"The scent that mingled with the coffee was equally distinctive, the cutting, sour almond smell she had only read about." Chapter 1, p. 4.

"Still only a short distance into the room, Brunetti remained still and let his eyes roam, taking note of what he saw, uncertain about what any of it might come to mean, curious." Chapter 2, p. 7.

"But these were the hours when, for Brunetti, the city became most beautiful, just as they were the same hours when he, Venetian to the bone, could sense some of her past glory." Chapter 4, p. 33.

"But Wellauer's death, Brunetti knew, was different. He was a famous man, no doubt the most famous conductor of the age, and he had been killed in Venice's little jewel of an opera house. Because it was Brunetti's case, the vice-questore would find him directly responsible for any bad publicity that might attach to the police...