A Sea of Troubles

A Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery

By: Donna Leon

Narrated by: David Colacci

Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's Summary

On a beautiful spring morning on the island of Pellestrina, south of the Lido on the Venetian lagoon, a small fishing boat moored at the docks suddenly explodes. When it becomes clear that the fire was deliberately set and the boat’s owners brutally murdered, Commissario Brunetti tries to dig up information from Pellestrina’s close-knit - and closemouthed - citizenry. But it is with mixed feelings that he accepts Signorina Elettra’s offer to visit her relatives there and search for clues. Though loyal to his beloved wife Paola, he has to admit that less-than-platonic emotions underlie his concern for his boss’s spirited secretary.

Death in Venice: investigate more of Guido Brunetti's cases.

©2001 Donna Leon and Diogenes Verlag AG, Zurich. All rights reserved. (P)2011 AudioGO

Classic Mystery

Donna Leon never disappoints, Guido Brunetti and his team are back for another case of murder. It is a well constructed murder mystery and this time we see Senorina Ellectra in action. The only disappointment for me was that I missed spending time with the Brunetti family. Other titles by Donna Leon have more of this. I love the family scenes over lunch and dinner.

David Colacci does an excellent job, as usual.

A sea of Troubles

This Donna Leon book was a great book to listen too! The narrator did a great job. The ending was exciting and the story line did not disappoint the listener.

Fell apart at the end...

Would you try another book from Donna Leon and/or David Colacci?

Yes, this is the sixth that I've read/listened to and I've really enjoyed all the others.

Would you ever listen to anything by Donna Leon again?

Yes.

What about David Colacci’s performance did you like?

I find he is very good at evoking the Italian imagery and characters with his voice and pronunciation. (Bear in mind I'm not Italian and wouldn't know if it authentic or not; but sounds so to me.)

Do you think A Sea of Troubles needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

I know there are many book in this series so I will continue to enjoy it, but if this were the first book I read I would not read any more. It started off very entertaining and near the end got weak and finally, didn't seem to make sense.

Fun, Servicable Brunetti Mystery

I agree with the reviewer who found Electra's loss of composure out of character. I must strongly disagree with the reviewer who preferred the Crossley narration of another Leon novel. Narrators, like actors, must be cast with great care. A miscalculation can ruin the performance. Such is the case with Leon's Brunetti novels. Colacci's command of the accent and the voice he gives to the recurring characters is brilliant.

Steven Crossley is a fine performer. His narrations of Connie Willis' To Say Nothing of the Dog and, appropriately, Jerome's Three Men in a Boat were inspired. However, there is no sense of the Venetian setting in Crossley's narration of Willful Behavior and the mispronunciations (see prior reviews) are a bit ear-grating to listeners of this series. These problems may be down to the direction. However that may be, this listener is of the strong opinion that Colacci is the (far) more preferable narrator for the Brunetti series.

the narrator surely makes a difference

A few books ago, I had the pleasure of listening, for the first time, to a Donna Leon book --"Willful Behavior". It was great - both the story and the performance by narrator Steven Crossley. I was hooked. I hurriedly downloaded Leon's "A Sea of Trouble" but was very disappointed with the performance of David Colacci. So disappointed, in fact, I could not get through an hour of listening. To me the pace was slow and bumbling . I will seek further Leon books read by Crossley or visit the library for the written text.

Not up to Leon's usual

I have always enjoyed Donna Leon's books, but this is short on plot, and an unsuccessful attempt at suspense and sex.

Very exciting

Liked the romantic experience of our favorite researcher and the lessons of over fishing for those in a small village

One of the best in the series

A tragic story that takes place in Pellestrina where Commissario Brunetti investigates the murder of three people. But two other people are also at the heart of the story: Montisi who navigates the launch for the Questore and Signora Elettra, the secretary of the Vice-Questore and Brunetti. The plot builds up to an intense heart-wrenching ending.

Free still was too much $

The narration literally put me to sleep. Before I fell asleep the prose bored me to tears.

Slow to start, exciting at end

This is story you need to stay with as it does begin slowly and even a bit repetitive but then picks up speed. My biggest issue was keeping the characters names straight since the Italian names sound similar to me and if I was reading I could see the different spellings but listening was more difficult for me. That said I did like the narrator and his voice.