The Venetian Game by Philip Gwynne Jones

The Venetian Game by Philip Gwynne Jones
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A game of cross and double-cross in Venice, one of the most beautiful cities on earth.

From his office on the Street of the Assassins, Nathan Sutherland enjoys a steady but unexciting life translating Italian DIY manuals. All this changes dramatically when he is offered a large sum of money to look after a small package containing an extremely valuable antique prayer book illustrated by a Venetian master. But is it a stolen masterpiece - or a brilliant fake?

Unknown to Nathan, from a vast mansion on the Grand Canal twin brothers Domenico and Arcangelo Moro, motivated by nothing more than mutual hatred, have been playing out a complex game of art theft for twenty years. And now Nathan finds himself unwittingly drawn into their deadly business . . .


This was marketed as a thriller but seemed to me more of a mystery and if it had been billed as a mystery then the review would have been against that, however it was billed as a thriller and as such just didn't make the mark. Nathan the main character was likeable enough but we didn't really know anything about him save he is the Honourary British Consul in Venice and translates Italian manuals (mainly DIY) into English to earn extra money.

I loved the humour which kept it going and his relationship with his cat Gramsci is very funny but it lacked character substance for me. The characterisation of the cat was great, he was selfish, greedy and always got his own way, I loved him, I knew him, I could relate to him. Nathan was not given the same treatment and because of this the reader never really had a chance to warm to him as we knew so little about him. Because of that he came across as a bit weak and lack lustre. There were so many characters in the book that at times I had to go back and remind myself who they were.

The book was rich on atmosphere and descriptive passages of the beautiful city of Venice, so much so that it was almost like reading a travel log, the architecture, the paintings, the beautiful venetian views, so well written and so well described. You could tell the writer has lived in this beautiful city.

I won't go on to re-tell the story suffice it to say that after Nathan is pressed to look after what appears to be a priceless artefact things get out of his control and he is spiralled into playing a part in a dangerous 'game' with two Italian brothers. On the surface this sounds great but it just didn't get as thrilling as I thought it would and the ending was a bit limp.

As a great thriller or mystery I have read better and the pace was just a bit slow for me.
I have to give his 4 stars for the wonderful atmospheric setting and Gwynne Jones skill at bringing this out for the reader, surely if you've never been to Venice you will want to go after reading this novel.