Death in a Strange Country

When the lifeless body of a young American soldier is pulled from a murky Venetian canal, Commissario Guido Brunetti is immediately skeptical of the seemingly straightforward case of a violent mugging. The victim, Private John Rohan, appears to be a deserter from the nearby U.S. military base, and initial clues point to a robbery gone tragically awry. However, Brunetti's keen intuition for the darker undercurrents of Venice signals a more complex truth beneath the surface. His suspicions are confirmed when a meticulously placed, incriminating piece of evidence is discovered in Rohan's flat, suggesting a calculated effort to frame the victim and steer the investigation down a predetermined path. As Brunetti delves deeper, he uncovers layers of deceit and corruption reaching far beyond the picturesque canals, touching upon the opaque world of military operations and diplomatic immunity. Navigating political sensitivities and the obfuscations of those in power, Brunetti confronts a dangerous network determined to bury uncomfortable truths and provide a 'ready-made solution' to a crime that threatens to expose a high-level conspiracy.