Willful Behavior Audiobook By Donna Leon cover art

Willful Behavior

A Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery

Preview

Try for $0.00
Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts.
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
Audible Plus auto-renews for $7.95/mo after 30 days. Upgrade or cancel anytime.

Willful Behavior

By: Donna Leon
Narrated by: Steven Crossley
Try for $0.00

$7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $20.24

Buy for $20.24

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

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.

Death in Venice: investigate more of Guido Brunetti's cases.©2002 Donna Leon and Diogenes Berlag AG Zurich (P)2011 AudioGO
Fiction Hard-Boiled International Mystery & Crime Mystery Suspense Italy
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about Willful Behavior

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    275
  • 4 Stars
    167
  • 3 Stars
    83
  • 2 Stars
    24
  • 1 Stars
    16
Performance
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    227
  • 4 Stars
    96
  • 3 Stars
    80
  • 2 Stars
    40
  • 1 Stars
    69
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    291
  • 4 Stars
    135
  • 3 Stars
    54
  • 2 Stars
    17
  • 1 Stars
    5

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Italy with a British accent

Italian setting, characters and culture. With a British accent?! Narrator good — just a poor match. Doesn’t convey the nuances of previous stories with distractions of mispronunciations etc.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Couldn't stand the narration

Where does Willful Behavior rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Near the bottom.

What did you like best about this story?

Guido Brunetti.

What didn’t you like about Steven Crossley’s performance?

He was the wrong person to narrate a Guido Brunetti story. I have listened to every Guido Brunetti story and David Colacci is the man!!!!!!!!!!! Mr. Crossley reminded me of A HARD DAY'S NIGHT and HELP! It was just too much for me - I listened because I wanted to hear the whole story but I won't re-listen.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Not really - couldn't get past the narration long enough.

Any additional comments?

Of all the Brunetti books this is my least favourite and I'm not sure how much of that is OTHER than the narration. I'll re-listen to the others.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Slow start but...

strong finish to a classic plotline. Leon pulls it off again. A good read indeed.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

British accent narrator

British accent narrator is really distracting

Fairly ambitious story with honor subtext. Good tale in the collection

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Disappointing Narration

The story was okay but the narrator was distracting with his British accent. You would think he would at least learn how to pronounce Italian names and other words. Actually made it hard to follow the plot. I enjoy this series but will avoid any other books with this narrator.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Disappointing narration

The story is above average for this series. But Steven Crossley With his British accent diminishes this audio version. His narration gives no nuance to any of the characters and if you are accustomed tolistening to Donna Leon‘s books narrated by David Colacci, It is quite disappointing.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

English Accent???

While the story was as enjoyable as all the Brunetti mysteries, the performance was awful. Listening to an English actor made me feel I was listening to a Agatha Christie mystery - certainly not a story set in Venice.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Not the same

The characters just doesn’t have the warmth and depth — the connections to each other that David Colacci brings. It was well done, I suppose, but I was so terribly disappointed it wasn’t narrated by Colacci that I couldn’t get past the first chapter.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Signorina Elettra is NOT a London shopgirl

As did many other listeners, I had a very difficult time with this narrator. He is not a bad reader - this is simply NOT the series for him. He loses all of the Venetian personality of the story for me. The recurring female characters especially grated on my ear (Signorina Elettra, Paola Brunetti and Chiara Brunetti). Paola's aristocrat father was also way off the mark; to my ear he sounded like a weak, sniveling husk trying to live off the glories of the past (not the man we know from other books in the series).

I will not give complete blame to the narrator though, as I was shocked at one passage that refereed to Signorina Elettra responding "girlishly" - something we have not seem before or since from the sophisticated, elegant assistant.

The story was well developed and we met more colorful characters from Guido's past. The tale of trade in illicit artwork is perfect for the machinations of the rusty and ponderous Italian legal system. There are surprise discoveries and sad realizations. Guido makes mistakes and has to compromise justice - something that always breaks his heart. This book is a good addition to the series.

I, for one, would be happy to buy another copy and listen again if we could have David David Colacci narrate.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wrong narrator for this series - can’t pronounce characters’ names

Really embarrassing that a professional voice actor didn’t bother to ask anyone how to pronounce a character’s name. The Italian flavor is key to these books and the mispronunciation mars the experience. Chee-ara? Really? Cringe

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful