Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure— pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.” Give and it will be given to you in good measure, pressed down and overflowing, they shall cast into your lap. For with what measure you measure it will be measured to you.” Jesus more than studied these words—as God, He is their source and embodied them. "Do Unto Others" - What Jesus Said about the Golden Rule

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”( Matthew 5:17)As always, Brunetti is highly attuned to (and sympathetic toward) the failings of the humans around him.” — Seattle Times Donna Leon’s I latest Brunetti novel was a Christmas gift I gave to myself. Although not to be published until March, I received a copy from NetGalley early. I was saving it until closer to the publication date, but on a particularly bleak day leading up to Christmas. I just had to read it. When the crime-scene team surveys the burglarized veterinary clinic of Dottoressa del Balzo, its members appear to have a wide range of reactions. Why do you think some of the technicians appear unbothered while their chief, Bocchese, seems disturbed? One of the most popular crime series worldwide . . . While the Brunetti books, with their abundance of local color and gastronomic treats, appeal to the fans of the traditional mystery, Leon has something darker and deeper in mind.” — Life Sentence When speaking to the junior officer Pucetti about Signorina Elettra’s methods, Brunetti realizes that he wants to avoid “[getting] himself involved . . . in a discussion of whether the end [justifies] the means” (p. 60). How has his own opinion changed, and why does he not want to share it with “a person so much younger than himself” (p. 60)?

Strong's 5240: To pour out so that it overflows. From huper and the alternate form of ekcheo; to pour out over, i.e. to overflow. In His sermon on the mount, Jesus said repeatedly “ You have heard that it was said…but I tell you.” Jesus wasn’t correcting the law; He was illuminating the Spirit of the law—the life and meaning behind it. Give, and it will be given to you: A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be poured into your lap. For the measure you use will be the measure you receive." Her son-in-law has alarmed his wife by telling her they might be in danger because of something he's involved with. Because Enrico Fenzo is an accountant, Brunetti suspects that the likely reason must be the finances of one of his clients. Brunetti takes a look and finds little: one client is an optician, another Fenzo`s father-in-law, whom he helped establish a charity, another the owner of a restaurant. Leon] uses the relatively small and crime-free canvas of Venice for rips about Italian life, sexual styles and—best of all—the kind of ingrown business and political corruption that seems to lurk just below the surface.” — Chicago TribuneGive Unto Others starts with a simple premise. Commissario Brunetti is asked by a childhood acquaintance to look into the behaviour of her son-in-law, who is described as having said something to frighten her daughter. Brunetti takes it upon himself to make unofficial enquiries and enlists his most trusted allies: Inspector Claudia Griffoni, Sergeant Lorenzo Vianello and computer expert Signora Elettra Zorzi into the investigation. It is gradually revealed that there is indeed a crime behind the scenes, but that the reason for Brunetti being asked for a favour was more diabolical than initially thought. It's potentially an interesting story based on not a legal crime, but a moral and ethical one. And one of the victims offers up a hard-hitting portrait of a family dealing with the consequences of dementia that is as emotionally powerful as Leon has ever been. Brunetti is approached for a favor by Elisabetta Foscarini, a woman he knows casually, but her mother was good to Brunetti's mother, so he feels obliged to at least look into the matter privately, and not as official police business. Foscarini's son-in-law, Enrico Fenzo, has alarmed his wife (her daughter) by confessing their family might be in danger because of something he's involved with. Since Fenzo is an accountant, Brunetti logically suspects the cause of danger is related to the finances of a client. Yet his clients seem benign: an optician, a restaurateur, a charity established by his father-in-law. However, when his friend's daughter's place of work is vandalized, Brunetti asks his own favors--that his colleagues Claudia Griffoni, Lorenzo Vianello, and Signorina Elettra Zorzi assist his private investigation, which soon enough turns official as they uncover the dark and Janus-faced nature of a venerable Italian institution. Defying crime fiction convention, nobody dies in Donna Leon’s latest mystery, Give Unto Others. In fact, the bloodiest encounter in this, the author’s 31st novel featuring Commissario Guido Brunetti, occurs between two dogs — and by the time we are aware of it, a vet is already on the scene (both animals survive). Humans are injured in the course of Brunetti’s latest case, one seriously. But the true victim of the crime at the center of this book is trust — in those we love and in ourselves as well. Weather and tides and looting by “baby gangs” require a bit of real police work, but then the vandalism of Flora’s veterinary clinic on Murano, which might be linked to their enquiries, gives their work official standing. What they ultimately uncover presents them with a dilemma, which is then taken out of their hands by others. But the deeper truth, when Brunetti uncovers it, admonishes him for forgetting to be a policeman when he most needed to.