Donna Leon: The Jewels of Paradise (USA 2013)

From the Publisher:
Donna Leon has won heaps of critical praise and legions of fans for her best-selling mystery series featuring Commissario Guido Brunetti, one of contemporary crime fiction's most beloved characters. Over twenty-one books this sharp, kind-hearted native Venetian has exposed readers to contemporary Venice in all its aspects: its arts and architecture, food and family life, but also its crime and insidious corruption. With The Jewels of Paradise, Leon takes readers beyond the world of the Venetian Questura in her first stand-alone novel.

Caterina Pellegrini is a native Venetian, and like so many of them, she's had to leave home to pursue her career elsewhere, mostly abroad. With a doctorate in baroque opera from Vienna, she lands in Manchester, England, as a research fellow and assistant professor. Manchester, however, is no Venice, so when she gets word of a position back home, Caterina jumps at the opportunity.

The job is an unusual one. After nearly three centuries, two locked trunks, believed to contain the papers of a once-famous, now largely forgotten baroque composer, have been discovered. The composer was deeply connected in religious and political circles, but he died childless, and now two Venetian men, descendants of his cousins, each claim inheritance. With rumors of a treasure, they aren't about to share the possible fortune. Caterina has been hired to attend the opening of the trunks and examine any enclosed papers to discover the "testamentary disposition" of the composer. But when her research takes her in unexpected directions and a silent man follows her through the streets, she begins to wonder just what secrets these trunks may hold. From a masterful writer, The Jewels of Paradise is a superb novel, a gripping tale of intrigue, music, history, and greed.

Donna Leon: The Jewels of Paradise. A Novel. Grove Press, ISBN: 9780802120656 (October, 2013), $14.00.

Donna Leon: The Jewels of Paradise (UK 2013)

From the Publisher:
This is from the bestselling author of the Brunetti crime series comes. The Jewels of Paradise, a gripping tale of intrigue, music, history and greed and Donna Leon's first stand-alone novel. Caterina Pellegrini is a young Venetian musicologist hired to find the rightful heir to an alleged treasure concealed by a once-famous, but now almost forgotten, baroque composer. Sworn to secrecy, Caterina can solve the mystery only by searching through the papers contained in two chests that have not been opened for centuries. As she delves into all quarters of his life, she is drawn into one of the most scandalous affairs of the baroque era. What dark secrets do these chests hold, and just whom can she trust?

Donna Leon: The Jewels of Paradise. A gripping tale of Intrigue, Music and Obsession. Arrow, ISBN: 9780099580270 (October, 2013), 336 p., £8.99.

Donna Leon: The Jewels of Paradise (UK 2012)

From the Publisher:
Caterina Pellegrini is a young Venetian musicologist hired by two competing cousins to find the truthful heir to an alleged treasure concealed by a once-famous, but now almost forgotten, baroque composer. Sworn to secrecy, Caterina can solve the mystery only by searching through the papers contained in the composer's two chests that have not been opened for centuries.

As she delves into all quarters of his life, from professional to personal, she is drawn into one of the most scandalous affairs of the baroque era. When her research takes her in unexpected directions, she begins to wonder what dark secrets these chests hold and just whom can she trust?

Donna Leon: The Jewels of Paradise. A gripping tale of Intrigue, Music and Obsession. Heinemann, ISBN: 9780434022274 (October, 2012), 288 p., £17.99.

Donna Leon: The Jewels of Paradise (USA 2012)

From the Publisher:
Donna Leon has won heaps of critical praise and legions of fans for her best-selling mystery series featuring Commissario Guido Brunetti, one of contemporary crime fiction's most beloved characters. Over twenty-one books this sharp, kind-hearted native Venetian has exposed readers to contemporary Venice in all its aspects: its arts and architecture, food and family life, but also its crime and insidious corruption. With The Jewels of Paradise, Leon takes readers beyond the world of the Venetian Questura in her first stand-alone novel.

Caterina Pellegrini is a native Venetian, and like so many of them, she's had to leave home to pursue her career elsewhere, mostly abroad. With a doctorate in baroque opera from Vienna, she lands in Manchester, England, as a research fellow and assistant professor. Manchester, however, is no Venice, so when she gets word of a position back home, Caterina jumps at the opportunity.

The job is an unusual one. After nearly three centuries, two locked trunks, believed to contain the papers of a once-famous, now largely forgotten baroque composer, have been discovered. The composer was deeply connected in religious and political circles, but he died childless, and now two Venetian men, descendants of his cousins, each claim inheritance. With rumors of a treasure, they aren't about to share the possible fortune. Caterina has been hired to attend the opening of the trunks and examine any enclosed papers to discover the "testamentary disposition" of the composer. But when her research takes her in unexpected directions and a silent man follows her through the streets, she begins to wonder just what secrets these trunks may hold. From a masterful writer, The Jewels of Paradise is a superb novel, a gripping tale of intrigue, music, history, and greed.

Donna Leon: The Jewels of Paradise. A Novel. Atlantic Monthly Press, ISBN: 9780802120649 (October, 2012), 244 p., $25.00.