The law of the lagoon
The Law of the Lagoon is the tenth novel by Donna Leon . It was released in 2001 under the original title A Sea of Troubles . The German version was published by Diogenes Verlag in 2002 and was translated by Monika Elwenspoek . It was number 1 on the Spiegel bestseller list for 5 weeks .
content
In the small fishing village of Pellestrina , a fire breaks out in the cabin of a fishing boat one night in May and causes an explosion. Since then, the owner of the boat, Giulio Bottin, and his son Marco have been missing. Some residents of Pellestrina begin to search for the two underwater and also find two bodies. It takes a while for the Carabinieri to arrive because every resident thought someone else had already called them. It then takes a while until the Questura in Venice is notified and Brunetti's colleague Vianello comes along with the boat operator Bonsuan and arranges for the two bodies to be recovered by police divers . Only then do you find out that the father's skull was broken in and the son was stabbed to death. This poses a major problem for the officials, as none of the islanders would like to speak to the police; therefore the police find no motive for the act. Commissario Brunetti does not make any progress at first. Signorina Elettra, the secretary of Brunetti's boss, offers him a vacation with her cousin in Pellestrina, because she hopes to get more information. Brunetti is against it, however, because he believes something could happen to Elettra, but he simply cannot stop her. That's why he also sends the young policeman Pucetti to the island to protect Elettra. Another murder occurs, however, whereupon Commissario Brunetti tells his secretary to return to Venice immediately. However, this refuses, because she met the young fisherman Carlo Targhetta during her stay in Pellestrina, with whom she started a relationship. In his further investigations, Commissario Brunetti finds out that Carlo Targhetta has a dark past. Before he became a fisherman, he had worked as a tax officer. But then his uncle Vittorio Spadini was accused of tax evasion by an anonymous caller, whereupon Targhetta tried to protect his uncle. During a trip out on the lagoon together, Elettra finds out that Spadini was behind the murders. There is a wild chase and life-threatening attacks on Targhetta and Elettra, at the end of which Targhetta dies and Elettra is able to save herself. The boat is stranded on an island of Pellestrina. Brunetti drives out to the island with his boatman Bonsuan and finds them. After a scene of fire, Bonsuan dies, but Spadini can be arrested.
Radio play and audio book
- Audiobook: Donna Leon - The Law of the Lagoon CD / MC (published in Steinbach speaking books )
Movie
In 2006 the film adaptation of the novel with Uwe Kockisch , Julia Jäger , Ueli Jäggi and Michael Degen appeared . Directed by Sigi Rothemund .