Donna Leon
About the Author
A New Yorker of Irish/Spanish descent, Donna Leon first went to Italy in 1965, returning regularly over the next decade or so while pursuing a career as an academic in the States and then later in Iran, China and finally Saudi Arabia. It was after a period in Saudi Arabia, which she found ‘damaging physically and spiritually’ that Donna decided to move to Venice, where she has now lived for over twenty years. Her debut as a crime fiction writer began as a joke: talking in a dressing room in Venice’s opera-house La Fenice after a performance, Donna and a singer friend were vilifying a particular German conductor. From the thought ‘why don’t we kill him?’ and discussion of when, where and how, the idea for Death at La Fenice took shape, and was completed over the next four months. Donna Leon is the crime reviewer for the London Sunday Times and is an opera expert.
Source: http://www.us.penguingroup.com/static/rguides/us/donna_leon.html
Official site: http://www.donnaleon.net/
The Brunetti Series
1. Death at La Fenice (1992)
During a performance of La Traviata at La Fenice opera house the distinguished German conductor is found dead, apparently poisoned by a cup of coffee. Brunetti embarks on a voyage of exploration in the often murky world both of opera and the victim's family, eventually unearthing a surprising conclusion.
2. Death in a Strange Country (1993)
Brunetti confronts a grisly sight when the body of a young American is fished out of a fetid Venetian canal. Though all the signs point to a violent mugging, something incriminating turns up in the victim's apartment that suggests the existence of a high-level conspiracy.
3. The Anonymous Venetian (1994) aka Dressed for Death
Brunetti's hopes of a refreshing family holiday in the mountains are dashed when a gruesome discovery is made in Marghera - a body so badly beaten that the face is completely unrecognizable. But when the victim's identity is revealed, the investigation takes a very unexpected turn.
4. A Venetian Reckoning (1995) aka Death and Judgment
A truck crashes on one of the treacherous mountain roads in the Italian Dolomites, spilling a terrible cargo. Meanwhile, a prominent international lawyer is found dead in the carriage of an intercity train at Santa Lucia. Can the two tragedies possibly be connected? Commissario Guido Brunetti digs deep into the secret lives of Italy's elite classes to find the answer.
5. Acqua Alta (1996) aka Death in High Water
As Venice braces for a winter tempest and the onslaught of acqua alta - the rising waters from torrential rain - Commissario Guido Brunetti finds out that an old friend has been savagely beaten at the palazzo home of reigning diva Flavia Petrelli.
6. The Death of Faith (1997) aka Quietly in Their Sleep
Brunetti comes to the aid of a young nursing sister who is leaving her convent following the unexpected death of five patients. At first, Brunetti's inquiries reveal nothing amiss, and he wonders whether the nun is simply creating a smoke screen to justify abandoning her vocation. But perhaps, she has stumbled onto something very real and very sinister - something that puts her life in imminent danger.
7. A Noble Radiance (1997)
The new owner of a farmhouse at the foot of the Italian Dolomites is summoned to the house when his workmen disturb a macabre grave. Once on the job, Brunetti uncovers a clue that reignites an infamous cold case of kidnapping and disappearance involving one of Venice's oldest, most aristocratic families.
8. Fatal Remedies (1999)
For Commissario Brunetti, it began with an early morning phone call. In the chill of the Venetian dawn, a sudden act of vandalism shatters the quiet of the deserted city. But Brunnetti is soon shocked to find that the culprit waiting to be apprehended at the scene is someone from his own family. Meanwhile, he is under pressure from his superiors at work to solve a daring robbery with a link to a suspicious accidental death. Does it all lead back to the Mafia? And how are his family's actions connected to these crimes?
9. Friends in High Places (2000)
Commissario Brunetti is visited by a young bureaucrat investigating the lack of official approval for the construction of Brunetti's apartment years before. What began as a red tape headache ends in murder when the bureaucrat is later found dead after a mysterious fall from a scaffold.
10. A Sea of Troubles (2001)
The murder of two clam fishermen off the island of Pellestrina, south of the Lido on the Venetian lagoon, draws Commissario Brunetti into the island's close-knit community, bound together by a code of loyalty and a suspicion of outsiders. When Signorina Elettra volunteers to visit the island, where she has relatives, Brunetti finds himself torn between his duty to solve the murders, concerns for Elettra's safety, and his not entirely straightforward feelings for her.
