Donna Leon’s Commissario Guido Brunetti Mysteries – 17 & 18

In German with English Subtitles Murder, Venice, relationships…it’s a delicious concoction in the hands of crime novelist Donna Leon. Venice provides the backdrop for the lush film versions of the bestselling novels, which feature the singular Commissario Guido Brunetti, canal boat rides instead of car chases, fine cuisine and crime investigations in one of Europe s most beautiful locations. Uwe Kockisch stars as Brunetti, a police inspector with a keen mind, razor-sharp wit, and a touch of melancholy. He strives to bring criminals to justice, but experience has taught him that countless things work against that human frailty, corruption, and police incompetence being chief among them. He takes refuge from the job in the company of his loving wife Paola, a university literature professor, and two teenage children, Raffi and Chiara.

EPISODE 17: THE GIRL OF HIS DREAMS – A ten-year-old Roma girl is found dead in a Venetian canal. Commissario Brunetti goes to the encampment where she lived, but his attempts to speak with the community there are futile. When he learns who had befriended the victim and her little brother, he begins to understand the community s silence. It also explains why he s hit obstacles preventing the investigation.

EPISODE 18: LOOKS ARE DECEIVING – The murder of a trucking entrepreneur strikes close to home when Brunetti learns that the victim was involved in shady deals with a friend s husband. Clues point to the Mafia, and Brunetti encourages his friend to turn state s witness against them. Even more shocking is the fact that his own father-in-law may have connections with what s turned out to be a very fishy case.