The Thief of Venice

In her 14th Homer Kelly mystery (after The Face on the Wall), Langton's sparkling prose and inimitable wit offer a delectable feast for the discriminating reader. Homer, a policeman-turned-scholar, and his professor wife, Mary, have ventured to Venice to attend a scholarly conference on rare books. Homer is intoxicated by the riches afforded in the Biblioteca Marciana, while Mary prowls the streets of the Italian city, camera in hand. An expatriate English doctor, Richard Henchard, seeking an apartment for his demanding mistress, stumbles upon a cache of golden artifacts. He kills twice to protect his secret, and his path soon intersects Mary's, whom he attempts to seduce. Then one of Mary's myriad photos of Venice reveals the whereabouts of a missing woman, Lucia Costanza, who has allegedly murdered her husband. The dead husband was actually one of Dr. Henchard's victims, and Signora Costanza has gone into hiding until the real murderer is caught. Complicating the search for Costanza and her husband's killer is the annual Venetian flood, the acqua alta, for events come to a head even as the city suffers a particularly severe inundation. With a master hand, Langton develops the various subplots into a sophisticated, elegantly constructed thriller in which justice has its day, true love is rewarded and faith provides the most important answer of all. Line illustrations by the author. Author tour. (June) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.