The problem with listening to good murder mysteries in the car is that you never want to get out of the car. More than once I’ve been spotted sitting in the parking lot or even in the garage, doing apparently … well, nothing. But I was doing something. I was listening. I was audibly turning pages, unable to put the audio book down because I couldn’t wait to find out what happened next!

That’s the impact a good audio book can have. And to my surprise, the Donna Leon mystery Dressed for Death (Commissario Guido Brunetti Mysteries) had exactly that impact on me. It’s book #3 in the Guido Brunetti series, who is the main character. He’s a police investigator in Venice and he is given the responsibility to solve the ugly murder of what appears to be a transvestite prostitute. But as with all good murder mysteries, things are not as they appear.

This is a fun book. I think it was first published in 1994, which makes it awkwardly outdated in some ways. Not old enough to be classic and not new enough to be relevant (e.g. no cell phones or GPS systems used by the police). But it’s still a lot of fun and the twists and turns make it a wild ride. Definitely a good summer read. Or listen.