Transient Desires

Written by Donna Leon

Narrated by David Colacci

In the landmark thirtieth installment of the bestselling series the New Yorker has called “an unusually potent cocktail of atmosphere and event,” Guido Brunetti is forced to confront an unimaginable crime.

In his many years as a commissario, Guido Brunetti has seen all manner of crime and known intuitively how to navigate the various pathways in his native city, Venice, to discover the person responsible. Now, in Transient Desires, the thirtieth novel in Donna
Leon’s masterful series, he faces a heinous crime committed outside his jurisdiction. He is drawn in innocently enough: two young American women have been badly injured in a boating accident, joy riding in the Laguna with two young Italians. However, Brunetti’s
curiosity is aroused by the behavior of the young men, who abandoned the victims after taking them to the hospital. If the injuries were the result of an accident, why did they want to avoid association with it?

As Brunetti and his colleague, Claudia Griffoni, investigate the incident, they discover that one of the young men works for a man rumored to be involved in more sinister nighttime activities in the Laguna. To get to the bottom of what proves to be a gutwrenching case, Brunetti needs to enlist the help of both the Carabinieri and the Guardia Costiera. Determining how much trust he and Griffoni can put in these unfamiliar colleagues adds to the difficulty of solving a peculiarly horrible crime whose perpetrators are technologically brilliant and ruthlessly organized.

Donna Leon’s Transient Desires is as powerful as any novel she has written, testing Brunetti to his limits and forcing him to listen very carefully for the truth.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 16, 2021
• ISBN: 9781705023280

Reviews for Transient Desires

[thornton37814 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Once again Guido Brunetti investigates a case with a link to human trafficking. In this case, two American women were injured in an accident when they went with a couple of Italian men on the laguna. One woman was injured more severely. A camera caught the men dropping the women off at the hospital's dock. When Brunetti begins questioning the driver, he collapses in his office because of his own injuries. I was disappointed Signorina Elettra and others in the Questura did not make more appearances in the narrative.

[Jane Finlay · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Unusual Brunetti story with action.
Excellent read. Thanks Donna Leon.

[addunn3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Two injured girls show up at the emergency dock of the hospital.

[smik_3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

As always Donna Leon uses Brunetti as her mouthpiece with his reflections about what is happening to Venice: the effects of the tourist industry on the local economy, the flooding of the streets, the reduction of the local population, the lack of work for young people, the influence of the Mafia, and the impact of drug smuggling, and people trafficking.Brunetti's nose takes him out of the streets of Venice, following some events that don't seem quite right to him. Why didn't the young men who took the American girls to the hospital stay there with them? Why did they abandon them? That scenario drives Brunetti's intuition, as he begins to wonder about one of the young men in particular, what he has to hide.It is 4 years since I read one in this series, and I see that there are 3 titles that I have missed (which I must catch up with). There is some acknowledgement of the pandemic in this book, but not a lot. Mainly in the fact that there have been few tourist boats. The main characters are there, including Brunetti's family, but Brunetti himself seems a little tireder.

[ecw0647 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What can I say. I have read many of Donna Leon's Brunetti series and liked every one. They're all character driven and Venice oriented, so if you like neither don't bother. There are no car chases, nor shoot-em-ups, just excellent writing and insightful comments about people and Italian life. I hope she never stops writing them. Lots of hidden meanings in the title.

[sblock_16 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

So I'll read just about anything Donna Leon writes, but it took a long time to get to the crime in this book, and the ending was extremely abrupt, like she just got tired and stopped. Is she signalling that Brunetti is going to retire to the countryside and work the land?

[cyderry · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Two young American girls are dumped at the dock of the hospital. They are injured but who brought them and what happened? This book is missing on many plains because Commissario Brunetti doesn't really seem to that interested in "answering" the questions and the reader isn't given any reason to be invested in the outcome.Terribly disappointing.

[juliestielstra · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Slightly better than her last one, Trace Elements. And "slight" is the word in general. Set in a strange moment where there "used to be" huge cruise ships muscling through Venice, where the tourist scourge seems to have fallen off, but with zero mention of or allusion to the pandemic which (we must assume) caused those things. Only minimal appearances by Signorina Elettra and Patta, and (most regrettably) my favorite character, Vianello. Bare bones plot: two young American women are picked up by a couple young men, and are dumped at a hospital dock with serious injuries. The young men are rapidly identified; one has a sketchy and dangerous uncle. Guido walks, broods, orders sandwiches, wine, coffee, and mineral water in bars, talks to people. The bad guy is caught but with tragic collateral damage. The end. Still far too much "He opened the door, saluted, greeted them, showed them where to sit and then sat down in the chair to his left..." kind of narration, but better than last time. Guido is burning out - he is lackadaisical, coming in late, holing up in his office, going home early; there is a surprising - and perhaps not utterly convincing - conversation with his wife about what he would do if he wasn't a police officer, and an outburst of violence. But I'm not altogether sure that it's Guido burning out or Signorina Leon herself, and perhaps she is projecting into her character. After 30 books, I can't blame her. And she has abandoned her fiercely loved Venice and moved to Switzerland, which must leave a deep wound in her soul. More a sad, puzzling book than anything else.

