kentucky Univ. Libs., Bowling Green

At the start of bestseller Leon's thought-provoking 29th mystery featuring Venetian Commissario Guido Brunetti (after 2019's Unto Us a Son Is Given), Brunetti and his colleague, Commissario Claudia Griffoni, are called to a hospice at the request of 38-year-old Benedetta Toso, who's dying of cancer. Though Benedetta isn't fully lucid, Brunetti and Griffoni learn that she suspects foul play in the recent death of her husband, Vittorio Fadalto, a water distribution technician employed by the firm Spattuto Acqua. Vittorio drowned when his motorcycle went off the road, yet he had a reputation for careful behavior when it came to safety. His wife hints that Vittorio was involved in something dishonest, and the expert online sleuthing by a colleague of Brunetti's uncovers disturbing financial transactions. Brunetti sets out to examine employee activities at Spattuto Acqua, which is charged with maintaining the integrity of Venice's water supply. As usual, Leon adroitly portrays the complex questions of what constitutes justice and the sad consequences that can result from its pursuit. This long-running series shows no sign of losing steam. Agent: Susanne Bauknecht, Diogenes Verlag (Switzerland). (Mar.)