This is number thirty three in the Commissario Guido Brunetti series and I have happily read all of them.

Leon is an excellent writer, sharing wit and wisdom and capturing so well the the pulse and rhythm of Venice. Not the Venice that the hoards of day trippers experience, but the real city of the Venetians who reside there. It is a joy to read such a literate writer whose books touch on philosophy, classical literature, political science, history, justice. Her books transcend one genre…they are police procedurals, mysteries, literary fiction.

The cases, while always intriguing, are almost secondary to the wonderful characterizations, musings and observations of life, especially Venetian life, by Brunetti. It is always so nice to visit again with all the familiar actors, flamboyant Signora Elletra, strong and wise Paola, philosophical Guido, comical Patta, capable Griffoni, loyal Foa.

The plot of this installment involving the “baby” (underage) gangs trying to wreak havoc on the islands of the Veneto intersects with Brunetti and Griffoni’s interaction with an acclaimed hero from the suicide attack on the Italian carabinieri headquarters at Nasiriyah during the Iraq War twenty years ago. My only hesitation with this story is that I would have liked to have known what happens next for one of the characters. I don’t want to say any more as I don’t write spoilers, but if you read it, you will know who I mean.

Leon conveys so much what Venice is all about....the politics, the cynicism, the decaying beauty. I feel that Brunetti and his family and associates are old friends. Last time we were in Venice, I passed by the Questore fully expecting to encounter him and stopped at his favorite bar for a coffee. Leon's books make me want to return to La Serenissima. ( )

In November 2003, a suicide bomber in Nasiriyah, Iraq explodes a truck outside an allied forces military compound that kills 18 Italian servicemembers. That act represents the largest Italian military disaster since World War II and sends the country into a period of deep mourning. Desperate to find a hero in the tragedy, military and political officials settle on a single man—an officer in the Carabinieri deployed at the base—who appears to have risked his life to save two others. However, that appearance proves to be deceptive, and the man soon fades from the collective memory. Twenty years later, modern day Venice is beset with the damaging and violent conflict between rival groups of under-aged youths—baby gangs, they are called—and when one of the gang members turns out to be the son of the Hero of Nasiriyah, it sets off a chain of events that involves mayhem such as blackmail, various physical assaults, arson, and the destruction of ancient artifacts. In A Refiner’s Fire, we see this story unfold and learn how Commissario Guido Brunetti and his colleagues at the Venice Questura resolve things.

For me, the real pleasure in reading a new Brunetti novel lies less with the details of the mystery at the heart of the story and more with the incredible sense of time and place that the author creates. Indeed, as has been the case in so many of the previous volumes in this series, the city of Venice—with both its incomparable beauty and its many warts— once again becomes the main focus. Leon’s descriptions of the city as it passes through the changing seasons are simply stunning and so evocative that, for readers familiar with La Serenissima, it is easy to follow along in the footsteps of the people as they go about their daily lives. Beyond that, each new book brings us back in touch with what are by now a beloved collection of characters, starting with Brunetti and his wife Paola, as well as Brunetti’s trusted associates Claudia Griffoni, Enzo Bocchese, and Signorina Elettra in this tale.

As to the actual plot of A Refiner’s Fire, I enjoyed the historical basis for the story, which was a more pronounced feature here than in most of the books that have come before it. The author does a nice job of weaving harrowing facts from the past with some creative modern fictional elements to make a compelling narrative in which the myriad pieces fit together quite nicely. My only quibble (if that is even the right word to use) would be that the ending felt a little rushed given the elaborate set up that preceded it and that not all the plotlines seemed to be fully resolved. Also, while I have always appreciated the thoughtful and allusive way in which Leon chooses the titles for these novels, I thought that this one—with its apparent Biblical reference—was particularly obscure and left me wondering until the very end how it tied into the story. Those minor points aside, this was an extremely satisfying reading experience from a talented author who, having now produced 33 volumes in this series, remains at the top of her game. ( )