Willful Behavior

A Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery

By: Donna Leon

Narrated by: Steven Crossley

From acclaimed author Donna Leon, Commissario Guido Brunetti dredges up dark secrets from Italy’s anti-Semitic past in his captivating eleventh case.

Mystery lovers everywhere are addicted to Donna Leon’s ever-honorable Commissario Guido Brunetti and her portrayal of Venice’s beautiful but sinister byways and canals. In Willful Behavior, Brunetti is approached for a favor by one of his wife’s students. Intelligent and serious, Claudia Leonardo asks for his help in obtaining a pardon for a crime once committed by her now-dead grandfather. Brunetti thinks little of it—until Claudia is found dead. Soon, another corpse and an extraordinary art collection lead Brunetti to long-buried secrets of Nazi collaboration and the exploitation of Italian Jews—secrets few in Italy want revealed.

Italian characters with English accents

Having listened to most of Leon's books, I was disappointed in this one. It is disconcerting to hear the characters talking in English accents. The story meanders along with plot twists that never really are resolved. The ending; i.e. finding out who committed the murder, seems like something Leon threw in because she was tired of writing the book. It was not related to any of the plot threads the reader encounters through the rest of the book.

The narrator’s accent

I couldn’t really enjoy the book because of the narrator. Love David Colacci and hope he will continue to perform Donna Leon’s future books!

In correct pronunciation of Chiara is so irritating

Basic Italian pronunciation of chi vs ci.
Chiara is pronounce “kee ara” not “chee ara” this drove me nuts throughout the reading. Any first semester student oh Italian language knows this… in addition, this version is all in a British accent, making it hard for me to envision the story in Venice, rather than London. I return to my paperback.

Lackluster

Probably the book “reads” better in hard copy than an audiobook; I got distracted by the male narrator’s efforts to mimic female voices, which drove the plot. His interpretation of Paola, especially, came off rude and snarky. The other female characters didn’t fare much better. Also wasn’t much into World War II stolen artwork, but this was published in 2002 and relevant a generation ago…

New Narrator Is a Disaster

I wasn't aware of the change in the narrator when I purchased this audible book. He completely destroyed thr entire world of Brunetti so carefully constructed during the prior books. He narrates everything from a British cultural perspective rather than capturing the rich Italian cultural ambience built by the author and nurtured in the earlier narrations. I couldn't get past the first chapter.