A Funeral of Gondolas: Inspector Peroni #2

Inspector Peroni is glad to be done with Verona, but he’s none too thrilled with Venice. The cuisine is an endless parade of soup, and the crime is as bland as the menu. The most nefarious crime Peroni’s supervisors can come up with is a gambling ring involving the city’s annual gondola race, and not only is it run by a local priest, but the proceeds go to charity. That’s no way for a highly decorated, handsome police inspector to get into the newspapers. But Peroni perks up when the gambling gondoliers appear to have some connection with a murdered lawyer, a stolen manuscript, and a sance involving an 18th-century courtesan. Now that’s a crime worth solving!