Beastly Things
A Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery, Book 21
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Narrated by:
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David Colacci
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By:
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Donna Leon
About this listen
When the body of man is found in a canal, damaged by the tides, carrying no wallet, and wearing only one shoe, Brunetti has little to work with. No local has filed a missing-person report, and no hotel guests have disappeared. Where was the crime scene? And how can Brunetti identify the man when he can’t show pictures of his face?
The autopsy shows a way forward: It turns out the man was suffering from a rare, disfiguring disease. With Inspector Vianello, Brunetti canvasses shoe stores, and winds up on the mainland in Mestre, outside of his usual sphere. From a shopkeeper, they learn that the man had a kindly way with animals. At the same time, animal rights and meat consumption are quickly becoming preoccupying issues at the Venice Questura, and in Brunetti’s home, where conversation at family meals offer a window into the joys and conflicts of Italian life. Perhaps with the help of Signorina Elettra, Brunetti and Vianello can identify the man and understand why someone wanted him dead.
As subtle and engrossing as ever, Leon’s Beastly Things is immensely enjoyable, intriguing, and ultimately moving.
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Robin Ballantyne's life is finally coming together. After learning she was pregnant with twins and being abandoned by her irresponsible boyfriend, Adam, she's settling into life as a single mother. But one night, after putting the children to bed, she hears an argument and suddenly, a body falls past her window. Running outside, she finds the body of Paula Carmichael, a renowned activist.
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Rich, developed and unusual
- By Hannah Coale on 02-02-05
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Yours Until Death
- Varg Veum
- By: Gunnar Staalesen
- Narrated by: Colin Mace
- Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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An unbearably tense novel of revenge, murder, bereavement and the destructive force of passion. The single-mother families of the isolated community under the shadow of the Pyderhorn, Bergen's greatest mountain, are being terrorised by a teenage gang. But teenage violence is nothing compared to what awaits detective Varg Veum when he gets to know the blue-eyed Wenche Andersen.
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Great Scandinavian Mystery!
- By Peoko on 07-12-17
By: Gunnar Staalesen
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A Share in Death
- By: Deborah Crombie
- Narrated by: Michael Deehy
- Length: 7 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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A week's holiday in a luxurious hotel is just what Scotland Yard's Superintendent Duncan Kincaid needs. But his vacation ends dramatically with the discovery of a dead body in the whirlpool bath. Despite a suspicious lack of cooperation from the local constabulary, Kincaid's keen sense of duty won't allow him to ignore the heinous crime, impelling him to send for his enthusiastic young assistant, Sergeant Gemma James. But the stakes are raised significantly when a second murder occurs....
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series readers, start here
- By connie on 02-09-13
By: Deborah Crombie
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Mystery Man
- By: Colin Bateman
- Narrated by: Stephen Armstrong
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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He’s the Man With No Name and the owner of No Alibis, a mystery bookshop in Belfast. But when a detective agency next door goes bust, the agency’s clients start calling into his shop asking him to solve their cases. It’s not as if there’s any danger involved. It’s an easy way to sell books to his gullible customers and Alison, the beautiful girl in the jewellery shop across the road, will surely be impressed. Except she’s not – because she can see the bigger picture.
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Mystery, humor & literary nuances - GREAT
- By Toby on 09-06-13
By: Colin Bateman
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Snow White Must Die
- By: Nele Neuhaus
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 15 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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On a rainy November day, police detectives Pia Kirchhoff and Oliver von Bodenstein are summoned to a mysterious traffic accident: a woman has fallen from a pedestrian bridge onto a car driving underneath. According to a witness, the woman may have been pushed. The investigation leads Pia and Oliver to a small village, and the home of the victim, Rita Cramer. On a September evening eleven years earlier, two seventeen-year-old girls vanished from the village without a trace.
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Snow White and the Seven Red Herrings
- By Mel on 01-17-13
By: Nele Neuhaus
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A Carrion Death
- Introducing Detective Kubu
- By: Michael Stanley
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 14 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Smashed skull, snapped ribs, and a cloying smell of carrion. Leave the body for the hyenas to devour - no body, no case. But when Kalahari game rangers stumble on a human corpse midmeal, it turns out the murder wasn't perfect after all. Enough evidence is left to suggest foul play. Detective David "Kubu" Bengu of the Botswana Criminal Investigation Department is assigned to the case.
