Friends in High Places.

Donna Leon. 2000/2001. Read by Gordon Griffin. 7 tapes. 9.75 hrs. Clipper Audio, dist. by Recorded Books. 1-84197-211-8. $63.00. Vinyl; plot notes. SA

Venice Commissario Guido Brunetti receives a disturbing visit from a young building inspector named Rossi who tells him that his apartment, his home for many years, does not exist--at least, not officially. Later Rossi calls Brunetti, frightened. Then his crumpled body is found at the foot of a scaffold at a renovation site. It is not an accident. To add to his problems, Brunetti's boss wants him to keep his son's arrest out of the papers. The young man was arrested for possession with intent to sell Ecstasy. A fellow college student dies of a drug overdose. Are the two deaths related?

Venice, with its political corruption, is as much a character as the people here. Leon involves the reader in the crimes, of course, but also in the lives of Brunetti, his wife, and her wealthy father. Griffin narrates with brio; his pronunciation of the Italian in the novel is excellent. The fully voiced reading individualizes all the characters, giving each its own timbre and tone. An audio winner, as well as winner of The Year 2000 Crime Writers' Association Macallan Silver Dagger for fiction. Janet Julian, former English Teacher, Grafton H.S., Grafton, MA