[anniemod · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Two girls are left on the deck behind a hospital and only a chance (and a smoking habit) makes sure that they are found quickly - both are beaten up and require medical assistance. Brunetti and Griffoni try to find out what happened and before long they find the boys/young men who left the girls. And as is usually the case, not everything is how it looks. Before long, this almost innocent occurrence gets tied to a harrowing tale of human trafficking, the Nigerian mafia and death. And for the first time in the series, Claudia Griffoni's home town becomes important - first when they meet someone else from the same place and then when not being from Venice makes it easier to figure out how to track down someone's history. Usually in the series the Questura's detectives and policemen work on their own - they may leave Venice for the neighborhood towns but the stories tend to stay local. This time they get help both from the Carabinieri and the Coast Guard - despite starting in Venice and involving Venice citizens, the crime is a bit wider-scoped and there is a need for the special knowledge and skills of all the groups. All that made this a different novel in a lot of ways but even with the differences, it is a Brunetti story - with the family and the HQ dynamics; with Venice's canals and tourists. It is a post-COVID novel without being obvious about it - there are a few throw-away thoughts and utterances to tell you so (a thought about seeing what the city was without tourists, someone mentioning that they hoped that the cruise ships had all died and the thought about the retired doctors and nurses which came back to help despite knowing that their colleagues had died were the three I caught; there may have been more). Venice is almost back to normal but not completely. It may be a bit too early in the real world but I like how Leon handled the whole situation.I liked this one more than I liked the previous one - even though it has a lot of us vs. them (some of it leading to Brunetti considering if he can even trust Claudia), it actually belonged in the novel - and the resolution of most of it should make it almost impossible to get back to the weirdness of it in the next novel. Or so one hopes.

[victoriajz · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great to again devour a Brunetti mystery.

[dokfintong · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is Commissario Brunetti number 30 and continues Ms Leon's meditation on the nature of love, this time with an added comic side step that considers what your spoken language tells others about you. To read Donna Leon is to understand that all Italians are linguistic gymnasts.By now we know Commissario Brunetti and his family, his staff and colleagues and no time is wasted on introductions. Again the story unfolds on the waters of Venice. A boating accident exposes serious crime. Brunetti again is disgusted by human greed. This is a short novel and while I liked it, as I like all of this series, I don't recommend it as your first taste, if somehow you have not sampled this series before. Start with the early, longer novels, not because they are better but because they are meatier and allow you to get to know Donna Leon and the Venice police on their own terms.I received a review copy of TRANSIENT DESIRES by Donna Leon from Grove Atlantic through NetGalley.com.

[brianewilliams · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Commissario Brunetti and his colleague Commissario Griffoni investigate a late-night boating accident on the Venetian lagoon which injured two young American women visitors. The Americans visitors were later dropped off at a hospital by two men who then fled the scene. This sets the stage for another brilliant Brunetti investigation set in his native Venice. In this case, Brunetti's investigation eventually leads him to a gang of human traffickers, a newsworthy circumstance in contemporary Europe. The plot is set against the strong sense of place and character of present-day Venice and its people. His detective work competes with Brunetti's unique lifestyle, but allows him to meet interesting people. In that way, it's a lighter police procedural but strong on characterization. In this story, regional suspicions are explored as Brunetti, a native Venetian, sees a different side of Griffoni, a native of Naples, when she interacts with a fellow Neapolitan. Similarly, there's the under the radar homosexual relationship between the two young men involved in the boating mishap. Brunetti is affected by the fact that they are close in age to his own son. It's a satisfying well-constructed story made charming by the Venetian locale and plenty of credible and interesting characters. It can easily be read as a standalone despite there being many previous books in the series.

[judiex · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Two young women were found on the dock outside a Venetian hospital in the middle of the night by someone stepping out to smoke a cigarette. They were unconscious and badly injured, one with a broken arm and the other with severe facial injuries.With the use of security tapes, the Commissario Guido Brunetti and his team, especially his colleague Claudia Griffoni, were able to identify the two men who left them there and, later, the two women.The fact that they fled the scene made the men targets of an investigation. One was a young lawyer; the second the nephew of a very wealthy warehouse and shipping company owner with a questionable reputation.The incident occurred outside Guido’s turf so he teamed up with officials from other departments to investigate. Their work turns up a horrific crime, one that is ongoing, and they work to resolve it, not knowing who they can trust for information.TRANSIENT DESIRES, like the 29 previous Donna Leon Brunetti mysteries, is well-written and has an intricate, but plausible plot. There is interesting discussion about the reading and teaching of Paula Brunetti, Guido’s wife, as well as Venetian newspapers and politics. The various Italian accents, mentioned frequently in the books as a way to classify people, proves very handy.The ending left me wanting another chapter to learn what happened to some of the characters.I lowered my rating by one star because of too many unnecessarily short chapters.

[pennykaplan · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A strong entry into the series. In this one Brunetti uncovers a human trafficking ring. Recommended.