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Hot and Arid
- By Robert on 11-06-08
By: Michael Stanley
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The Blood Strand
- Foroyar Triology, Book 1
- By: Chris Ould
- Narrated by: Matt Addis
- Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Jan Reyna is a murder squad detective, British by adoption and choice, Faroese by birth and history. Called back to the remote Danish Faroe Islands when his father suffers a paralysing stroke, Reyna is forced to reexamine his decades-long rejection of the past and of his father in particular. But in this now-foreign country, whose language and customs he no longer understands, Reyna is also drawn into a rare Faroese murder case.
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excellent first book
- By Dr. William J. Kass on 03-22-16
By: Chris Ould
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Blind Goddess
- A Hanne Wilhelmsen Novel, Book 1
- By: Tom Geddes - translator, Anne Holt
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 11 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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A small-time drug dealer is found battered to death on the outskirts of the Norwegian capital, Oslo. A young Dutchman, walking aimlessly in central Oslo covered in blood, is taken into custody but refuses to talk. When he is informed that the woman who discovered the body, Karen Borg, is a lawyer, he demands her as his defender, although her specialty is civil, not criminal, law. The young man is adamant: he will speak to Karen Borg, and to her alone.
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Not Sure Why I Didn't Like It
- By Tracey Rains on 05-28-13
By: Tom Geddes - translator, and others
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The Echo
- By: Minette Walters
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Best-selling author Minette Walters captivates mystery aficionados throughout the world with her evocative, multi-layered novels, which have been translated into 22 languages. In The Echo she spins a finely-wrought web of secrets and betrayals, love and guilt that entangles everyone who touches it. A homeless man has been found dead of starvation—huddled next to a food-filled freezer—in a London socialite’s garage.
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Cumbersome, dull and not worth the time
- By Celia on 04-08-14
By: Minette Walters
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Dr Yes
- By: Colin Bateman
- Narrated by: Stephen Armstrong
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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The hilarious new Mystery Man crime caper from the master of menace and mirth. Beauty is in the eye of the be header. The wife of crime writer Augustine Wogan disappeared shortly after entering the exclusive clinic of the mysterious Dr Yes, plastic surgeon extraordinaire. As fatherhood approaches, the Small Bookseller with No Name is persuaded to investigate. He soon finds himself up to his neck in murder, make-up and madness - and face to face with the most gruesome serial killer since the last one.
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Fun diversion from the usual fair
- By Dennis on 11-09-12
By: Colin Bateman
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Pietr the Latvian
- Inspector Maigret, Book 1
- By: Georges Simenon, David Bellos - translator
- Narrated by: Gareth Armstrong
- Length: 3 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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The first audiobook which appeared in Georges Simenon's famous Maigret series, in a gripping new translation by David Bellos.Inevitably Maigret was a hostile presence in the Majestic. He constituted a kind of foreign body that the hotel's atmosphere could not assimilate. Not that he looked like a cartoon policeman. He didn't have a moustache and he didn't wear heavy boots. His clothes were well cut and made of fairly light worsted. He shaved every day and looked after his hands. But his frame was proletarian. He was a big, bony man.
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Long live Maigret
- By Adeliese Baumann on 11-19-14
By: Georges Simenon, and others
What listeners say about Beastly Things
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Mimijo
- 06-21-19
Maybe my favorite so far
I just want to live in these books -- in this place, among these people. I feel like Brunetti, Paola, the Brunetti kids, Signorina Elettra, Vianello, even, heaven help me, the vain and shallow Patta, are all my friends. I love the beautiful world of Venice -- to tourists an exotic destination, to those who live there, a beloved and maddening small town sinking under the weight of its global fame. Donna Leon evokes all the charm and bella vita of daily Italian life while unsparingly portraying the modern-day troubles and corruption that afflict the city, the country, and, in many cases, the world.
