Unto Us a Son Is Given (Commissario Brunetti Book 28)

📚 Why We Recommend It

Beneath Venice’s gilded canals and sun-dappled piazzas lies a web of secrets as murky as the waterways themselves—and Unto Us a Son Is Given drags you straight into the current. When elderly Gonzalo Rodríguez de Tejeda announces plans to adopt a much younger man, Commissario Guido Brunetti expects little more than a family squabble over inheritance. But when Gonzalo drops dead suddenly, and a visiting friend is strangled in her hotel room, the case unravels into something far darker.

Donna Leon doesn’t just write a thriller—she paints Venice as a character: the scent of fresh seafood mingling with the rot of hidden lies, the clatter of gondoliers masking whispered conspiracies. Brunetti, with his dry wit and quiet empathy, navigates a labyrinth of greed, loyalty, and long-buried truths, where every question uncovers a new layer of deceit.

This isn’t just a murder mystery; it’s a masterclass in tension, where the beauty of Venice serves as a haunting backdrop to human frailty. For fans of slow-burn suspense and richly drawn settings, Leon delivers a story that lingers like the echo of a church bell across the lagoon—unsettling, unforgettable, and impossible to put down.