11. Willful Behaviour (2002)
When one of his wife Paola's students comes to visit him with an interest in investigating the possibility of a pardon for a crime committed by her grandfather many years ago, Commissario Brunetti thinks little of it, beyond being intrigued and attracted by the girl's intelligence and moral seriousness. But when she is found stabbed to death, Claudia Leonardo is suddenly no longer simply Paola's student, but Brunetti's case.
12. Uniform Justice (2003)
Brunetti faces an unsettling case when a young cadet has been found hanged, a presumed suicide, in Venice's elite military academy. As he pursues his inquiry, he is faced with a wall of silence and finds himself caught up in the strange and stormy politics of his country's powerful elite.
13. Doctored Evidence (2004)
A wealthy elderly woman is murdered. Soon after her Romanian maid was hit by a train while trying to leave Italy with a large amount of money and forged papers. The case appears to be solved. Then a neighbour provides evidence that the maid was not guilty of the murder. Brunetti digs further into the case, though officially it is closed and finds that greed was not the motive behind the killing.
14. Blood from a Stone (2005)
Shortly before Christmas, a man is killed in Venice's Campo Santo Stefano. An illegal immigrant from Senegal, he is one of the vu' cumprà who sell fake fashion accessories while trying to stay ahead of the law. At first, the crime seems like a simple clash between rival vendors, but as Commissario Guido Brunetti probes more deeply, he begins to suspect that this murder was the work of a professional. And why does his boss want him off the case?
15. Through a Glass, Darkly (2006)
When the body of a night watchman is found in front of a blazing furnace at De Cal's glass factory along with an annotated copy of Dante's Inferno, Brunetti must investigate. Does the book contain the clues Brunetti needs to solve the murder and uncover who is ruining the waters of Venice's lagoon?
16. Suffer the Little Children (2007)
One night a group of men break into the apartment of a pediatrician and his wife, violently assaulting the doctor and terrifying his wife and baby. They claim to be Caribinieri. Brunetti investigates and is drawn into a murky world of unethical medical practice, corruption and babies for sale to those with the money.
17. The Girl of His Dreams (2008)
One rainy morning Commissario Brunetti and Ispettore Vianello respond to an emergency call reporting a body floating near some steps on the Grand Canal. Reaching down to pull it out, Brunetti’s wrist is caught by the silkiness of golden hair, and he sees a small foot – together he and Vianello lift a dead girl from the water.
18. About Face (2009)
In About Face, environmental concerns become significant in Brunetti’s work when an investigator from the Carabiniere, looking into the illegal hauling of garbage, asks for a favor. But the investigator is not the only one with a special request. His father-in-law needs help and a mysterious woman comes into the picture. Brunetti soon finds himself in the middle of an investigation into murder and corruption more dangerous than anything he’s seen before.
19. A Question of Belief (2010)
With his hometown beset by hordes of tourists and baking under a glaring sun, Brunetti’s greatest wish is to go to the mountains with his family, where he can sleep under a down comforter and catch up on his reading. But before he can go on vacation, a folder with court records has landed on his desk, brought by an old friend. It appears that cases at the local court—hardly known as a model of efficiency—are being delayed to the benefit of one of the parties. And just when it looks like Brunetti will be able to get away, a shocking, violent crime forces him to stay in Venice.
20. Drawing Conclusions (2011)
Leon's 20th Commisario Guido Brunetti mystery explores violence against women and the treatment of the elderly. The Venetian medical examiner has ruled that Costanza Altavilla, a widow in her 60s, died of a heart attack, but Brunetti has his doubts. The discovery of several changes of clothes in various sizes in the deceased's modest apartment and Brunetti's talks with the insightful Signorina Elettra reveal that Altavilla was running a safe house for women escaping domestic violence. Could one of the abusive men have confronted Altavilla and scared her to death?
