Used book – Le Cantique des innocents, Donna Leon

A pediatrician and his wife assaulted in the middle of the night, their eighteen-month-old baby snatched from before their eyes... Why on earth did carabinieri - the Italian police - burst into this couple's home and seize this little boy? Did the blow from his assailant truly render the doctor mute, as he claims? What connection does this arrest have with those simultaneously carried out by the carabinieri in other cities?

And finally, who could have ordered such a horrifying operation? These are the questions that plague Commissioner Guido Brunetti and his assistant Inspector Vianello when they are assigned this case.

For this new investigation, Donna Leon takes us through the winding streets of beautiful Venice and into the sordid depths of a child trafficking network.

"The sixteenth installment of Commissioner Brunetti's adventures is dazzling. Donna Leon always refines her craft, consistently portraying vivid portraits of her characters and of Venice, never losing her capacity for outrage."

The New York Times