From Booklist
The Homer Kelly series is usually set in Massachusetts (Homer and wife Mary teach at Harvard), but occasionally Langton takes the amiable pair--ever-enthusiastic Homer and more subued but equally perceptive Mary--on the road. This fourteenth entry finds them returning to Italy, scene of
The Dante Game (1991). The venue here is Venice rather than Florence, but the travelogue tone is equally infectious, as Homer settles in to study Renaissance manuscripts, and Mary sets out, guidebook in hand, to see the city. She does exactly that (tourists would do well to follow her footsteps), but along the way, she becomes involved with a handsome doctor, who turns out to be a particularly vile murderer. The tangled plot jumps between the personal and spiritual problems of the Kellys' host, a librarian, and the discovery of art treasures hidden by Venetian Jews during World War II. As the water rises during Venice's dreaded
acqua alta season, Mary and Homer slosh their way across the city, tracking a killer and facing a marital crisis. An ideal diversion for those who like to combine travel research with a little murder.
Bill Ott
From Kirkus Reviews
The Thief Of Venice ($21.95; Jun. 21; 256 pp.; 0-670-88210-0): Homer Kelly's 14th case sends the Concord, Mass., professor and his wife and colleague Mary (The Face on the Wall, 1998, etc.) to a rare book conference in Venice, where Mary's tourist photos will reveal a missing woman and lead to a stolen treasure, a modern miracle, and sudden, violent deathall illustrated with an exceptional profusion of Langton's line drawings. (Author tour) --
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