Transient Desires by Donna Leon (No 30 in the Commissario Brunetti series)

The thirtieth in the series and still the interest in Brunetti and of course Venice never dies. Crimes abound and the past is very much alive in all present crimes with family links and old history and activities very much part of the present day scene. In this one as usual the setting of Venice takes a predominant part in the story (for me anyway) and Brunetti comes a close second! Two injured American girls have been left on the dock of a hospital. One is with a broken arm, the other is unconscious for days. There is no sexual assault and the CCTV cameras distinctly shows who was responsible. A little sleuting on Commissario's part and the culprits are identified. This is where it begins to get complicated. One of the boys is connected to a businessman who has been on the radar of the police for sometime, but with absolutely no proof of any wrong doing. He is doing very well, has risen from the ranks but there is no indication of how he gets his money. When Brunetti stumbles upon some clues leading to human trafficking, the detectives know the story is linked to their suspects but now they have to connect the dots, and get foolproof evidence to obtain a warrant and an arrest. Described as crime fiction with a dose of culture, I could not describe it better. Sent by Grove Atlantic for an unbiased review, courtesy of Netgalley.