The Golden Egg, Leon - B+

                                          Donna Leon is an American author living in Italy, and is the writer of twenty-two novels about fictional Commissario Guido Brunetti.  The first novel was published in 1992 and all of them are set in or very near Venice.  Although they fit within the police procedural/mystery genre, they really are cultural guides to Venice, its history, people, and geography. Through the introduction of colleagues from around the country, she also explores Italy's many problems and it's intransigent sectional rivalries and differences.  We have seen Guido's children grow up and have come to love him and his charming wife, Paola. Unlike most fictional policemen, Guido is not a hard-driving, hard drinking loner. He is a gentleman who loves his home and his family and quietly and diligently pursues his responsibilities. Here, the apparent suicide of a fortyish man, described as a deaf mute crosses his desk. Inquiry discovers that he has no birth certificate, baptismal certificate, health card,  or pension account. In a highly documented world, he doesn't seem to exist.  Guido begins an inquiry into a sad story of this poor man's background that takes us behind the scenes of his unhappy life.