Suffer the Little Children: (Brunetti 16) (A Commissario Brunetti Mystery) - Softcover

"Donna Leon is keeping up an astonishingly high standard ... she achieves a perfect blend of characters, place, mystery and social issues. Her sixteenth Brunetti novel is also one of her best." (The Times)

"Leon builds her plot meticulously. [She] has her finger on the pulse" (Mirror)

"Suffer the Little Children is Donna Leon at her best, deftly mixing Commissario Guido Brunetti's detective work with perceptive awareness of social issues." (The Times)

"Leon tackles this difficult issue sensitively, without stinting on mouth-watering descriptions of Venice." (Daily Telegraph)

"As ever, Leon writes with an insider's knowledge of Venice, expertly navigating its complex geography." (Sunday Times)

When Commissario Brunetti is summoned to the hospital bedside of a senior paediatrician whose skull has been brutally fractured, he is confronted with more questions than answers. Three men have burst into the doctor's apartment in the middle of the night, attacked him and took his 18-month-old son - but why? As he investigates, Brunetti finds infertility, desperation, and babies for sale. Meanwhile, Inspector Vianello uncovers a scam between pharmacists and doctors in the city. And certain information about one's neighbours can lead to all kinds of corruption and all sorts of pain...

Donna Leon's new novel is as subtle and gripping as ever, set in a beautifully realised Venice, seething with small-town malice.