The Golden Egg by Donna Leon

Mystery

What Goodreads says:

"In The Golden Egg, as the first leaves of autumn begin to fall, Vice Questore Patta asks Brunetti to look into a minor shop-keeping violation committed by the mayor’s future daughter-in-law. Brunetti has no interest in helping his boss amass political favors, but he has little choice but to comply. Then Brunetti’s wife, Paola, comes to him with a request of her own. The mentally handicapped man who worked at their dry cleaner has just died of a sleeping pill overdose, and Paola loathes the idea that he lived and died without anyone noticing him, or helping him.

Brunetti begins to investigate the death and is surprised when he finds nothing on the man: no birth certificate, no passport, no driver’s license, no credit cards. As far as the Italian government is concerned, he never existed. Stranger still, the dead man’s mother refuses to speak to the police, and assures Brunetti that her son’s identification papers were stolen in a burglary. As secrets unravel, Brunetti suspects that the Lembos, an aristocratic family, might be somehow connected to the death. But why would anyone want this sweet, simple-minded man dead?"

The Golden Egg is the latest in the Commissario Guido Burnetti Mysteries.  If you are a fan of the series you will not be disappointed.  If this is your first time to read a Commissario Brunetti mystery you will be a new fan. 

The world of Brunetti:  The series is set in Venice and each book adds another layer to the world where Brunetti lives.  Donna Leon is a long time resident of the city and she brings it to vivid life.

Politics:  Like previous books there are many statements about how politics work in Italy.  According to the books politicians are not well-loved.

Characters:  The characters have been developed over the series.  Both the main and side characters are well-deveolped.  There are added dimensions for several characters in each book.  I learned more about some of the side characters in The Golden Egg. Look for how Italians from the North and South of Italy feel about each other.

Plot:  The plot in The Golden Egg develops as the story progresses.  This story has a flow and rhythm where one action leads to another unexpected piece of information that leads to another and another.  It is not until the last chapter that the entire plot is revealed.  Even here it is not with a bang.  It creeps up and surprises you.

The Commissario Guido Brunetti Mysteries are some of my favorites.  While I have read the entire series I did not read it in order.  Each book can stand-alone.

Atlantic Monthly Press published The Golden Egg by Donna Leon in 2013.