Beastly Things takes its place among my favorite Leon/Brunetti novels. The last scene of the funeral attended by the veterinarian's devoted clients and their pets, and presided over by the priest who eulogizes the sanctity of the human-animal bond, just slayed me (to use a term appropriate to the slaughterhouse setting of the novel).
I simply refuse to listen to any Brunetti book not narrated by David Colacci. Period, the end.
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- Linda
- 01-14-13
Commissario Brunetti Is Still On The Job
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Yes. I'd recommend it because I just love all the stories about Commissario Brunetti. The descriptions of Venice just make the storyline even better. Probably wouldn't be as interesting if it took place somewhere else in Italy. It wasn't my favorite book in this series but it is still very readable.
Who was your favorite character and why?
Commissario Brunetti, of course. He is always engaging, complicated, and cerebral. His affection for his wife and kids just make him a better detective although in this book he doesn't get to demonstrate his love for his family as much as he has in earlier books.
What about David Colacci’s performance did you like?
His performance was very good. He depicts the characters well.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
No extreme reaction. I thought the book was a little slow but still engaging.
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- Pamela
- 05-02-14
Don't listen to this while you eat!
Would you listen to Beastly Things again? Why?
Yes, I love this series and the narrator is perfect. This story is the most recent I have read or listened to and the characters continue to evolve. I missed having more about the Brunetti family - those scenes are almost always my favorite in the books.
Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?
Not this time. It was apparent to me fairly early on what the motive for the crime was and the likely murderer. I still enjoyed watching the unraveling.
Which scene was your favorite?
Favorite scene was the funeral very near the end. It brought a tear of compassion to my eye. It was a lovely and fitting tribute to the departed.
On the flip side, it was very difficult for me to get though the scene at the slaughter house. I am not sure why Brunetti felt they needed the complete tour - perhaps the author wanted to ensure she drove a few readers to become vegetarians.
Any additional comments?
If you have an idiot boss or work with well intentioned but incompetent colleagues, you will recognize the world of Guido Brunetti, even if you are not a commissario in the Venetian police. If you are as elegant, smart and clever as Signorina Elettra, well, I am simply envious beyond words!
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- J. Palmer
- 04-21-12
Worth the credit
I have been fan of Leon for years and this book didn't disappoint! It is a solid Brunetti book. If you haven't read any of Leon's books I suggest you start with book one since it is a series where the characters (especially Signorina Elettra and Vianello) developing over time. If you have read Brunetti before and disliked his ending I will tell you that this one is more satisfying than usual.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Donna Myers
- 02-25-23
I enjoyed the book
It did take me a bit to get into the book. I’m glad I stuck with it.
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- Dolce Momento
- 07-06-22
A poignant detective story
I love Donna Leon’s Inspector Brunetti series. They all express deep thoughts and observations but in many of them, justice is not served or falls short. This book does not disappoint. It is one of those rare instances where there is justice, at least, for the murdered man. Highly visual and descriptive, it ends beautifully evoking strong emotions. David Colacci narrates very well.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Janels
- 07-25-13
You'll never eat meat again
This was my first listen to a Guido Brunetti mystery, and for the most part, I liked it. It had just enough humor and diversity of characters, although they weren't very deeply developed..
The story was so-so, and would have been rather dull, were it not a potentially very real insight into our food chain. Everything is a business, so that's how sick and unfit animals get into the slaughterhouses and eventually onto our tables. Brunetti's laid-back approach and search for the truth seems to be a personal, not departmental, procedure. With all the bad press of Italian courts lately, This provides an interesting perspective.
The book wasn't "pithy", and a bit of a disappointment, in hindsight. It was relatively short, and had relatively little action. The main character is entertaining, but I think I'll wait awhile before I spend a credit on trying another of these books.
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2 people found this helpful
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- DeVee
- 04-22-15
Good story, better reader
The Donna Leon is great, but David is even better, making the book come alive.
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- Lisa M. Daniel
- 05-14-23
One of her best!
Loved it and especially loved that the bad people get consequences in this one! Great story!
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- another know it all
- 01-24-22
Deeply sad
The agony and sadness of the murder of a good caring man because of greed. So slowly and humanly expressed
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1 person found this helpful