Anyone who has ever raised a child can relate to the heartache that Dr. Gustavo Pedrolli experiences when the Carabinieri burst into his home and removed his adopted 18-month-old son from his care, and violently attacked Pedrolli. As it turns out, Pedrolli had gone around the regulations in order to adopt Alfredo. Now the child will be placed into an orphanage and forever removed from the family that loved him.Commissario Guido Brunetti is summoned to Pedrolli's bedside and wonders at the heavy-handed treatment that Pedrolli and his wife experienced. They were wakened in the middle of the night by five armed men and Pedrolli was rendered unconscious and may have suffered brain damage. The Venetian police were not informed of the raid, and Brunetti immediately begins to interrogate Captain Marvilli, who led the intrusion. Although Marvilli is a basically good man, he doesn't have a reasonable explanation for what happened.Pedrolli is the chief of pediatrics at a local hospital and a well-respected man. How did his situation come to the attention of the authorities? It appears it might have been the result of a grudge being held by a local pharmacist who is involved in his own illegal actions. Brunetti finds himself involved in a swirling world of suspect infertility clinics and illegal moneymaking schemes. Although there are a few surprises along the way, the resolution isn't quite satisfying and ended prematurely.The Brunetti series is one of my all-time favorites; I'm always glad to be able to spend time with Guido, his family and colleagues and experience the wonderful Venetian setting. As you might expect in a long-running series, some of the entries are a bit weaker, and that is definitely the case for SUFFER. The narrative is not centered around a very compelling case. Certainly, the removal of the young boy from a loving home is a sad situation; but Leon doesn't take this thread to a real conclusion. We never find out what happened to Alfredo and instead focus on the much less interesting case of the pharmacist gone awry. That doesn't mean that SUFFER THE LITTLE CHILDREN is a book that you should miss. Just be aware that it's not quite as satisfying as the previous 15 entries in this series.
Aw, Guido, I'd have married you in a flash if you weren't already married to the beautiful, smart and loving Paola! I love the Commissario Brunetti novels by Donna Leon. Set in Venice the city is as much a character as all those lucky enough to live there. I started reading the series long before I began recording my reading on Goodreads,so I'm not always sure if I've read one till I read the summary or even start reading the book! Since her ebooks are quite expensive (most around $10) and most library editions are audio books (which I hate), when one shows up for free on BookBub I get it and enjoy it even if I find I've read it before. How exciting it was to find I had not read this one! As a retired child welfare social worker and adoption attorney, this story touched my heart. A Venetian pediatrician and his wife have adopted a child who is 18 months old when the story begins. The doctor dotes on the child and revels in parenting. They are clearly bonded. But in the middle of the night the Carabinieri (national police like our FBI I believe) conduct a raid of the doctor's home, assault the doctor and take the baby having been tipped off the adoption is illegal under Italian law. Brunetti gets a call about the injured doctor and goes to the hospital. Even though the case turns out to be out of his jurisdiction, he is drawn to the story because of his répugnance at the thought of the child being taken from the only parents he has ever known and placed in a state-run orphanage. So Guido goes on an undercover mission to learn about the illicit adoption business. In the meantime he is trying to solve a case involving the nearly total destruction of a pharmacy. How these two mysteries are connected is the core plot of the novel. But as usual, Guido's involvement is emotional as well as professional. Watching it come together in Guido's mind is just plain wonderful writing. I highly recommend this book (and the entire series). Guido Brunetti is one of my very favorite protagonists in a far-from-usual detective mystery series.
A worth addition to the Brunetti series, with strong characters, moral ambiguity, and a very unusual situation that generates hatred and misunderstanding, but (unusual for a mystery) not murder. Many fans read this series for little more than the enjoyment of spending time with Brunetti and his wife, Paola, and they will not be disappointed in this one. Donna Leon has been trying for years, with varying degrees of success, to avoid the genre requirements of murder, clear guilt, and appropriate punishment, and this time she succeeds brilliantly.
—Jon
Het verhaal begint sterk. Je zit er vanaf de eerste regel in. Daarom geef ik dit boek toch drie sterren. Op een gegeven moment de spanning weg en kabbelt het verhaal verder voort. Het verhaal is op zich best interessant, maar echt spannend wil het niet meer worden en ook het plot is een beetje teleurstellend. Het boek leest vlot en heb je dan ook zo uit. Het verhaal speelt zich af in Venetië. Dat is ook wel leuk, omdat daar bijna alles via het water gaat. Wat ik een minpuntje vond is dat er ook allerlei Italiaanse termen worden gebruikt, maar dat deze niet uitgelegd worden. Je kunt soms wel raden wat het is, maar ik had een verklarend woordenlijstje wel fijn gevonden.
—Hannie
#16 Commissario Guido Brunetti mystery set in Venice, Italy. Guido is called out in the middle of the night because the Carabinieri have done a raid on a prominent pediatrician's home and busted him for adopting a child illegally. The wife called the police since she had no idea what was happening, so Guido's team showed up only to find the invaders WERE the police...but they had not been pre-informed by the Carabinieri of the impending raid, as is standard procedure. The doctor was beaten, the story being that he attacked one of the officers (who had a minor injury) but the severity of the beating belies this. Guido then gets involved with the investigation into an illegal adoption ring, involving foreign women handing their babies over to brokers, who then place the child in homes of people with mega-moola to pay. Once again his superior has warned him off looking too deep, so most of Guido's investigating is on his own and of course ties into another legitimate investigation. Enjoyable visit to Venice as always, with another hot social topic addressed.
—Spuddie
