Justice and the Law

Brunetti must face a choice between doing what he believes is just and following the law that he has sworn to serve. Throughout the novel, Brunetti runs into situations involving questionable ethics and evading the law. The law is portrayed as a guideline of official policy in the novel, not without flaws, and not to be followed in the face of a conflict with one's personal ethics or morals. Brunetti decides independently, outside the law, to let Elizabeth Wellauer go unprosecuted. He manipulates the law, instead of enforcing it, so that he can follow his personal ethical and moral beliefs.

During the story, Brunetti talks to Dami about being an art critic, and Dami tells him that he has come to terms with writing good reviews of bad art when the higher-ups demand it. The compromise allows him to write about things that are truly...