Donna Leon

Author

Donna Leon is an American author who has lived in Venice for over thirty years and whose Commissario Brunetti series is one of the longest-running, most beloved, and most acclaimed crime fiction series in the world. Her novels use the detective story as a vehicle for exploring Italian society, Venetian life, corruption, and the moral... compromises of daily existence. Born in New Jersey in 1942, Leon studied English and German at various universities and worked as a teacher in Iran, Saudi Arabia, China, and Italy before settling in Venice. She has taught English literature at a university near Venice and at the University of Maryland's European Division. The Commissario Brunetti series, beginning with Death at La Fenice (1992), follows Guido Brunetti, a cultured, thoughtful, and deeply decent police commissario who investigates murders and crimes in Venice while navigating the labyrinthine corruption of Italian bureaucracy and politics. Brunetti is a devoted husband and father, a lover of good food and classical literature, and a man who tries to do right in a system that makes righteousness difficult. The series spans over thirty novels, including A Noble Radiance, Friends in High Places, A Sea of Troubles, Uniform Justice, Blood from a Stone, Through a Glass Darkly, A Refiner's Fire, and many more. Each novel is as much about Venetian life — its beauty, its traditions, its corruption, its food, its family dynamics — as it is about the crime at its centre. Leon famously refused for many years to allow her books to be translated into Italian, wanting to preserve her privacy in Venice. The audiobook editions of Leon's novels are a particular pleasure, with narrators capturing the rhythm, warmth, and culture of Venetian life. Her books and audiobooks are essential for crime fiction lovers who want their mysteries civilised, cultured, and steeped in one of the most beautiful cities on earth. Read more Show less