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  • Published: 4 October 2012
  • ISBN: 9781448149971
  • Imprint: Cornerstone Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 336

The Jewels of Paradise




From the bestselling author of the Brunetti crime series comes The Jewels of Paradise, a gripping tale of intrigue, music, history and greed and Donna Leon’s first stand-alone novel.

From the bestselling author of the Brunetti crime series comes The Jewels of Paradise, a gripping tale of intrigue, music, history and greed and Donna Leon's first stand-alone novel.

Caterina Pellegrini is a native Venetian, and like so many of them, she’s had to leave home to pursue her career. With a doctorate in baroque opera from Vienna, she lands in Manchester, England. Manchester, however, is no Venice. When Caterina gets word of a position back home, she jumps at the opportunity.

The job is an unusual one. After nearly three centuries, two locked trunks—believed to contain the papers of a baroque composer—have been discovered. Deeply connected in religious and political circles, the composer died childless; now, two Venetians, descendants of his cousins, each claim the inheritance. Caterina’s job is to examine any enclosed papers to discover the \"testamentary disposition\" of the composer. But when her research takes her in unexpected directions, she begins to wonder just what secrets these trunks may hold. . .

  • Published: 4 October 2012
  • ISBN: 9781448149971
  • Imprint: Cornerstone Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 336

About the author

Donna Leon

Donna Leon was named by The Times as one of the 50 Greatest Crime Writers. She is an award-winning crime novelist, celebrated for the bestselling Brunetti series. Donna has lived in Venice for thirty years and previously lived in Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Iran and China, where she worked as a teacher. Donna’s books have been translated into 35 languages and have been published around the world.

Her previous novels featuring Commissario Brunetti have all been highly acclaimed; including Friends in High Places, which won the CWA Macallan Silver Dagger for Fiction, Fatal Remedies, Doctored Evidence, A Sea of Troubles and Beastly Things.

Also by Donna Leon

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Praise for The Jewels of Paradise

Donna Leon’s skill with intrigue, clues and suspicion and suspense means that even the most ardent Brunetti devotee ought to find this book a good read.

Literary Review

Written with all Leon's elegant delicacy combined with her ability to reveal the truth almost without your noticing, this is a little gem of a book, immersed as it is in Leon's own love for the baroque.

Daily Mail

[it has] all the ingredients of a zippy historical mystery in an intriguing new genre…Leon seamlessly interweaves the Italian cultural heritage into her story, and hasn’t lost her feeling for everyday life

Spectator

Splendid … a fascinating historical mystery. Full of authentic details and wittily recounted ... Leon’s 22nd novel has a freshness which indicates her delight in the subject

Jane Jakeman, Independent

Jewels of Paradise demonstrates the author’s deep understanding of Venice, and is an entertaining work that questions the changing values of life over the ages. Like life, it makes you wait to the end to understand the plot.

Selected by Lord Browne (former Chief Executive of BP) as his summer read in the Financial Times

The perfect stocking filler for fans of the Commissario Brunetti series … A gripping tale of music, intrigue and obsession.

The Oldie

Fans of Leon’s work will find much to enjoy here, particularly her elegant descriptions of day-to-day Venetian life and the city’s architectural wonders, and Caterina makes for an enjoyably irreverent companion for the tour.

Irish Times
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