21. Beastly Things (2012)
When the body of man is found in a canal, damaged by the tides, carrying no wallet, and wearing only one shoe, Brunetti has little to work with. No local has filed a missing-person report, and no hotel guests have disappeared. Where was the crime scene? And how can Brunetti identify the man when he can’t show pictures of his face? The autopsy shows a way forward: it turns out the man was suffering from a rare, disfiguring disease. With Inspector Vianello, Brunetti canvasses shoe stores, and winds up on the mainland in Mestre, outside of his usual sphere. From a shopkeeper, they learn that the man had a kindly way with animals. At the same time, animal rights and meat consumption are quickly becoming preoccupying issues at the Venice Questura, and in Brunetti’s home, where conversation at family meals offer a window into the joys and conflicts of Italian life.
22. The Golden Egg (2013)
In The Golden Egg, as the first leaves of autumn begin to fall, Brunetti’s ambitious boss, Patta, asks him to look into a seemingly insignificant violation of public vending laws by a shopkeeper, who happens to be the future daughter-in-law of the Mayor. Brunetti, who has no interest in helping Patta enrich his political connections, has little choice but to ask around to see if the bribery could cause a scandal. Then, Brunetti’s wife Paola comes to him with an unusual request of her own. The deaf, mentally disabled man who worked at their dry-cleaners has died of a sleeping-pill overdose, and Paola’s kind heart can’t take the idea that he lived and died without anyone noticing him, or helping him. To please her, Brunetti begins to ask questions. He is surprised when he finds that the man left no official record: no birth certificate, no passport, no driver’s license, no credit cards. But could anyone really want this sweet, simple-minded man dead?
23. By Its Cover (April 2014)
Donna Leon’s critically acclaimed, internationally bestselling Commissario Guido Brunetti series has attracted readers the world over with the beauty of its setting, the humanity of its characters, and its fearlessness in exploring politics, morality, and contemporary Italian culture. In the pages of Leon’s novels, the beloved conversations of the Brunetti family have drawn on topics of art and literature, but books are at the heart of this novel in a way they never have been before. One afternoon, Commissario Guido Brunetti gets a frantic call from the director of a prestigious Venetian library. Someone has stolen pages out of several rare books. After a round of questioning, the case seems clear: the culprit must be the man who requested the volumes, an American professor from a Kansas university. The only problem—the man fled the library earlier that day, and after checking his credentials, the American professor doesn’t exist. As the investigation proceeds, the suspects multiply. And when a seemingly harmless theologian, who had spent years reading at the library turns up brutally murdered, Brunetti must question his expectations about what makes a man innocent, or guilty.
Other Novels and Non-Fiction
1. A Taste of Venice. At Table with Brunetti - with Roberta Pianaro (2010)
Food plays an important role in Donna Leon's bestselling Commissario Brunetti novels. In A Taste of Venice, Roberta Pianaro invites readers into the Brunettis' kitchen to learn how to prepare for themselves the delicious meals Paola Brunetti cooks for her family. We are given the secrets to Brunetti's favourite pasta (penne rigate), Paola's famous apple cake, a lasagne recipe from Brunetti's mother, Donna Leon's favourite meal (risotto di zucca), and a host of other sumptuous and authentic Italian classics.
Beautifully illustrated with vignettes by Tatjana Hauptmann, and with culinary stories by Donna Leon and extracts from the Brunetti novels, this is so much more than a cooking guide - it is a wonderful journey, full of ideas for recreating the delights of Venetian cuisine in your own home. So whether you want to eat spaghetti with clams, aubergine and prosciutto roulades or baked omelette with courgettes, you'll find all you need here to create the perfect Venetian feast.
2. The Jewels of Paradise (2012)
Caterina Pellegrini is a native Venetian, and like so many of them, she’s had to leave home to pursue her career. With a doctorate in baroque opera from Vienna, she lands in Manchester, England. Manchester, however, is no Venice. When Caterina gets word of a position back home, she jumps at the opportunity.
The job is an unusual one. After nearly three centuries, two locked trunks, believed to contain the papers of a baroque composer have been discovered. Deeply-connected in religious and political circles, the composer died childless; now two Venetians, descendants of his cousins, each claim inheritance. Caterina’s job is to examine any enclosed papers to discover the “testamentary disposition” of the composer. But when her research takes her in unexpected directions she begins to wonder just what secrets these trunks may hold.
