This is the first book I've read by this author and, yes, it's the 5th in a long series with this particular character. The main character is Commissario Guido Brunetti. The book takes place in Venice and the Commissario has to investigate the brutal beating of an American architect, who is also his friend. Then a man's body is found and the Commissario has to find out how these two incidences are linked. The entire time his investigation is taking place, an event that the book is named after, Acqua Alta, is occurring.

Acqua alta is a natural phenomenon that has occurred for centuries when especially high tides caused by the moon's gravitational pull coincide with a strong scirocco, a warm wind blowing across the Mediterranean that forces water from the Adriatic into the Venetian lagoon (https://www.fodors.com/news/venices-acqua-alta-6194) ( )

Aqua Alta by Donna Leon

This early novel in Donna Leon’s .Comissario Brunetti series has been on my tbr list for a long time and a recent reprint allowed me to read it. It was worth the wait. We meet again characters from the first book in the series, 'Death at La Fenice.' Brett Lynch, Art historian and an expert in Chinese artefacts is brutally attacked in the home of her lover, opera singer Flavia Petrelli. While investigating this Brunetti is drawn into the murky world of antiques dealing and fraud.

The plot is quite complex and as usual the detective is hampered by Venetian bureaucracy and corruption in high places. The story takes place against the background of the Aqua Alta or ‘high water’, that period in the Venetian winter when both residents and tourists are having to combat flooding and heavy rain. This adds immeasurably to the atmosphere and is a significant factor in the finale.
Meanwhile Brunetti is also having to deal with a variety of problems at home including his wife’s depression over her unresponsive University students.

This story in the Brunetti chronicles has stayed with me, partly I think because the female characters are so strongly written and also because the Aqua Alta is used by the author in such a clever and memorable way.

It's amazing how well Donna Leon conveys the viewpoint and preoccupations peculiar to Venice: this time, winter weather and high water mean that people are mostly wet a lot of the time, and can never stop thinking about how to safely navigate a city that is flooded -- not just the water in the houses, but wading out in rubber boots and standing in calf-deep water at the local bar to drink your espresso. (No wonder the northern Italians like it with a shot of grappa.) When Brunetti meets other first responders at the scene of a murder, they exchange notes about where the water is too deep for wading, or where the city has (or has yet to) put up boardwalks. The encroaching uncertainty of Acqua Alta colours the whole book and lends horror and suspense to the denouement. ( )

Venecia se prepara para la avalancha de "acqua alta", las aguas crecientes de la lluvia torrencial. Pero Brunetti tiene sus propios problemas, comenzando con la brutal palea a un viejo amigo. Cuando se descubre el cuerpo de un hombre, Brunetti debe atravesar el caos para resolver uno de sus casos más mortales.

3.5 stars ( )