Slow and steady

Murder mysteries typically either start slow and then gradually pick up speed as they approach the end or begin with a bang and then slow down in the middle before gaining speed again as the climax approaches. Donna Leon does something unusual. Her novels usually maintain the same leisurely pace throughout. yet are successful just the same.

Trace Elements (2020) is no exception.

A dying woman asks Commissario Guido Brunetti of the Venice police, or the Questura, to investigate the death of her husband, Vittorio Fadalto, in an apparent traffic accident. She also says something about some mysterious money. It's hardly enough to even officially open an investigation, but Brunetti begins poking around anyway.

Fadalto worked as a water inspector, one of those responsible for making sure the drinking water of Venice is safe, containing no more than trace elements of impurities. Is there a motive for murder in there somewhere?

Brunetti, usually accompanied by Claudia Griffoni, proceeds slowly. Most heroes in detective novels seem to work nonstop, hardly ever pausing to eat or sleep. Yet Brunetti seems to work a short day, conducting just two or three brief interviews before taking the rest of the day off to spend with his family. He uses his time off profitably, however, thinking about his current case.

Even when Brunetti draws near to the solution to the mystery, Leon hardly alters her pace. This may sound dull, yet it never is. Whether Brunetti is talking with a suspect or with his own wife over dinner, the author manages to hold her readers glued to the page.