{{italictitle}} {{short description|Novel by Giorgio Scerbanenco}} '''''A Private Venus''''' ({{Langx|it|Venere privata}}) is a 1966 detective novel by the Italian writer Giorgio Scerbanenco. It tells the story of how the former doctor Duca Lamberti is assigned to treat the alcoholic son of a millionaire, and begins to unveil the secrets surrounding the death of a young woman in the affluent world of Milan. It was the first in a series of four novels about Dr. Duca Lamberti. An English translation by Howard Curtis was published in 2012.<ref>{{Cite book|title=A private Venus|oclc=776774328 }}</ref>
The book was the basis for the film ''Cran d'arrêt'' (1970) directed by Yves Boisset.<ref>{{Cite book|year=1999|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yyqc0Qa6b60C&pg=PA410|title=The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film|page=410|isbn=1-85739-229-9| last1=Goble | first1=Alan | publisher=Walter de Gruyter }}</ref>
==Reception== ''Kirkus Reviews'' wrote in 2014 that "the first volume in Scerbanenco’s Milano Quartet is a blast from the past, a sleek, stripped-down reminder of the fast, brutal days of Continental noir".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/giorgio-scerbanenco/a-private-venus/|title=A Private Venus|work=Kirkus Reviews|date=2014-03-05|accessdate=2016-09-05}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20161130041320/http://www.garzantilibri.it/default.php?page=visu_libro&CPID=1243 Italian publicity page] {{in lang|it}} * [http://www.mhpbooks.com/books/a-private-venus/ American publicity page] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20141002091137/http://www.hersilia-press.co.uk/a-private-venus/ British publicity page]
{{Giorgio Scerbanenco}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Private Venus}} Category:1966 Italian novels Category:Italian crime novels Category:Italian mystery novels Category:Italian novels adapted into films Category:Italian-language literature Category:Novels by Giorgio Scerbanenco Category:Novels set in Milan