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| Friends in High Places | 
| Author: Donna Leon
Publisher: Arrow Books Ltd
Category: Book
List Price: $8.85
Buy New: $4.77
You Save: $4.08 (46%)
New (13) from $4.77
Avg. Customer Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 224104
Media: Paperback
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 6.9 x 4.3 x 1
ISBN: 0099269325
EAN: 9780099269328
ASIN: 0099269325
Publication Date: March 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand New! Immediate Shipment!
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Product Description
The winner of the Crime Writers Association Macallan Silver Daggeravailable for the first time in the United States
Donna Leons sophisticated Commissario Brunetti series has won her legions of fans over the years. In Friends in High Places, Brunetti is visited by a young bureaucrat investigating the lack of official approval for the building of Brunettis apartment years before. What began as a red tape headache ends in murder when the bureaucrat is found dead after a mysterious fall from a scaffold. Brunetti starts an investigation that will take him into unfamiliar and dangerous areas of Venetian life, and will reveal, once again, what a difference it makes to have friends in high places.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 Not Perfect Leon, But Pretty Close August 29, 2008
This is vintage Donna Leon. Excellent descriptions of Venice...memorable characters...thoughtful insights into human qualities of honor, honesty, corruption and arrogance. My only criticism is that the ending is tepid and all issues are not fully resolved, in my opinion. Leon is very uneven as a writer. When she's off, she's terrible. When she's on, she's magnificent. In this book she comes off very close to the latter. I would say this is one of her better books.
 Among the Best in the Brunetti Series January 14, 2008
Friends in High Places is the 9th in Donna Leon's Guido Brunetti series of murder mystery / police procedurals set in Venice. The book appears to be out of print in the U.S., but is readily available in its British edition via several Amazon merchants.
As with most of the Brunetti series, the story has much to do with government corruption. In this case the means of corruption is Venetian real estate, and the outcome is murder. There is also a significant drug connection, leading to the death of one addict, and indirectly leading to the deaths of 2 others.
This is one of the best in the Brunetti series, and the series is among the best I've read. Leon has great sympathy for the crime- and corruption victims, as well as for those honest policemen who investigate the crimes. The characters in this novel, and in the series generally, are not just believable, but fully fleshed-out, unlike the stick-figures in many of the crime novels I've been reading lately.
There are no neat endings in any of the Brunetti novels. Justice is always thwarted, at least to some extent. Brunetti always solves the case, but the people in 'high places' always win in the end. Such is the case in this novel as well, though in this case Brunetti finds a way to make Italian reality work for rather than against justice.
Public Corruption and Personal Values December 28, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
If you've liked the Guido Brunetti mysteries, you will probably feel that this is one of the best in the series.
What's it all about? Commissario Guido Brunetti meets an honest public official, and crime follows as those who cheat and admire cheaters seek to remain hidden from honest men.
If that's all this book represented, it would be but an average mystery. Ms. Donna Leon adds a more intriguing element to the story: Corrupt practices breed more corruption . . . both of the heart and of the pocket book. To make the story more effective, she places Guido and Paola Brunetti in the middle of temptations that he isn't able to resist.
In Venice, the Ufficio Catasto is in charge of approving building plans and being sure they are faithfully carried out. As in many cities, homeowners try to avoid extra taxes by keeping improvements hidden from the government. Franco Rossi arrives from the Ufficio Catasto to ask Guido if he has the plans for his apartment. Why? The Ufficio Catasto has no record of plans or permits for the apartment.
What does this mean? Guido may have to pay a large fine; he may have to make substantial changes in the apartment; or he may have to demolish the apartment. None of those choices seem attractive. What about using a little influence to avoid the problem? That temptation dangles before the Brunettis throughout the story.
But they are not the only ones who have such challenges -- Vice-Questore Patta also has the need for some help with public matters. Guido finds himself placed in the middle of that moral choice as well.
During the course of the story, Guido also learns about other unpleasant parts of the underbelly of Venice "civilization" that lurks beneath the beautiful exterior that the tourists love to admire.
It's a powerful story that will leave you seeing Venice differently than you have before.
Enjoy!
crime in venice January 21, 2007
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
Commissario Brunetti gets a visit by a young civil servant to talk to him about his apartment. A couple of days later Brunetti gets an urgent phone call from the same man, who is very nervous and wants to talk to the commissario. Brunetti doesn't get the chance, because a couple of hours later, the young man is found ... dead. Then, a young man and a girl are murdered at the same location as the civil servant. Brunetti starts his investigation.
This silver dagger award winner is another exciting crime story from Donna Leon. As always, the characters come from all regions of the Venetian society. Some of the themes, like drug abuse and bribery, and the interesting writing style make this book into another page turner.
Commissario Brunetti takes on the Foundations of Venice. June 10, 2006
11 out of 15 found this review helpful
In Italy, Buildings or Apartments should always be listed - officially, and should always have two sets of records for buildings with any reconstruction plans that have happened or happening - officially. When purchasing a property, the new owner retains one copy from the pervious owner - officially. The other would be retained by the Ufficio Catasto - officially. These plans are stored and used by the Ufficio Catasto to show that building permit's were issued and planning permission was given to improve upon such historical buildings and that the building does actually exist. This would be the official process, unofficially certain plans or records become misplaced.
Franco Rossi from the Ufficio Catasto pays a visit to Guido Brunetti's top floor apartment, to inform him that although his building plans exist, his apartment is not listed on the plans therefore he also believes that his apartment should not exist, not only does this amaze Brunetti as they are quite clearly sitting in his apartment, but the awkward situation would be Brunetti cannot produced any plans either. Franco Rossi informs Brunetti that his apartment is under investigation. Brunetti decides to start his own investigation using his friends to get this matter sorted out, unfortunately before this can happen the real investigation starts a few months later when Franco Rossi is found dead at another building site after falling from scaffolding, accident or foul play? Commissario Brunetti unofficially investigates.
This Story weaves itself into different directions giving Brunetti lots to deal with in the heart of his city, drug dealers, petty thugs, money lenders and day to day corruption ranging from the crook on the street to people in power, where does it all end.
Once again Leon gives to us life in Venice very vividly written; you can almost see it and smell it. The fictional comical characterisations come thorough again in this book as it does in pervious ones. My two favourites the wonderful Sicilian Vice-Questore Giuseppe Patta (Brunetti Boss), who's always up to his old tricks of power playing and Signorina Elettra (Brunetti hidden source), sharp as a razor mind, who's day to day outfits couldn't get any saucier their about to send Brunetti into a midlife crisis. This book also makes reference to, Through A Glass, Darkly which became the name of Donna Leon's 15th book in the whole Brunetti series.
Brunetti could do know wrong in the flow of corruption. This book shows Power Playing at all levels.
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