Donna Leons Commissario Guido Brunetti mysteries have won legions of fans for their evocative portraits of Venetian life In her novels food family art history and local politics play as central a role as an unsolved crime In The Girl of His Dreams when a friend of Brunettis brother a priest recently returned from years of missionary work calls with a request Brunetti suspects the mans motives A new American-style Protestant sect has begun to meet in the city and its possible the priest is merely apprehensive of the competition But the preacher could also be fleecing his growing flock so Brunetti and Paola along with Inspector Vianello and his wife go undercoverBut the investigation has to be put aside when one cold and rainy morning a body is found floating in a canal It is a child a gypsy girl Brunetti suspects she fell off a nearby roof while fleeing an apartment she had robbed He has to inform the distrustful parents encamped on the mainland and soon finds himself haunted by the crime--and the girl Thought-provoking eye-opening and profoundly moving The Girl of His Dreams is classic Donna Leon a spectacular heart-wrenching addition to the series.
