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List Price: $7.99
Our Price: $7.99
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780143112204
ISBN: 0143112201
Label: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 320
Publication Date: 2007-05-29
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Studio: Penguin (Non-Classics)
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Editorial Reviews:
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Donna Leon’s mastery of plot, her understanding of Venetian manners and mores, and above all her philosophical, unfailingly decent protagonist have made the Commissario Brunetti mysteries bestsellers around the world, including an ever-growing American audience. In The Death of Faith, Brunetti comes to the aid of a young nursing sister who is leaving her convent following the unexpected death of five patients. At first Brunetti’s inquiries reveal nothing amiss, and he wonders whether the nun is simply creating a smoke screen to justify abandoning her vocation. But perhaps she has stumbled onto something very real and very sinister—something that puts her life in imminent danger.
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Books are often retitled - don't complain, do your homework!
Comment: First, to all the reviewers who complained that this book has been retitled from "Death of Faith": It's common for European books to have 'Also Published As' (APA) for the United States - in fact, three other Donna Leon books have APAs. For some authors like Agata Christie, almost every book has an APA. I agree that Amazon should show the APA, but why rely on them? Do your homework before you buy or read a book. For mysteries, a good site to consult is [...], which lists the titles (with APAs) for thousands of authors.
As to "Quietly in Their Sleep", I don't think that it's as good as the previous five books in the series (which I'm reading in order). I agree with some of the other reviewers who complained that too much of the book is anti-Catholic. Also, I must have missed something - which of the five elderly patients was killed?
However, I'll continue to read the Guido Brunetti series. There's eleven more after this one (including a Silver Dagger Award winner "Friends in High Places"). I enjoy the characters, especially the incredible Signorina Elletra, who can find out anything about anyone. And the setting, Venice, is a welcome change from the typical mystery setting of the US or Britain.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Buyer Beware
Comment: Caution Guido Brunetti fans, this book is as a fraud! "Quietly in Their Sleep" is nothing more than the unannounced retitling of Donna Leon's 1997 Venetian mystery "The Death of Faith". Although not one of her best efforts, the real crime here lies with both the publisher for changing the title and Amazon for failing to mention this fact. You both ought to be as embarrassed as any other villians in Leon's work.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Donna Leon on her Roman Church is Bad, Horse
Comment: Know that this book was published in Europe as "Death of Faith".
One of the questions that you have to ask yourself about this novel is, "how come Donna Leon is so mad at the RC Church"? As we have seen in some of her earlier books in this series, Guido's wife Paola will speak DL's mind on the subject of Church and Feminism. In this book, some of her anti-clericalism rubs off on the Commissario. We also get a much better look at Sgt. Vianello and Signorina Elletra .
The story itself is nothing grand, as compared to her earlier books, but is more of a polemic by DL. I found it most interesting to read about the attitude of the Venetians to the rest of Italy and to the place of the Church in 21st Century Europe. Leon seems to think that there is an underground guerilla war going on (with Opus Dei as the Church's SS) between the secular state and the religious right for control. She may be right but I don't think that a mystery novel is the place to make her point.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Brunetti Follows a Tip
Comment:
If you haven't read any other books in the Guido Brunetti series, don't start with this one. Go back and begin with Death at La Fenice.
This book was originally issued as The Death of Faith, one of Donna Leon's best stories in terms of making the mystery hard to understand until she chooses to let a key clue become available. The book also displays the problems that detectives have in solving crimes when doors are closed to them. As a result, this is a fine police procedural that you'll enjoy. Those who don't like the plodding steps involved in a detailed investigation may find this book to be a little slow for their taste.
If you dislike books that look at the potential for abuse in the Catholic Church, I recommend you skip this book: You won't be pleased.
Vice-Questore Patta is off on a second honeymoon, leaving Commissario Guido Brunetti in charge. He's at loose ends because crime has also taken a holiday when a vaguely familiar woman arrives to report her suspicions. Once Brunetti realizes that this is a person he has highly trusted in the past, he's inclined to take her report seriously. But scratching around doesn't yield any corroboration . . . until unknown agents seem to be determined to still the suspicions. This time the trail yields helpful clues.
Back in the family, Brunetti and his wife, Paola, discuss their differing views about religious instruction as their daughter, Chiara, becomes disillusioned with a class she's taking.
One of the pleasures of this story is to see a further development of Brunetti as a loyal person who wants to do the right thing.
One of the disappointing things about the book is that Ms. Leon seems to have an ax to grind that extends beyond her story.
Customer Rating:
Summary: An Incredibly Lousy Novel
Comment: This book is apparently a reintroduction of an earlier effort, and like other reviewers note, it borders on dishonesty to portray it as a new book. But, it reveals Donna Leon's extreme views, particularly against the Catholic Church. I'm not a Catholic, so I'm less offended by her strident bigotry, than, say, Catholic readers would be. But I do find it offensive, nevertheless. And I especially resent the fact that she has planted that bigotry into one of my all-time favorite characters -- Commisario Brunetti (and his wife). And beyond her cliched attacks on the church and that old favorite bogeyman, Opus Dei, Leon has ground out a terrible story. Virtually no plot. No tension or excitement. Dumb characters. No nothing, except anti-Catholic blather. I have always enjoyed Leon's books and I hope in this book she has gotten all her nonsensical vitriol out and can continue to write delightful novels about Venice. If I want Leon's views on religion, I'll seek out more qualified commentators.
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