The Angels of Venice – Philip Gwynne Jones

“Who sets out to rob a bookshop on the worst night in half a century? For that matter, who sets out to rob a bookshop at all?” (Quotation page 153)

Content

In November 2019, Venice, the beautiful, magical city, almost used to “Aqua Alta”, is affected by the worst flooding catastrophe since fifty years. On their way home, after helping Ed in his flooded bar, Nathan Sutherland and Ed notice that the window of an old antique bookshop is totally shattered. Inside they find the body of a dead woman, Dr Jennifer Whiteread, art historian. As she is a British citizen, Nathan Sutherland, British honorary consul in Venice, is officially involved and as she has been murdered, he begins to investigate.

Theme and Genre

The new thriller of the Nathan Sutherland-Series, set heavily flooded Venice, is about human angels staying together and helping people wherever possible to save La Serenissima, and about painted angels attracting just the contrary.

Characters

This time, Nathan Sutherland has more reasons to try to find out what has happened to Jennifer Whiteread and why, because the police is almost overwhelmed by the situation of the flooded city and on the other hand, the grieving father of Jennifer has come to Venice and asks for answers.

Plot and Writing

The story takes place in November 2019 when Venice was seriously flooded and in a state of emergency. Besides the gripping, interesting story about angels in art, the author also vividly describes the hours and days between more rain, storms and hope. While a group of young people, calling themselves the mud angels, help wherever needed, rich Giles Markham of Markham Charity Foundation, offers noticeable sums to help to preserve the ancient buildings. There is a second storyline, a story within the story, in form of an internal monologue that gives us more and more hints, but never too much. Therefore, the story is gripping and unexpected twists keep the plot unforeseeable.

Conclusion

Atmospheric, interesting and amazing, in my opinion one of the best books of the series.