Uniform Justice by Penguin (Non-Classics)

	Title: Uniform Justice Purchase Item Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics) List Price: $7.99 Our Price: $2.24
Customer Reviews:
Uniform Justice by Penguin (Non-Classics) Look Beyond the Obvious
Uniform Justice doesn't match up very well to the excellent Wilful Behaviour that precedes it in this fine series. In the best books in the series, you find a great deal of layering where one character's life and reading provide dimensions to the meaning of the other characters' lives. That layering is mostly missing in this story, and Brunetti's investigation seems more ham-handed than necessary. The resolution will please few readers, as well. A hung-over student in a military academy fears he's seeing an oversized bat in the bathroom where he goes for relief from his thirst. Upon closer examination, the "bat" turns out to be a dead cadet who is dead by strangulation. Is it suicide? All indications point that way except the words of his aunt. Naturally, Commissario Guido Brunetti begins to investigate as though it's a murder. Undoubtedly, having the dead youth be similar in age to his son has something to do with that decision. But it's not such a serious investigation. The father refuses to talk to him, and he doesn't dig into the background of the family or of the military academy very seriously. Vice-Questore Patta is friendly with the head of the school which makes matters somewhat more difficult. But due to the connections of Signorina Elettra, the outlines of an alternative theory begin to develop. With that theory in hand, however, Brunetti blunders more than once. The story's other problem is that the scheme that Brunetti ends up investigating doesn't seem all that probable in some of its more extreme dimensions. The family's reaction to the plot also seems more than a little unlikely. As a result, I found it hard to take the story seriously. It just didn't ring true. Be careful of the enemies you make.
Uniform Justice by Penguin (Non-Classics) Murder Mystery Set in Venice
This has been a summer of unusual reading, and the latest book I am reviewing here, "Uniform Justice," reflects my recent fascination with all things mystery and thriller. Prior to this summer, this genre is not something I would usually consider. However, I have discovered a lot of great writing so far, and this book is a good example. Leon's book, "Uniform Justice," is part of a series based on Comissario Guido Brunetti. However, when I read the book, I wasn't even aware of that fact, so it's clear that the book stands alone, to be enjoyed without any previous encounters with Leon's work. This story centers on the supposed suicide of a young cadet at a military academy in Venice. The academy resents any interference from outsiders, particularly those of the Venice Police and Brunetti. The story enlarges once the boy's family becomes involved in the investigation. While there is plenty to enjoy on a good mystery storytelling basis, the book's real pleasures can be found on many other levels as well: first, it is a love song to the city of Venice, its buildings, people, and food. Second, the story closely follows the life of investigating Commissario Guido Brunetti and his own family life (he has a son the same age as the victim); particularly interesting are the accompanying office politics of his job. Finally, the story is an examination of the Italian way of doing things (manners, politics, bribery, and corruption). This is a very interesting book, even for readers who don't consider themselves mystery fans. For setting alone, the book is worth reading, but I think, like me, you will find yourself on the lookout for other Comissario Brunetti tales once you finish this one.
Uniform Justice by Penguin (Non-Classics) Another wonderful Brunetti
If you like international detective stories and don't know Donna Leon's series starring Commisario Guido Brunetti then you're in for a treat. Every installment is uniformly well written, engrossing and enjoyable. Settle into crime, family dinners (with polenta)and an occasional glass of Soave as our Venetian policeman copes with fatuous superiors and nasty criminals. End with some Vin Santo.