3. Venetian Curiosities (2012)
In a city as ancient as Venice, myths and legends passed down from generation to generation are the storehouse of a city’s mores, emblems of its identity. In Venetian Curiosities, acclaimed novelist Donna Leon recounts some of Venice’s most intriguing tales: an elephant brought in for Carnival wreaks havoc upon the city before seeking refuge in a church; the city employs prostitutes in an attempt to prevent homosexuality; innocent men are mistakenly condemned to death; a gambler bets the family palazzo. In an introduction and seven essays, Leon offers enchanting details and astute insights into Venetian customs of the past and present.
Venetian Curiosities is beautifully illustrated, and like Handel’s Bestiary, it comes with an accompanying CD. Here the music is by Antonio Vivaldi, with tracks for each section of the book, expertly recorded by Il Complesso Barocco. With the splendid music, the delightful images, and the perceptive, amusing words of Donna Leon, Venetian Curiosities is a harmonious exploration of one of the world’s most beloved cities.
Reviews of Donna Leon Novels
The Brunetti Series
1. Death at La Fenice (1992)
* Publishers Weekly
http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-06-016871-1
* Kirkus Reviews
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/donna-leon/death-at-la-fenice/
2. Death in a Strange Country (1993)
* Random House, Meet the Author event
http://italian-mysteries.com/leon-meetauthor
html?command=search&db=main.txt&eqisbndata=009941516X
* Examiner
http://www.examiner.com/review/death-a-strange-country
* The Bookbag
http://www.thebookbag.co.uk/reviews/index.php?title=Death_in_a_Strange_Country_by_Donna_Leon
* Humanities360
http://www.humanities360.com/index.php/donna-leon-death-in-a-strangecountry-37249/
3. The Anonymous Venetian (1994) aka Dressed for Death
* Reviewing the Evidence
http://www.reviewingtheevidence.com/review.html?id=1445
* Strangely Connected
http://enzsign.wordpress.com/tag/donna-leon/
4. A Venetian Reckoning (1995) aka Death and Judgment
* AustCrime
http://www.austcrimefiction.org/content/venetian-reckoning-donna-leon
* The Upcoming
http://www.theupcoming.co.uk/2012/04/11/book-review-a-venetianreckoning-by-donna-leon/
5. Acqua Alta (1996) aka Death in High Water
* Penguin
http://italian-mysteries.com/leon-penguin-acqua.html
* Publishers Weekly
http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-14-200496-8
6. The Death of Faith (1997) aka Quietly in Their Sleep
* Reviewing the Evidence
http://www.reviewingtheevidence.com/review.html?id=6933
* The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/09/books/review/Crime-t.html?_r=0
7. A Noble Radiance (1997)
* Rachel Deeming @ Humanities 360
http://www.humanities360.com/index.php/book-review-of-a-noble-radianceby-donna-leon-101/
8. Fatal Remedies (1999)
* Reviewing the Evidence
http://www.reviewingtheevidence.com/review.html?id=7033
The Bookbag
http://www.thebookbag.co.uk/reviews/index.php?title=Fatal_Remedies_by_Donna_Leon
9. Friends in High Places (2000)
* Humanities 360
http://www.humanities360.com/index.php/book-reviews-friends-in-highplaces-by-donna-leon-55732/
* The Guardian
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2000/jun/04/crimebooks
10. A Sea of Troubles (2001)
* The Bookbag
http://www.thebookbag.co.uk/reviews/index.php?title=A_Sea_of_Troubles_by_Donna_Leon
* The Guardian
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/may/05/crime.ianrankin
11. Willful Behaviour (2002)
* Reviewing the Evidence
http://www.reviewingtheevidence.com/review.html?id=1445
* Books Please
http://www.booksplease.org/2011/07/12/wilful-behaviour-by-donna-leonbook-review/
12. Uniform Justice (2003)
* BBC Radio 4 (transcript)
http://italian-mysteries.com/leon-BBC4.html
* Publishers Weekly
http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-87113-903-0
13. Doctored Evidence (2004)
* Mysterious Reviews
http://www.mysteriousreviews.com/mystery-book-reviews/leon-doctoredevidence.
