by Laura Lebow
Lorenzo Da Ponte Mysteries Book 1
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I liked everything about this mystery and would be ready to start and reading it one more time immediately!
_ 5 FULL STARS WELL DESERVED
__THE PLOT__ Vienna,1786.
Lorenzo Da Ponte, poet and opera librettist, is working for the theater of the court of Joseph II together with composers such as Mozart and Martín y Soler.
One morning he is involved with an acquaintance-friend in the search for his real mother who gave him up for adoption as soon as he was born.
Starting this research, Da Ponte finds himself involved, without his knowledge, in a murder and accused by the police of being the culprit, he has only one possibility to avoid hanging: that of discovering the real murderer, who, according to the police, is also a spy sent by the King of Prussia.
For his investigations he will have to infiltrate in disguise, into the house of an important baron, a close collaborator of the emperor.
___AN HISTORICAL MYSTERY RICH IN HISTORICAL NOTIONS, BUT NEVER BORING :
This is a mystery for those who love historical mysteries in the true sense of the word.
We are at the end of the 18th century and unlike other books in which the author limits himself to describing wigs, silver buckles and outfits, here we can fully grasp the atmosphere of the city at that time.
As we read we can see its wonderful palaces, churches and cathedral, streets and squares that still exist today.
The author inserts places and historical notions throughout the plot of the book and does so in a wise and captivating way, without ever making the reading boring and without going out of the context of the mystery (or rather of the 2 mysteries) on which our "improvised detective " is investigating.
There are many historical characters, who really existed, in the book and many of them take part in the dialogues from time to time, following the real memoirs that Da Ponte wrote and that some historical figures ( part of the characters in this novel ) wrote.
Lorenzo Da Ponte, the main character, was truly an Italian librettist who wrote the libretto for 3 of Mozart's operas, including "The Marriage of Figaro".
Just as I loved walking around the city of Vienna (where I was born and which I know quite well) with Da Ponte, so I loved being with him at the opera, while he attended the premieres, while he worked with Mozart and the actor-singers (those real people who performed at the premiere of the opera), while he compares himself with his colleagues-rivals-enemies such as Salieri, Casti and the theater director Rosenberg (all of whom really existed).
I can say that even if you are not a music expert or opera enthusiast, the plot is fascinating and interesting, there wasn't a single moment in which I was bored, I loved everything and made me want to read a biography about Joseph II and watch Mozart's and other composers operas, starting immediately with some videos on Youtube.
The whole plot of the mystery is cleverly constructed and there are at least 7 suspects and each has valid reasons to be the culprit, so it is impossible to understand the culprit before the revelation at the end of the book.
___THE MAIN CHARACTER ___ I like the protagonist. In the book he is about 37 years old and is a romantic man in love with love, who suffers from the remoteness of his hometown (from which he was exiled) and earns his living by working for the court of Vienna as poet and opera librettist.
Despite his prestigious job, he earns little and often has to deal with the reality of an expensive city.
He is often mocked by his rivals, he is humble but also confident in his artistic abilities to be able to take his victory.
He is not interested in being a detective and would really like not to have ended up in that mess, however he is man enough to keep the word given to a friend and not to betray the confidences of those he cares about even if this could put his life at risk.
The character of Lorenzo Da Ponte tells us everything in the first person and does so in an effective and engaging way, so much so that I often felt completely involved in his emotions.
Obviously this is a fiction so we must always keep this in mind, but I liked reading in the author's historical notes that the description of the character (i.e. of his way of being) was faithful to what could be intuited from his memoirs, the same it applies to some events described and actually happened and to other characters.
There is a second installment with Lorenzo Da Ponte in Vienna and I will read it as soon as possible, as I will do for another series of 2 books set in 18th century Paris (with a different main character).
However, I was very sad to discover that this good author has written nothing else and has literally disappeared (no news about her, no other books in recent years, the author's website actually no longer existing).
The author's writing is very fluent and the book can be read well in 3 or 4 days.
It took me longer because I had a bad flu and it's difficult to read with a cough, a stuffy nose and watery eyes, but I couldn't have had better company (after my 3 cats obviously).
If you are curious about a second Lorenzo Da Ponte's adventure as sleuth, you can read my review about boo #2 here:
#BOOK 2 : SENT TO THE DEVIL "Lorenzo Da Ponte Series"
Thanks for reading my review. I apologize for the errors in the text, but as always I remember that English is not my native language.
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