The Jewels of Paradise by Donna Leon, on Baroque Musician Agostino Steffani: Music Mystery Review

Position descriptions and working conditions nevertheless differ drastically. Franco Scarpinelli and Umberto Stievani expect Cati to restrict activities to the provided apartment and office, supply all equipment, and terminate everything within one month. Cati finds disappointment tolerable through:

• collaboration with brother-in-law Sergio against a stalker;
• computer from the descendants’ lawyer Andrea Moretti;
• contact with Ezio, Biblioteca Marciana librarian and Clara’s -- second-eldest of Cati’s four older sisters -- best friend forever;
• cooperation of Fondazione Musicale Italo-Tedesca’s acting director, Roseanna Salvi; and
• correspondence with Cristina, nun of 20 years, professor in Germany, and Cati’s third-eldest sister.

Clarifying document references and understanding seventeenth- and eighteenth-century events give Cati excuses to examine anti-English, anti-Hanoverian, and anti-Protestant agendas in northern Germany. 

The plot heads Cati through Baroque music, Church history, and Venetian landmarks. Venice-wise, it identifies:

• Arsenale;
• Bacino, Basilica San Marco;
• Caffè Florian, Calle dei Miracoli, Calle del Fumo, Calle Schiavona, Campo Santa Maria Formosa, Campo Santa Marina, Canale Grande, Castello, Celestia;
• I Greci;
• Lido;
• Madonna dell’Orto, Museo Navale;
• Palazzo Ducale, Piazza, Piazzetta, Ponte della Libertà;
• Rialto, Riva dei Sette Martiri, Ruga Giuffa;
• San Filippo e Giacomo, San Giorgio, San Marcuola, San Michele, San Polo, San Zaccaria, Santa Croce, Santa Maria della Fava, Santa Maria della Pietà, Strada Nuova; and
• Via Garibaldi.

History-wise, it juxtaposes:

• Agostino’s production of chamber duets, operas, sacred works; and
• Nicolò Montalbano’s interactions with Philip Christoph von Königsmarck’s (March 4, 1665 – July 2, 1694). 

Friendship with an unnamed Romanian musicologist keeps Caterina’s story competitive with the novelist’s Commissario Guido Brunetti mysteries. Super-familiarity with bridges and buildings leads travel-lovers through Venetian lifestyles. Venetian venues likewise make cuisine-lovers hungry for:

• apples cooked in red wine, covered with whipped cream;
• macchiatone drunk with tuna tramezzino;
• rabbit prepared with artichokes, polenta;
• Refosco served with capers, olives, pasta, tomatoes;
• Ribolla Gialla served with branzino baked in salt, courgette sautéed with tomatoes and zucchini; and
• spaghetti served with scallops, zucchini.

So The Jewels of Paradise nudges culturally enriching, educationally entertaining, geo-historically enthralling insights from:

• Atlantic Monthly Press, publisher;
• Donna Leon, author;
• Josh Libra, jacket photographer;
• Regine Mossimann, portraitist;
• Publishers Group West, distributor; and
• Patti Ratchford, jacket designer. 

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Leon, Donna. 2012. The Jewels of Paradise. New York, NY: Atlantic Monthly Press.