[eyes92c · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Intrigue and crime in Venice.In this thirtieth volume looking at police procedurals and crime in Venice fewer tourists are in evidence given the pandemic. However in this latest work from Leon two young American women are injured in a boating incident on the Laguna, one dreadfully. They are deposited on the quay outside the Emergency Room of the Ospedale Civile, dropped by two young men in the launch. This all requires investigation. A number of problems have arisen. The enquiry becomes complicated. One of the men in the boat is the nephew of Pietro Borgato, owner of a large International transport company, who whilst he's never been caught, is suspected of being involved in various smuggling operations. Commissario Guido Brunetti is as ever erudite and thoughtful. Napoletana Claudia Griffons, Brunetti’s colleague is a shrewd successful woman working in a male dominated world. They work well together. As the case evolves we have the coast guard becoming part of the action (that is interesting)the Nigerian mafia is made mention of and things become very twist and cloak and daggerish. Mention of empty cruise ships and lack of tourists place this mystery fairly and sqaurely in the now.On the home front, the children are becoming older and there's interesting discussions around the table. This case raises many questions for Brunetti especially as his children are getting older. I love Brunetti and this latest walk with him didn't disappoint.I love the glimpses of Venice we view through Leon's prism. I always had the romantic idea of living in Venice for a few months--the most I managed was a few days, but I loved every moment.Reading about Brunetti extends that love affair--every time! Even if it's gritty and edgy adding another yet layer. A Grove Atlantic ARC via NetGalley

[brangwinn · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In the 30th Commissario Brunetti novel, Donna Leon continues her love story to Venice with another crime investigation. Like many of the past books, the actual crime is not the focus of the investigation, rather it is the steppingstone to questionable people involved in the crime. When Brunetti becomes interested in the dumping of two unconscious American women at a hospital, his curiosity leads him to a human trafficking business. The ending was too abrupt for me. I really wanted to know what happened to the two young Italian men who were caught up in this mess, but I can imagine the ending I want. I am satisfied Brunetti has used his intelligence to solve another case.

[miss.mesmerized · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Two young women, tourists in Venice, are found severely wounded in front of a hospital one late night. Luckily, with the help of video surveillance they can quickly find out the two men who put them there. But which did they abandon them even though they first provided help? As commissario Brunetti investigates the case together with his colleague Claudia Griffoni, they happen to link one of the men to another crime of which the police only have a faint idea so far, but this might be their breakthrough.Whenever I take up a Donna Leon novel on commissario Brunetti, I know what I will get: a crime story which is solved not by some miraculously appearing deus ex machina, but by meticulous police work combined with the protagonist’s clever instinct and the ability to read people and to actually listen to them. Apart from that, it is always like some kind of bookish holiday to travel to the Venetian Lagoon and to delve into its very unique atmosphere. The thirtieth instalment in the series does not disappoint in this respect. Quite interestingly, the crime with which the novel opens is quite quickly solved and classified an accident and a series of unfortunate events and decisions. Yet, it is only the beginning of a real crime – a crime of the sort nobody wants to know about and people eagerly close their eyes on. This time, it is Brunetti’s colleague who stirs the investigation and the commissario not only gets to know her from an unknown side but also learns that Griffoni’s hometown of Naples could also be on another planet that different life works there. A plot driven by interesting and strongly painted characters, just the sort of entertainment one knows Donna Leon to provide.

[kimkimkim-7 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I may be getting tired of the somewhat prissy Venetian Commissario Brunetti. In the latest installment he delves into and manipulates the psyche of his suspects while wondering about the fragility of the young. He can’t help drawing parallels with his own children and is forever perplexed. He admits shame for judging a colleague by a mere accent and then weaves it into a larger complexity of bigotry which can deprive a population of friendship and the hope of common humanity. Interesting how so many arguments popped up about oblique things supported by tangential facts used in justification of almost anything. How did he miss “the coronation of the non sequitur?” And precisely what does that have to do with the crime at hand? What indeed - no answers here. OK, Brunetti is still reading the classics, Tacitus in this case and promulgating trusting only “the unvarnished truth.” Another parallel, more obscurity. But it makes Brunetti more interesting, more fallible, just a slightly bit more fussy but never less perceptive. Clarity comes from listening and understanding the concept and hopelessness of “a love that dared not speak its name”. Then the alienation, the confrontation, the last page and dang where is the ending? I kept turning the page but there were no more words.Thank you NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for a copy.

[jetangen4571 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

family-dynamics, friendship, law-enforcement, Venice, eco-awareness, international-crime-and-mystery*****I have been intermittently reading some of the Brunetti mysteries and always find them fascinating, but not always for the same reasons. I love the interactions among colleagues, the in-depth descriptions of the beauty of Venice despite the damage done by time and tourists, the social structure and prejudices peculiar to those of Italian birth, the changes in attitude toward many things by Brunetti himself, and best of all the mystery itself. But, much as I enjoy it, it feels like the series is ready for a transition into something else. There is less focus for the reader on the development of the investigation and an indefinable something else missing as well. But since this is all in the nature of deciding that the Pieta is less moving than the Mona Lisa, I still enjoyed it very much!I requested and received a free ebook copy from Grove Atlantic/Atlantic Monthly Press via NetGalley. Thank you!