These books set in Venice, Italy, put the city to work. Murano’s furnaces decide who can earn a living. A theater gives runaway children a place to hide. A detective’s route across the water changes when the tide rises.…
Items 41 The creator’s order
1 The Glassmaker Orsola Rosso’s family earns its living from the glass furnaces of Murano, across the water from Venice. The island’s limits on who can work the glass shape what she makes and who can sell it. Watch the centuries pass fast while the family grows old slowly. 0 2 Death at La Fenice A conductor is found dead during an intermission at the Teatro La Fenice. What someone can do backstage depends on which role they have and where their work takes them. This is the first Guido Brunetti novel and a good place to start if you want the city’s institutions to shape an investigation. 0 3 The Thief Lord Two brothers escape to Venice and find a band of children hiding in a disused movie theater. The narrow routes and water crossings help decide who can follow them or find them. Try it with a younger reader who wants a secret Venetian hideout as much as a mystery. 0 4 Death in Venice Aschenbach’s fixation on another hotel guest keeps him at the Lido through signs of a cholera outbreak. Alongside the beach scenes, watch how visitors learn about danger and how the city’s reliance on them affects what they are told. Choose a standalone edition if you want just the novella. 0 5 Don’t Look Now Daphne du Maurier lets a grieving couple cross paths with two strangers who say they can help. Side streets, bridges, and uncertain glimpses matter because it becomes hard to tell who was where and when. Look for the title story in the pictured fiction collection. 0 6 The City of Falling Angels The burning of La Fenice gives John Berendt a way into Venetian life. Questions about the theater and its restoration take him through the city’s professional and social circles. Pair it with Death at La Fenice if you want to spend more time with the opera house after reading the novel. 0 7 The Midwife of Venice Hannah’s expertise is needed outside the Jewish ghetto, where practicing on a Christian patient carries its own danger. The division between neighborhoods and communities sets the price of each choice. This novel opens a series whose later settings extend beyond Venice. 0 8 The Venice Sketchbook Caroline inherits a sketchbook and old keys, then follows them to a relative’s life in Venice before and during World War II. A drawing can point to a place, while finding it in person can change what the drawing means. Try this for alternating timelines and a family search. 0 9 The passion (1987) ★ 9.1 Open Library Published Jan 1, 1987 The story brings together a French soldier and a Venetian boatman’s daughter. Venice’s carnival, gambling rooms, and rhythms on the water give Villanelle ways to move through a city the outsider has to learn. Choose it when you want a Venice whose ordinary geography is as open to invention as the… 0 10 Acqua Alta An assault on an American art specialist draws Brunetti into a case during Venice’s high-water season. The rising tide changes how people get around while the police are piecing together the attack. Read this when you want the lagoon to affect the investigation directly. 0 
The GlassmakerOrsola Rosso’s family earns its living from the glass furnaces of Murano, across the water from Venice. The island’s limits on who can work the glass shape what she makes and who can sell it. Watch the centuries pass fast while the family grows old slowly.0
Death at La FeniceA conductor is found dead during an intermission at the Teatro La Fenice. What someone can do backstage depends on which role they have and where their work takes them. This is the first Guido Brunetti novel and a good place to start if you want the city’s institutions to shape an investigation.0
The Thief LordTwo brothers escape to Venice and find a band of children hiding in a disused movie theater. The narrow routes and water crossings help decide who can follow them or find them. Try it with a younger reader who wants a secret Venetian hideout as much as a mystery.0
Death in VeniceAschenbach’s fixation on another hotel guest keeps him at the Lido through signs of a cholera outbreak. Alongside the beach scenes, watch how visitors learn about danger and how the city’s reliance on them affects what they are told. Choose a standalone edition if you want just the novella.0
Don’t Look NowDaphne du Maurier lets a grieving couple cross paths with two strangers who say they can help. Side streets, bridges, and uncertain glimpses matter because it becomes hard to tell who was where and when. Look for the title story in the pictured fiction collection.0
The City of Falling AngelsThe burning of La Fenice gives John Berendt a way into Venetian life. Questions about the theater and its restoration take him through the city’s professional and social circles. Pair it with Death at La Fenice if you want to spend more time with the opera house after reading the novel.0
The Midwife of VeniceHannah’s expertise is needed outside the Jewish ghetto, where practicing on a Christian patient carries its own danger. The division between neighborhoods and communities sets the price of each choice. This novel opens a series whose later settings extend beyond Venice.0
The Venice SketchbookCaroline inherits a sketchbook and old keys, then follows them to a relative’s life in Venice before and during World War II. A drawing can point to a place, while finding it in person can change what the drawing means. Try this for alternating timelines and a family search.0
The passion (1987)Published Jan 1, 1987The story brings together a French soldier and a Venetian boatman’s daughter. Venice’s carnival, gambling rooms, and rhythms on the water give Villanelle ways to move through a city the outsider has to learn. Choose it when you want a Venice whose ordinary geography is as open to invention as the…0
Acqua AltaAn assault on an American art specialist draws Brunetti into a case during Venice’s high-water season. The rising tide changes how people get around while the police are piecing together the attack. Read this when you want the lagoon to affect the investigation directly.0