html#.Utkv8PvxWnQ
* Kirkus Reviews
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/donna-leon/doctoredevidence-2/
14. Blood from a Stone (2005)
* Random House
http://italian-mysteries.com/leon-MacActivity.html?q=interviews/2005/donnaleon
* Reviewing the Evidence
http://www.reviewingtheevidence.com/review.html?id=5953
* The Bookbag
http://www.thebookbag.co.uk/reviews/index.php
title=Blood_From_a_Stone_by_Donna_Leon
15. Through a Glass, Darkly (2006)
* Mysterious Reviews
http://www.mysteriousreviews.com/mystery-book-reviews/leon-throughglass-darkly.html#.Utkr4PvxWnQ
* Book Reporter
http://www.bookreporter.com/reviews/through-a-glass-darkly-acommissario-guido-brunetti-mystery
* Humanities 360
http://www.humanities360.com/index.php/through-a-glass-darkly-by-donnaleon-41822/
16. Suffer the Little Children (2007)
* The Guardian
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/may/12/featuresreviews.guardianreview18
* Eurocrime
http://www.eurocrime.co.uk/reviews/Suffer_the_Little_Children_2.html
* Humanities360
http://www.humanities360.com/index.php/suffer-the-little-children-bydonna-leon-43913/
17. The Girl of His Dreams (2008)
* The Vienna Review
http://www.viennareview.net/vienna-review-bookreviews/more-death-in-venice
* Book Reporter
http://www.bookreporter.com/reviews/the-girl-of-his-dreams-a-commissarioguido-brunetti-mystery
* Eurocrime
http://www.eurocrime.co.uk/reviews/The_Girl_of_His_Dreams.html
18. About Face (2009)
* The Telegraph
* Eurocrime
http://www.eurocrime.co.uk/reviews/About_Face.html
* The Gypsy's Guide
http://www.gypsysguide.com/2009/10/eight-questions-fordonna-leon.html#more
19. A Question of Belief (2010)
* The Independent
* Eurocrime
http://www.eurocrime.co.uk/reviews/A_Question_of_Belief.html
* Book Reporter
http://www.bookreporter.com/reviews/a-question-of-belief-a-commissarioguido-brunetti-mystery
20. Drawing Conclusions (2011)
* Kirkus Reviews
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/donnaleon/drawingconclusions/
* Mysterious Reviews
http://www.mysteriousreviews.com/mystery-book-reviews/leon-drawingconclusions.
html#.Utk3k_spbGg
21. Beastly Things (2012)
* New Republic
http://www.newrepublic.com/book/review/donna-leon-beastly-things
* The Independent
22. The Golden Egg (2013)
* The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/07/books/review/the-golden-egg-by-donnaleon-and-more.html?_r=0
* The Coast (NZ)
http://www.thecoast.net.nz/life/bookreview/book-review-the-golden-egg-bydonna-leon
Other Novels and Non-Fiction
1. A Taste of Venice: At Table with Brunetti (with Roberta Pianaro) (2010)
* Vulpes Libris
* The Independent
2. The Jewels of Paradise (2012)
* The Independent
* The Neff Review
ttp://neffreview.blogspot.com.es/2013/01/the-jewels-of-paradise-by-donnaleon.
html
3. Venetian Curiosities (2012)
* New Republic
http://www.newrepublic.com/book/review/donna-leon-beastly-things
* Mystery Scene
4. My Venice and Other Essays (2013)
* New York Journal of Books
http://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/my-venice-and-other-essays
* Kirkus Reviews
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/donna-leon/my-venice-and-otheressays/
* The Seattle Times
http://seattletimes.com/html/books/2022485788_donnaleonvenicexml.html
Other Sources
* Book Reviews, Interviews and Articles about Donna Leon:
http://italian-mysteries.com/DL15.html
* At Lunch with Donna Leon:
http://www.groveatlantic.com/leon/lunch.htm
* An American in Venice, Interview with The Washington Post:
http://italian-mysteries.com/leon-WashingtonPost.html
* Interview with Das Erste (translated from German):
http://italian-mysteries.com/leon-in-German.html
* “La Serenissima” by Mystery Readers:
http://www.mysteryreaders.org/Issues/italy1.html#leon
* Interview with Donna Leon 2003:
http://italian-mysteries.com/leon-interview.html
* Interview with CBS Sunday Morning TV Show (transcript):
http://italian-mysteries.com/leon-BBC4.html
* Barnes & Noble Meet the Writers event 2003:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/writers/writerdetails.asp?userid=2WMKJVVNB6&cid=1106334#interview