Unputdownable, fast-moving story - Rated 
I've read quite a few books in this Inspector Brunetti series, all of which I've enjoyed. I haven't read them in chronological order, but that hasn't mattered: the only difference it makes is that Brunetti's two children vary in age. This particular book is early in the series and, I thought, one of her very best with the added bonus that I learned some more about the backgrounds of the characters. I read it quickly as the story was so engrossing. The chilly dampness of Venice in the winter adds a tremendous atmosphere to the book as the rising sea level of the Acqua Alta is anticipated and experienced by the characters as water ebbs and flows over the pavements of the city.
A Case That Can Be Solved Amid Flood Waters in Winter - Rated
Among the first four books in the Guido Brunetti series, I was annoyed by the tendency to create mysteries whose solution led to powerful patrons who were able to cover up for themselves so that there was essentially no justice done. I was very pleased to see that Ms. Leon downplayed that theme more in Acqua Alta than in the prior four books. Here, at least, there's some poetic justice.
Venice is always a major character in these novels, but in Acqua Alta it would be fair to say that Venice becomes the main character. If you have only been to Venice during the sunny summer days when the tourists flock there, you'll learn about a Venice you didn't know existed -- one where floods make planning the simplest trip quite a challenge. But flooding isn't merely there for background texture; it's a critical element of the story.
The actual mystery is pretty straightforward: Brett Lynch answers the door to her home in Venice and is beaten by two men who order her not to keep an appointment with the head of Venice's main museum. Since Brett is wealthy, the police assume the motive is robbery . . . even though nothing is taken. Because Brett is a lesbian makes the police less interested. But the all-seeing Signorina Elletra tips off Commissario Guido Brunetti that this "robbery" needs his personal touch.
Brunetti learns that Brett had contacted the museum head about three ceramic fakes that had been sent back to China after an exhibition of ancient Chinese artifacts. He promises to snoop around. Vice-Questore Patta first orders Brunetti off the case . . . until the mayor calls to say that he wants answers for his friend, Brett.
Two of the most interesting aspects of the case involve a background look at the worlds of obsessive collectors and of opera divas.
The investigation proceeds pretty quickly and easily, much facilitated by Signorina Elletra's remarkable ability to gain information that shouldn't be available to her. In this book, we also find out a little more of why she left a great job to work for the police.
You'll also get an inside look at some of the stresses and strains of a lesbian relationship where the two lovers are pulled in different directions by their careers and interests.
The weakest part of the story comes at the end when Brunetti finds himself needing to ride to the rescue. His willingness to cut corners seems a little far fetched.
In addition, this book involves a little more violence against women than is to my taste. If that sort of thing bothers you, you won't like this book as much as I did.
The good news is that the mystery of who beat up Brett and why aren't the main appeals of this story: The lives of those under siege from the winter floods are.
Enjoy!
Not the best of this series. - Rated 
I'll start off by saying that I'm not the biggest fan of this series but on the other hand they are pleasant enough to read on holidays by the beach! However this one wasn't. It was fairly slow, well padded and not very interesting. Donna Leon's stereotype of southern Italians, and her stereotype of northerner's attitudes to them, is becoming a bit grating. Also for someone who lives in Italy she makes a lot of mistakes with the names of magazines for example. Not to mention having characters say buon giorno in the evening! Maybe she's just getting lazy. At least that's how it seems after reading this book.
fantastic - Rated
All of the series of books by Donna Leon are unbelievably good reading. The mystery is very intriguing. The family of Officer Brunetti is amazing. The cooking of his wife makes you want an Italian meal. And the stories of the city of Venice are informative
"Acqua Alta" Is In Leon's Mainstream - Rated
"Acqua Alta" is the fifth in Donna Leon's mesmerizing series featuring Commissario Guido Brunetti of the Venice police and, as in the previous works, the author once again manages to capture not only the soul but the heart, literally, of modern day Venice. Reality lurkes behind every page, it seems, of a Leon novel, from the cold, creaking listings of ages-old buildings almost atop the famed canals to the musty, bone-chilling foggy days as the "high waters" begin to permeate the once Serene Republic's confines. And, of course, there's a murder or two lurking around some hidden corner of some fourteenth-century palazzo and, naturally, as in the other works, it is Brunetti's dedication, his loyalty, and, above all else, his honesty in seeking out the truth that eventually bring about the solution. Leon's conclusions, however, are not always the easiest, most convenient, or happiest, as she gallops away from the melodramatic and lets reality win again. She underscores the fact the there are evil people about, and, yes, ocasionally, they win. Sometimes, by the end of her books, not all the guilty are punished, but the cases are solved, nonetheless. To say Venice, or even Italy itself, is any more corrupt than any other place is not the question, but Leon, herself an American English professor at the University of Maryland extension campus at the U.S. Army's Vicenza (Italy) post, has spent quite a number of years in Italy, speaks the language, and captures the nuances of hte people and of their daily lives, it seems; indeed, quite an accomplishment for an outsider. "You don't want to keep Doctor Semenzato's appointment." With this warning, two men proceed to beat Brett Lynch within an inch of her life. Thus, the action really begins in this fast-paced book. Brett is a famed anthropologist, whom we'd met in "Death at La Fenice" and who is involved in an extensive dig in China where she has helped uncover, literally, a priceless "find." Enter the art thieves, murderers, and con men. Indeed, from this point on, murder and mayhem do follow and Brunetti is quick to pick up the case; indeed, he's quite eager for it. Guido had come to regard Brett and her lover, famed soprano Flavia Petrelli, as friends, if not suspects! Now, he is appalled at the brutality of the assault and fears for Brett's life. In the course of this investigation, more than one murder transpires, with art-world theft as the circulating theme. What has "high water" (Acqua Alta) to do with the book? Acqua Alta is the dread of every Venezian, as climatic changes cause the water in the canals to rise above their normal levls and a city ordinarily accustomed to much water anyway finds itself actually being inundated by even more of it! Thus, like Sandburg's fog in his Chicago poems, the water becomes another character, always looming, always rising, always threatening. But unlike Sandburg's fog, it doesn't creep in on little cat's feet. And it comes not to wash way the sins but to underscore them. The end comes with the usual "bang" and Brunetti is left to ponder the aftermath. His path of glory indeed leads but to the grave for his villains, as Thomas Gray might have written in his "Elegy." The book continues in true form to capture the Leon magic and is not one to miss.
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