I’m not much of a mystery reader, but a few years ago I heard about Donna Leon’s Commissario Guido Brunetti series and decided to give it a try.

The books are set in Venice, a city I loved from the first moment I saw it (in my “Europe on $10 a Day” backpacking years).  Police detective Brunetti travels the city on foot or by vaporetti, savoring the sights of his native place and taking the reader with him each step of the way. Each story features a new bridge, square or quiet corner of “La Serenissima,” the “Most Serene Republic of Venice.”

Brunetti quotes the classics, adores his wife (the brainy and beautiful Paolo) and three-quarters of the way through every story, becomes discouraged and confused. He works his way out of every jam by using his smarts, often colluding with his boss’s assistant, Signorina Elettra, a clever young woman who finds a way (sometimes not quite legal) through every dilemma.

I often pick up a Leon mystery when I need distraction. But the books have a funny way of returning me right back to Real Life. This isn’t a bad thing, though, because I’m always a little lightened and calmed when I get back.