If you're looking for a series to read after you've burned through all the Louise Penny novels, this is an excellent place to begin. In this first installment, a renowned opera conductor is found dead in his dressing room, a victim of cyanide poisoning. It's significant that this is a particularly painful way to die. As the investigation unfolds, it's clear the man had a dark past and many enemies, and that the perpetrator wanted to make his victim suffer. But why? (No need to read this series in order.)

The publisher says: "Commissario Guido Brunetti’s hopes for a refreshing family holiday in the mountains are dashed when a gruesome discovery is made in Marghera—a body so badly beaten the face is completely unrecognizable. Brunetti searches Venice for someone who can identify the corpse but is met with a wall of silence. He then receives a telephone call from a contact who promises some tantalizing information. And before the night is out, Brunetti is confronting yet another appalling, and apparently senseless, death." Add Audible narration for $3.99.