The Golden Egg

The Golden Egg by Donna Leon  276 pp.

This is the 22nd book in the Commissario Guido Brunetti series. An apparently deaf and mentally disabled man in Brunetti's own neighborhood of Venice dies from an apparent accidental overdose. Both Guido and and his wife Paola knew him only as the man who did menial work at the local dry cleaners. After the rudimentary investigation into the death, questions arise after the autopsy. Although there is no official investigation into the accidental death, Brunetti discovers that there are no records of the man having ever existed. This prompts his own inquiries into the unusual and awful circumstances of the man's birth, life, and death. Meanwhile Brunetti's unpleasant boss, Vice-Questore Patta, orders him to take care of the matter of illegal land use by a relative of the Mayor. This is handled quickly leaving Brunetti to solve a couple internal problems within the Questura (police headquarters). Patta wants to move his favorite minion, Lt. Scarpa into the office of Signorina Elettra Zorzi, his secretary and displace her to another location in the building, much to her dislike. And there's the matter of Commissario Claudia Grifoni who is finding it difficult to settle into her position as a female officer and a Neopolitan transplanted to Venice. Signorina Elettra is not fond of Grifoni and Brunetti wants them to have a better working relationship. Of course, Brunetti manages to wrap it all up in under 300 pages.