Uniform Justice by Penguin (Non-Classics) Not That Death in Venice
Donna Leon, originally from New Jersey, has lived in Venice, Italy, for twenty years, as lecturer, professor, and finally mystery writer/student of Baroque music(and she actually motivated me to buy a CD of excerpts from Handel's operas). As of 2006, she's written 16 Commissario Guido Brunetti mysteries, all set in or around Venice. First thing to be said is, she knows the place: its geography, weather, people, houses, jobs, transportation, politics, smells,feel, food, and death, and no, not in that "Death in Venice" (by Thomas Mann) way. Her Venice has little in common with the beautiful, ethereal city celebrated so frequently in song, story, and movie, and so fondly remembered by multitudes of tourists. Her Venice is where Venetians live and work. Commissario Brunetti is a melancholy and cynical man, made tired by endless infighting in the top-heavy Italian police bureacracy; and by many disappointments in dealing with what he sees as the self-serving corruption of the Italian power elites. Only the domestic warmth of his family: wife Paola, a hereditary contessa born to one of Venice's oldest families, who chooses to teach, cook, and to espouse left-wing causes (that often sound as if her creator might also support them); his children Raffi and Chiara, and many good meals, enables Brunetti to stay centered and to continue fighting the good fight. Many people feel that Leon relies too heavily on stereotypes. Her view of Italy as a whole reflects the country that certain liberal bohemias love to hate. She sometimes slows the action of her books to express her political views. "Uniform Justice," particularly, can be viewed as being a bit too full of political digressions. Leon may also be accused of choosing the subject matter of her books for political reasons; of painting all southern Italians as dumb and dishonest, all Venetians as intelligent and honest, all American tourists as fat and crude, and all women under 35 as beautiful. There's some truth to all these criticisms. In "Uniform Justice" Brunetti is sent to the upper-crust "San Martino Military Academy," where Cadet Ernesto Moro has been found hanged in the boys' lavatory. The school, man and boy, prefers to think Moro a suicide, and whispers various nasty habits of his. They close ranks against Brunetti, as they do against all outsiders, particularly the low-born. However, Brunetti doesn't think the cadet's death is suicide, and digs doggedly until he can prove the cadet's death is murder. Furthermore, the death is directly attributable to the self-interest and corruption of the Italian elites, and to the weakness of any countervailing powers, such as the boy's own family, that might have saved him. But does Brunetti imagine he has liberated Italy from this kind of business? No, sorry, no can do. It's a really sad story, and I particularly liked the fact that Leon doesn't ever forget that murder, violent death, is tragic, and in the case of a young person, doubly so. If you don't mind a gritty Venice, one where the gondoliers don't sing night and day, this book, and this series, may be for you.
Uniform Justice by Penguin (Non-Classics) My last Donna Leon book
I've happily read all the Donna Leon mysteries, and enjoyed them from the beginning, although less and less lately. I recognize the author's right, to a point, to push her views through her characters, but the books have become so "anti-" that I have trouble enjoying them. Death of Faith was little more than a bitter anti-Catholic rant. And Uniform Justice does the same for the military, painting all military members of all countries as ultra conservative, brainless, immoral, borderline (or worse) facists. The many anti-American and anti-tourist comments (a true but over used cliche) are also harder and harder to get past pleasantly. The series has degenerated into little more than bitter ranting, and left character development and intricate plot twists behind. Donna Leon seems to have had five or six good stories to tell, and is now just filling paper and lining her pockets with her reputation. I'll miss these books, the first five or six were so pleasant, witty, and fun.
Uniform Justice by Penguin (Non-Classics) Product Description
For more than a decade Donna Leon has been a bestseller in Europe with a series of mysteries featuring Commissario Guido Brunetti. Always ready to bend the rules to solve a crime, Brunetti manages to maintain his integrity while maneuvering through a city rife with politics, corruption, and intrigue. In Uniform Justice, a young cadet has been found hanged, a presumed suicide, in Venice’s elite military academy. Brunetti’s sorrow for the boy, so close in age to his own son, is rivaled only by his contempt for a community that is more concerned with protecting the reputation of the school, and its privileged students, than with finding the truth. The young man’s father is a doctor and former politician. He is a man of an impeccable integrity who inexplicably avoids talking to the police. As Brunetti pursues his inquiry, he is faced with a wall of silence. Is the military protecting its own? Or has Brunetti uncovered a conspiracy far more sinister than that of a single death?