Give Unto Others (A Commissario Brunetti Mystery)

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Give, and it shall be given to you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that you mete with it shall be measured to you again. Guido is given very little to go on, only that Fenzo told Flora that they could be in danger. Feeling that he owes loyalty to Elisabetta's mother, who had been kind to him, he agrees to help and that there will be no police records kept. The smart close knit police team hone in Fenzo's accountancy business, thinking that it's good place to start, looking at his clients, but they hear little but praise for him. They move onto a South American charity that Fenzo had helped Elisabetta's husband set up, the Belize nel Cuore, providing a hospital and medical services to the poor, a charity that was founded with a retired, ex-naval Vice-Admiral suffering from dementia. When Flora's veterinary clinic is vandalised and her dog hurt, the police are called to the scene, putting their team inquiries for the first time on a formal police footing. Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”

While I can understand why Leon preferred to write about a mostly post pandemic time, I think she missed out on a golden opportunity. As I mentioned in my review of last year's book, I really wanted to know how these characters were managing during the pandemic, and a Brunetti book about 2020 in Venice could have been really fantastic. Leon has written a good deal in recent years about how Venice has been drowning literally and figuratively due to tourists and climate change, and seeing Venice during this period would have been a wonderful contrast. Still, Jesus said this Golden Rule “sums up the Law and the Prophets” ( Matthew 7:12), which were written before these two men. Biblical Origin of “Do unto Others as You Would Have Them Do unto You” Brunetti is approached for a favor by Elisabetta Foscarini, a woman he knows casually, but her mother was good to Brunetti’s mother, so he feels obliged to at least look into the matter privately, and not as official police business. Foscarini’s son-in-law, Enrico Fenzo, has alarmed his wife (her daughter) by confessing their family might be in danger because of something he’s involved with. Since Fenzo is an accountant, Brunetti logically suspects the cause of danger is related to the finances of a client. Yet his clients seem benign: an optician, a restaurateur, a charity established by his father-in-law. However, when his friend’s daughter’s place of work is vandalized, Brunetti asks his own favors—that his colleagues Claudia Griffoni, Lorenzo Vianello, and Signorina Elettra Zorzi assist his private investigation, which soon enough turns official as they uncover the dark and Janus-faced nature of a venerable Italian institution. Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed, and shaken, and running over, they will give into your bosom; for with that measure with which you measure, it will be measured to you again.” Defying crime fiction convention, nobody dies in Donna Leon’s latest mystery, Give Unto Others. In fact, the bloodiest encounter in this, the author’s 31st novel featuring Commissario Guido Brunetti, occurs between two dogs — and by the time we are aware of it, a vet is already on the scene (both animals survive). Humans are injured in the course of Brunetti’s latest case, one seriously. But the true victim of the crime at the center of this book is trust — in those we love and in ourselves as well.But why did you need to search?” he asked. “Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?” ( Luke 2:49 NLT) Compassionate yet incorruptible, Brunetti knows that true justice doesn’t always end in an arrest or a trial.”— Publishers Weekly

For with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. One of her strongest works . . . As Venice’s winter chill comes, so do revelations that keep Brunetti chasing the answer to the Foscarini puzzle. The pace of this novel is slow and stately but save it for the weekend when you don’t have to put it down even for a meal.”— Globe and Mail Strong's 488: To measure in return, give equivalent measure. From anti and metreo; to mete in return.

Brunetti is approached by a woman who knew him and his family long ago, asking his “advice”; she is worried about her daughter because of the behaviour of the daughter’s husband. Brunetti allows old loyalty to draw him into an “unofficial” investigation, which slowly - very slowly - begins to uncover possible malfeasance. Another sweltering month in Charlotte, another boatload of mysteries past and present for overworked, overstressed forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan. Give, and it shall be given to you: good measure and pressed down and shaken together and running over shall they give into your bosom. For with the same measure that you shall mete withal, it shall be measured to you again. Once again, Brunetti’s remarkable empathy with people takes him into shark-infested waters, forced to confront how ‘revenge, that deformed child of justice, fed itself with blind desire.’ Another moving meditation on the vagaries of human relationships posing as a mystery novel. There is no ambiguity about the unalloyed affection millions of readers feel toward Guido Brunetti, one of crime fiction’s most popular protagonists.”— Booklist (starred review) To “Do unto others,” as the Bible instructs, means to receive love from God and give it to others—also known as The Royal Law ( James 2:8).

When reading a Brunetti novel, you expect to get more than just the story with which to immerse yourself. There are the sights, sounds and foods of Venice and the surrounding area. There is also Brunetti’s family: his wife Paola, an academic, and their two college-age children. One night at dinner, Chiara asks for her father’s help with an assignment --- they are to choose their favorite Greek play and scene. For Brunetti, it’s “Oresteia” and Clytemnestra’s first speech. When she asks why, he says, “Because she is so much stronger than I am.”

Give, and it shall be given to you; good measure, pressed, and shaken, and running over, they shall give into your bosom; for with that measure with which ye measure, it shall be measured to you again.'