Uniform Justice by Donna Leon

Uniform Justice by Donna Leon
Buy Uniform Justice by Donna Leon at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Crime
Reviewer: Sue Magee
Summary: The twelfth book in the Brunetti series looks at the apparent suicide of a military cadet. For me it wasn't one of her best books, but it's still a good read.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 288/8h10m	Date: March 2003
Publisher: William Heinemann
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 978-0434008056
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Commissario Brunetti has never had much time for the military but he's conflicted when he's called to the apparent suicide of a cadet at a military school. It seems that he's hanged himself. On the one hand Brunetti is sympathetic to the bereaved family - it's obviously a terrible loss to them - but he feels nothing but contempt for the attitudes of the boy's teachers and his fellow students. The boy's father, Dr Moro, is a former politician and a man with the sort of integrity which no one can quite believe exists in Italian politics. Brunetti can't understand why Moro is unwilling to talk to him, or to involve himself in the investigation into his son's death.

Moro's not the only one with little to say. The more Brunetti investigates, the higher the wall of silence with which he's faced. Even Signorina Elettra, the Questura's computer expert has little luck. Is Brunetti prepared to accept that this is a suicide or should he follow his instincts and push his investigation forward, regardless of the wall of silence?

This is the twelfth book in Donna Leon's Commissario Brunetti series. I've read it well out of order, but that's proved a few points to me. All the Brunetti books read well as standalones and there are no spoilers for earlier books in the series. There's no story arc which is going to be messed up if you read the books out of order - people get older, but unlike some police procedural series there isn't a continuing personal story to follow. All the books and certainly the later ones look at a current topic and this is part of the reason for the continuing freshness of the books: I haven't read one yet which felt at all tired. I've never wondered whether or not Brunetti should be thinking about retirement.

Having said that, this hasn't been one of my favourite books in the series, partly, I think, because I share Brunetti's feelings about the military, but that didn't detract from the fact that it's well plotted with some excellent characters. I didn't spot the twist at the end before it arrived, but it was a satisfying conclusion.

Rather than read the book I listened to an audio download, narrated by David Colacci, who has narrated quite a few of the middle numbers of the Brunetti books. David Rintoul is my preferred narrator, but Colacci does a good job. His range of voices is impressive and I was never in any doubt about who was speaking.

If you do want to read the books in chronological order, you'll find a list here.

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